A criminal protective order can force you out of your home within hours of an arrest. It can cut off contact with your spouse, bar you from your own children, and require you to surrender every firearm you own. All of that can happen before a jury hears a single piece of evidence.
If a judge has issued one of these orders against you, or is about to, our Los Angeles criminal protective order defense lawyer can challenge its scope at the earliest hearing. At Hurwitz Law Group, we defend people across Los Angeles County who are restrained by orders issued under Penal Code 136.2. Call (323) 244-4147 for a free case evaluation.
Most criminal protective orders are decided in minutes at arraignment, often before the defense has seen a police report. Our team treats that hearing as a contested issue rather than a formality.
We ask the court to match the order to the actual facts of the case. That means arguing for a peaceful contact order instead of a full no-contact order where the record supports it. It also means narrowing stay-away distances that would cost you your housing or your job, and preserving court-ordered visitation with your children.
Behind that argument, we gather what the prosecution has not. Lease documents, employment schedules, custody orders, and the full message history between the parties often show that a blanket no-contact order extends beyond what the case requires.
If you have been arrested but not yet arraigned, there is still time to prepare. We use that window to contact the filing deputy, assemble the housing and custody records a judge will want to see, and get in front of the order before it is signed.
Our founding attorney has practiced criminal defense for more than 10 years, and our Sunset Boulevard office handles cases throughout Los Angeles County. We take calls 24 hours a day, offer payment plans, and hold more than 100 five-star client reviews. Se habla español.
A criminal protective order, often shortened to CPO, is issued by a criminal court against a defendant in a pending or resolved criminal case. It restricts contact with the people the court names as protected persons, usually the person identified in the charges or a witness, along with their family members.
Prosecutors may request these orders, protected persons may request them, and judges may issue them on the court's own motion. According to the California Department of Justice, criminal protective orders accounted for 33% of all protection orders with firearm provisions issued statewide in 2023.
Once signed, the order is entered into the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System. Any officer in the state can verify it during a traffic stop or a call for service.
The pretrial order is the version most defendants encounter. Under Penal Code 136.2, a judge can restrict a defendant's contact and conduct while charges are pending, and the order stays in force until the court issues a further order in the case.
When a court grants probation for a domestic violence offense, Penal Code 1203.097 requires a minimum probation term of 36 months and a criminal court protective order as a mandatory condition. That order runs as long as probation does.
After a conviction, a judge can issue a far longer order. Orders under Penal Code sections 136.2(i), 368(l), and 646.9(k) may run up to 10 years, and orders issued under section 273.5(j) may run up to 15 years.
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People use these terms interchangeably, but the difference shapes your entire defense.
A civil restraining order, such as a domestic violence or civil harassment restraining order, is filed by a private party in civil court. That person drives the case and can ask the court to end the order.
A criminal protective order arises from the criminal prosecution itself. You did not choose to be in that courtroom; the district attorney is the moving party, and the protected person has no authority to cancel what the judge signed.
Both can be active at the same time. When their terms conflict, a criminal protective order issued in a case involving domestic violence charges takes precedence over a civil court order under Penal Code 136.2(e)(2).
Because the criminal order rides on the criminal case, its life is tied to that case. The California Courts self-help guide explains how the two systems overlap and notes that a criminal protective order is canceled if the criminal case closes.
The available terms come from Judicial Council form CR-160, and the judge selects which ones apply to you. Common provisions include the following:
A peaceful contact exception is available in some cases. It allows contact for the safe exchange of children and for visitation ordered by a family, juvenile, or probate court.
The underlying charge shapes how we fight the order, so our approach shifts with the case type.
Domestic violence filings draw protective orders almost automatically, usually at the first appearance. We examine the 911 recording, the responding officers' observations, injury documentation, and the relationship history to show a judge that a full no-contact order reaches past what the evidence supports.
Assault and battery cases between neighbors, coworkers, or acquaintances can produce stay-away orders that sweep in your residence or your workplace. Our attorneys work to narrow the geographic terms so that an order entered weeks before trial does not cost you your housing or your income.
