Protection Orders

Civil protection orders require the person to avoid contact with the victim, including contacts by mail or telephone. Such orders also can assign temporary custody of the family’s children and require a suspected abuser to begin counseling or treatment.

About two weeks after a temporary order is granted, a judge decides whether to continue the order for one year.

Last year, 1,282 civil protection orders were filed through Spokane County Superior Court.

No-contact orders are issued by a judge in a domestic violence case that has resulted in a criminal charge. The victim doesn’t have to ask for the order, which a prosecutor can request at the suspect’s first court date.

The orders also can prohibit a suspect from contacting a victim and often add the requirement that suspects stay at least two blocks away. Children aren’t covered unless they also are victims. The orders can be continued at sentencing.

Last year, 1,252 no-contact orders were issued by Spokane County District Court.

In Idaho, protection orders prohibit suspects from contacting victims. Orders provide 14 days of protection, during which time a hearing is held so a judge can decide whether to extend the order to three months.

The number of orders issued by Kootenai County judges has increased steadily, from 217 in 1989 to 700 last year.