Procedure
to apply for an Order For Protection (OFP):
(Forms are available at the Court
Administrator's Office, Otter Tail County
Courthouse,)
What
is an OFP?
An Order for Protection (OFP) is a court order
that will help protect you from domestic abuse.
An OFP tells the abuser to stop harming or
threatening you or your children.
Who
May File?
1. Petition for an Order for Protection can
be filed by:
a. any adult seeking protection from a family
or household member
b. a family or household member, guardian,
or an adult age 25 or older on behalf of a
child who needs protection
c. a person age 16 or 17 seeking protection
from a person they:
are married to,
were married to, or
have a child with.
Definitions:
1. Domestic Abuse is defined as any
of the following conduct between family or
household members:
a. Actual physical harm, bodily injury, assault
(such as hitting, kicking, slapping, pushing,
stabbing), or fear of physical harm, bodily
injury or assault (such as verbal threats,
threatening gestures); or
b. Terroristic threats (such as a threat to
commit a crime of violence, bomb threats,
or threatening someone when holding a gun);
or
c. Criminal sexual conduct (such as forced
sex or forced sexual contact with an adult
or any form of sexual contact with a child).
2.
Family or household members are defined
as:
a. Married persons
b. Persons who were married but are now divorced
c. Parents, children
d. Persons related by blood (such as brothers,
sisters, uncles, aunts, or grandparents)
e. Persons who live together now or who lived
together in the past
f. Persons who have a child together, even
if they have not been married or lived together
g. Persons who have an unborn child together
h. Persons involved in a significant romantic
or sexual relationship
If your complaint DOES NOT involve "domestic
abuse" AND "family or household
members" as defined above, you cannot
file a Petition for an Order for Protection.
However, you may still be able to proceed
under the harassment laws. Please ask at the
Court Administrator's Office for harassment
forms.
If your complaint DOES involve "domestic
abuse" AND "family or household
members," you must complete the Petitioner's
Affidavit and Petition for Order for Protection
completely and in detail, according to the
attached instructions.
Instructions
for Completing
"Petitioner's Affidavit and Petition
for Order for Protection"
In
the box marked "County," write the
name of the county in which you are filing
the Petition.
Court
Administration staff will fill in the "Judicial
District" and "Case No." box.
On
the line above the word "Petitioner",
write your own name and on the line above
the word "Respondent", write the
name of the person from whom you are seeking
protection.
(NOTE:
The numbers of these instructions are the
same as the numbers on the affidavit and petition)
1.
You do not need to write anything in this
section.
General
Information
2.
Write in your complete address, date of birth,
gender and race. If you do not want the Respondent
to know your address, or if you do not want
your address to be part of the public file,
DO NOT WRITE YOUR ADDRESS HERE; you may provide
it separately to the Court staff on the Petitioner's
Information Sheet. You MUST tell the Court
staff that you do not want your address to
be part of the public file (See Petitioner's
Information Sheet.)
3.
Write in the complete address, date of birth,
gender and race of the Respondent (person
from whom you are seeking protection). If
you do not know Respondent's date of birth,
give age.
4.
Check all boxes that apply to your current
situation. If you check the last box, "Significant
romantic or sexual relationship," you
must fill in the blanks next to it.
5.
If you and the Respondent have been involved
in other Court actions, check the box(es)
of the types of action involved and then indicate
the county and the month and year the actions
took place. Give details of any child protection
action(s).
Abuse
Information
6.
This section needs to be completed ONLY if
you and the Respondent have been involved
together in a prior Petition for an Order
for Protection. If you have been involved
in a prior Petition for an Order for Protection,
write in the name of the county where the
prior OFP Petition was filed, when the prior
OFP Petition was filed, and the name of the
judge in the prior OFP. Check off what happened
in the prior case, such as whether only a
Temporary Order was issued, an OFP was issued,
or the OFP was denied. Describe in detail
any acts of abuse, harassment, threats, or
stalking that have happened since you last
applied for an OFP. Fill in most recent petition.
7.
Check off whether the Respondent has abused
or threatened domestic abuse upon you and/or
a minor child or children, and write the name
of any minor child or children that Respondent
has abused or has threatened to abuse.
8.
Write in the details of the acts of domestic
abuse committed by the Respondent. See Paragraph
1 under DEFINITIONS on Page 1 to be sure that
what you describe are acts of domestic abuse.
For each act of domestic abuse, answer these
questions: WHAT happened, WHO did what, WHEN
did it happen, and WHERE did it happen. Be
very specific in giving the details. The approximate
dates when the incidents happened MUST be
given. Describe the most recent acts of abuse
first.
9.
Check the appropriate box(es). If you have
any medical or police reports, you may attach
them.
10.
If you and the Respondent are parents of any
children under 18 years old, write in their
names and dates of birth. Also write in the
names of persons who the children are with
now-whether it is you, the Respondent or someone
else.
If
you are the biological mother and you and
the Respondent were not married at the time
a child was born, you must indicate whether
or not the Respondent was named the father
by a judge. The reason for this requirement
is that if a judge has not named the Respondent
the father, the biological mother automatically
has sole physical and legal custody of the
child, and you do not need to ask for custody.
Also indicate if a Recognition of Parentage
has been signed.
Identify
any court order involving the children (such
as a divorce or dissolution order, paternity
order, juvenile court order, child protection
order, or other OFP).
11.