Charges under the criminal threats statute usually rest on text messages, social media posts, or recorded calls. We review the entire exchange rather than the excerpt quoted in the report because surrounding context often changes how a single statement reads to a judge weighing the terms of the order.
Stalking allegations can support post-conviction orders that last a decade. Because the scope of a pretrial order often becomes the baseline a court returns to at sentencing, we challenge the contact and surveillance evidence at the first opportunity rather than waiting for trial.
A fresh charge for violating an existing order carries separate penalties and can damage the underlying case. Our team investigates whether the order was properly served, whether the alleged contact was willful, and whether the protected person initiated the exchange.
A willful and knowing violation of a criminal protective order is contempt of court under Penal Code 166. The offense is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 1 year in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.
If the violation results in physical injury, the statute requires a minimum of 48 hours in county jail. That minimum applies even when the court imposes a fine or suspends the sentence.
A second or subsequent conviction within 7 years of a prior violation can be charged as a felony when the new offense involves an act of violence or a credible threat of violence. Felony exposure carries a term of 16 months, 2 years, or 3 years in state prison.
The consequences do not end with the contempt charge. Conduct that violates the order can also be prosecuted separately as dissuading a witness or stalking, and possession of a firearm while the order is active is charged under a different statute.
Courts can impose probation conditions in place of a fine as well, including payments of up to $1,000 to a domestic violence shelter-based program and restitution for counseling costs. Every one of these consequences depends on proof that you knew about the order and broke it on purpose, and that is the ground we contest first.
The strongest time to shape a criminal protective order is before it is issued. We appear at arraignment prepared to argue the scope, with the specific facts a judge needs to consider anything short of a full no-contact order.
When an order is already in place, only a judge can change it. Neither party may modify or set it aside, and that rule applies even when the protected person is the one requesting contact.
Modification runs through a petition filed in the criminal court that issued the order. The court sets a hearing, both sides can appear, and the judge decides. Filing the petition does not change anything in the meantime, so strict compliance still matters until a new order is signed.
We build these petitions around the factors courts weigh: Current living arrangements, existing custody and visitation orders, program participation, stable employment, and the absence of any new incidents.
Protected persons can weigh in as well. A protected person who wants the order relaxed may petition the issuing court directly, and that request often carries real weight at the hearing, though the judge is never bound by it.
Termination is a separate step with its own form. A pretrial order generally ends when the criminal case closes, while a post-conviction order requires the court to act before its expiration date.
No. Even when the protected person invites or consents to contact, the order remains in effect, and law enforcement must uphold it. Only another court order changes the terms, and the protected person cannot be arrested for reaching out to you.
That depends on the type of order. Pretrial orders run until the court orders otherwise, probation-condition orders last as long as probation, and post-conviction orders can run up to 10 years, or up to 15 years in certain corporal injury cases.
Do not respond, and preserve the message. Contact initiated by the protected person does not suspend the order, and a reply can support a violation charge against you. Save what you received, then call your attorney before you take any other step.
Sometimes. A peaceful contact order permits contact that is peaceful in every respect, and judges consider it where the parties share a residence, children, or finances. Only a judge can approve that change, and only after a hearing.
Yes, for as long as the order is active. You must turn in, sell, or store your firearms, firearm parts, and ammunition within 24 hours, then file a receipt with the court within 48 hours.
A criminal protective order does not decide custody, but it can override contact that a family court previously allowed. Courts can add an exception permitting contact for the safe exchange of children under an existing family, juvenile, or probate court order.
The terms set at the first hearing tend to follow a case all the way to sentencing. Shaping them early is far easier than undoing them months later.
Our Los Angeles criminal protective order defense lawyer can review the order against you and explain what it actually restricts. From there, we press the court for terms that allow you to keep your home, your job, and your relationship with your children while the case proceeds. Founding attorney Brian Hurwitz and the team at Hurwitz Law Group defend clients throughout Los Angeles County from our office on Sunset Boulevard.
Call Hurwitz Law Group at (323) 244-4147 for a free case evaluation. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, payment plans are available, and se habla espanol.
