Are you the victim of domestic violence? If you are being abused by a family or household member, you may be able to obtain an Order for Protection to protect yourself. You may also want to report any incidents of domestic abuse to the police for further protection. Minnesota law allows individuals who are the victims of abuse by a family or household member to seek an immediate "no contact order" and other relief against the perpetrator through an Order for Protection (OFP).

"Domestic abuse" generally means “physical harm, bodily injury, or assault” or “the infliction of fear of imminent physical harm, bodily injury, or assault.”

"Family or household members" means spouses and former spouses, parents and children, persons related by blood, persons who are presently residing together or who have resided together in the past, persons who have a child in common regardless of whether they have been married or have lived together at any time, a man and woman if the woman is pregnant and the man is alleged to be the father, regardless of whether they have been married or have lived together at any time, and persons involved in a significant romantic or sexual relationship.

The various counties in Minnesota handle Orders for Protection differently. The victim must first complete an affidavit/petition for an order for protection through the Court Administrator. This affidavit/petition can also be completed with the help of an attorney and filed with the Court electronically (the attorneys and Blahnik, Prchal and Stoll can assist with this). There is no filing fee for an Order for Protection. Based on the petition, the Court may grant an emergency (ex-parte) Order for Protection that will continue for up to two weeks until such time that the Court can hold an initial Court hearing on the matter. At this next Court hearing, the alleged perpetrator is entitled to appear and defend himself or herself. In some Minnesota counties, this hearing is considered just an "admit-deny" hearing, wherein the alleged perpetrator will simply admit or deny the allegatations. If he or she denies the allegations, then the matter will get scheduled for an evidentiary hearing at a later date. However, many Minnesota counties will have the evidentiary hearing right away as part of the admit-deny hearing.

It is important to know the policies of the county and courthouse where the Order for Protection hearing is being held. Often times, there is very little time to prepare for an evidentiary hearing (a trial) and to call and potentially subpoena witnesses to the evidentiary hearing.