Under Oklahoma law a person who is a victim of domestic abuse, stalking, harassment or rape can petition the Court for a Protective Order, which contains specific orders designed to protect the person from further abuse. A household member may petition the Court on behalf of a minor. Typically the Protective Order will direct that the alleged perpetrator keep a certain distance away from the petitioner, and not attempt contact by any means including electronic communications or contact through third persons. The law governing Protective Orders is set forth at 22 Oklahoma Statutes §60.2. If the person seeking relief is a victim of stalking but is not a family or household member, or an individual who is or has been in a dating relationship with the defendant, the person seeking relief must file a complaint against the defendant with the proper law enforcement agency before filing a petition for a protective order with the district court.
Violation of Protective Order
When a protective order is granted and served, whether it be an Emergency Protective Order or a Final Protective Order, the person who is the subject of the order has been ordered to refrain from doing certain things. If it is alleged that the person has not followed the order and violated one or more provisions of the order, the person may be subject to criminal charges. The Oklahoma Statute governing Protective Order violations is 22 Oklahoma Statutes §60.6: The statute provides that a conviction for a first offense is a criminal misdemeanor which carries a possible punishment of a fine of not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or a term of imprisonment in the county jail of not more than one (1) year, or both. If a person has previously been convicted of Violation of a Protective Order, a second offense could result in a felony charge punishable by a term of imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for not less than one (1) year nor more than three (3) years, or by a fine of not less than Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00) nor more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or by both such fine and imprisonment.