Write in the names and dates of birth of any
OTHER minor children who are involved in this
action (such as your children who are not
also the Respondent's children) and the names
of person who the children are with now.
12.
a. If you with to have the judge award you
custody of any children under 18 years
old, write in their names.
b. Tell the Court what parenting time (visitation)
you think Respondent should have with your
children.
c. Indicate if parenting time (visitation)
should be restricted or supervised.
d. If you think Respondent's parenting time
(visitation) should be restricted or supervised,
tell the judge why.
NOTE: You have the right to request supervised
parenting time (visitation).
Financial
Information
13.
a. If you want the judge to award you child
support, support for yourself, and/or
medical support/health insurance, check off
the appropriate box(es) in part (a) and
then fill out the rest of the information
in part (a).
b. State what you pay for child care each
month to allow you to go to work or to school.
c. State what health insurance you have.
d. Other.
14.
You have the right to ask the judge to order
the respondent to pay you for expenses resulting
from Respondent's abuse. These may include
medical expenses or the cost to replace or
repair destroyed or damaged property.
Requests
for Court Action
15.
Check the box if this section applies.
16.
Check the boxes for all items that you want
the judge to order for immediate protection.
17.
Check box 17 ONLY if you want a hearing. If
you ARE going to ask the judge to grant any
requests made in Question 18 below, a hearing
will have to be held so you should check No.
17 to indicate that you DO want a hearing.
If you ARE NOT going to ask the judge to grant
any requests in Question 18 below, then you
may:
Leave Question 17 blank, and
Skip Question 18, and
Go directly to Question 19.
NOTE:
If you wish to have this order enforced in
any other state, you must request a hearing.
NOTE:
THE RESPONDENT ALSO HAS THE RIGHT TO REQUEST
A HEARING SO IT IS POSSIBLE THERE WILL BE
ONE SCHEDULED WITHIN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS EVEN
IF YOU DO NOT REQUEST ONE. IF THE RESPONDENT
DOES REQUEST A HEARING, THE COURT WILL MAIL
YOU A NOTICE OF THE HARING DATE AT LEAST 5
DAYS IN ADVANCE. THE COURT MUST HAVE YOUR
CURRENT ADDRESS AT ALL TIMES TO ENSURE THAT
YOU GET ALL REQUIRED NOTICES.
18.
If you want the judge to grant you any of
the items in Question 18, they will only be
granted after a hearing. Therefore, if you
check any items in Question 18, a hearing
will be held. Be specific with any requests
you make in this section.
19.
You do not need to write anything in this
section.
YOU MUST BE PLACED UNDER OATH AT THE COURT
ADMINISTRATOR'S OFFICE BEFORE SIGNING THE
PETITION. DO NOT SIGN THE PETITION UNTIL YOU
ARE INSTRUCTED TO DO SO BY COURT ADMINISTRATION
STAFF OR BY A NOTARY.
BEFORE
YOU BRING YOUR PETITION TO THE COURT ADMINISTRATOR'S
OFFICE, YOU MUST:
READ AND SIGN THE "NOTICE REGARDING INFORMATION
PROVIDED IN PETITION AND AFFIDAVIT" AND
TAKE IT TO THE COURT ADMINISTRATOR'S OFFICE.
COMPLETE THE "PETITIONER'S INFORMATION
SHEET" AND TAKE IT TO THE COURT ADMINISTRATOR'S
OFFICE.
COMPLETE THE "LAW ENFORCEMENT INFORMATION
SHEET" AND TAKE IT TO THE COURT ADMINISTRATOR'S
OFFICE. THIS WILL BE SENT TO THE POLICE OR
SHERIFF ALONG WITH THE PETITION AND ORDER
TO ASSIST THE OFFICER WHO WILL BE DELIVERING
THE DOCUMENTS TO THE RESPONDENT.
YOU
WILL BE GIVEN A GENERAL INFORMATION BROCHURE
WHEN YOU FILE THE PEITION. THIS BROCHURE WILL
HELP ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE. IF
YOU STILL HAVE QUESTIONS AFTER READING THE
BROCHURE, YOU MAY CONTACT THE COURT ADMINISTRATOR'S
OFFICE FOR FURTHER ASSISTANCE.
NOTICE
TO PETITIONER REGARDING INFORMATION
PROVIDED IN PETITION AND AFFIDAVIT
The information given in your Petition and
Affidavit will be used by the judge when deciding
whether to issue an Order for Protection.
You may refuse to provide the requested information.
If you refuse to provide the information,
the judge may not be able to issue an Order
for Protection.
If you supply the information, it will become
public information as soon as the Court receives
notice that the Order for Protection has been
served upon the Respondent. You may, however,
request that your address and telephone number
not be given to the Respondent or made a part
of the public file.
The Court Administrator's Office will deliver
a copy of the Petition and Order for Protection
to the sheriff's office, who will serve it
on the Respondent.
If there is a claim of child abuse contained
in the Petition, it will be reported to the
appropriate authority.
NOTICE
TO APPLICANT/PETITIONER
1.
Notification of a change in residence should
be given immediately to the court administrator
and to the local law enforcement agency having
jurisdiction over the new residence of the
applicant.
2.
The reason for notification of a change in
residence is to forward an Order for Protection
to the proper law enforcement agency.
3.
The Order for Protection must be forwarded
to the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction
over the new residence within 24 hours of
notification of a change in residence whether
notification is given to the court administrator
or to the local law enforcement agency having
jurisdiction over the applicant's new residence. |
