Civil Protection Orders in Colorado

What a Civil Protection Order Is

A civil protection order is a court order that restricts what one person, called the respondent, may do with respect to another, called the protected person. Many people know it by an older name, a restraining order. Colorado's rules for these orders live in Title 13, Article 14 of the Colorado Revised Statutes.

A court may issue one to prevent things like assault or threatened bodily harm, domestic abuse, stalking, sexual assault or abuse, and emotional abuse of an elderly or at-risk adult. C.R.S. 13-14-104.5. You do not have to show that you were physically injured. Credible threats and a pattern of frightening behavior can be enough, and the court may not turn you away just because time has passed since the abuse.

Depending on the situation, an order can:

• Prohibit all contact, direct or indirect, including texts, calls, social media, and messages passed through friends or family
• Order the respondent to stay away from your home, workplace, school, or other specific places
• Give one person exclusive use of a shared home, even if both names are on the lease or deed
• Set temporary care and control of children while the order is in place
• Address the care and custody of pets and other animals

When an order is based on domestic abuse and includes an act of domestic violence involving the threat, use, or attempted use of physical force, the court must also order the respondent not to possess or buy firearms or ammunition and to give up any they have, usually on a short deadline. C.R.S. 13-14-105.5.

Step One: The Temporary Order

The process starts when someone files a sworn complaint asking for protection. You can file in the county where the abuse or threats happened, where you live, or where you work. Colorado courts use standard fill-in forms, and there is no filing fee for protection orders based on domestic abuse, stalking, or sexual assault.

A judge or magistrate reviews the request the same day whenever possible, usually at a brief hearing held ex parte. Ex parte means the judge hears only from the person asking for protection. The other side is not present and often does not yet know the request was made. The law allows this because waiting for a full hearing could put someone in danger.

To grant a temporary protection order, often called a TPO, the judge must find that an imminent danger exists to the life or health of the person seeking protection. C.R.S. 13-14-104.5. If the judge grants it, the court sets a return date no more than 14 days out and issues a citation ordering the respondent to appear. The temporary order has no legal effect on the respondent until the respondent is personally served with the complaint, the order, and the citation. Once served, it is fully enforceable.

Step Two: The 14-Day Hearing

The hearing on the return date is the heart of the case. This time both sides may appear, testify, present documents and witnesses, and cross-examine each other's witnesses. The judge decides whether to make the order permanent under C.R.S. 13-14-106.

To enter a permanent protection order, the judge must find two things by a preponderance of the evidence, which means more likely than not. First, that the respondent committed acts that are grounds for a protection order. Second, that unless restrained, the respondent will continue those acts or will try to intimidate or retaliate against the protected person. That second finding matters. The hearing is not only about what happened in the past. It is about what is likely to happen next.

The judge has three basic options: make the order permanent, extend the temporary order to a specific date up to one year out if both parties are present and agree and the judge finds it serves their best interests, or let the order end. Each side may also ask for one continuance of up to 14 days for good cause, and the temporary order stays in force during any continuance.

A permanent order in Colorado has no built-in end date. It lasts until a court changes or dismisses it, which is why the 14-day hearing deserves careful preparation no matter which side of the case you are on.

If You Have Been Served: Defending Against an Order

Being served with a temporary protection order can feel like being punished before anyone heard your side. The law is built around that concern. The ex parte order is short-lived by design, and the 14-day hearing is your chance to be heard. What you do between service and that hearing matters enormously.

Obey the temporary order completely, even if you believe it is unfair. Do not call to explain. Do not text an apology. Do not ask a friend to pass along a message. Any of that can be a crime, and it hands the other side new evidence. The only safe way to challenge the order is in court.

At the hearing, the person seeking the order carries the burden of proof. A strong defense usually focuses on the evidence: text messages, emails, call records, witnesses, and timelines that give the judge the full picture, along with careful cross-examination. Because the judge must find a likelihood of future harm, context around the relationship and any pending divorce or custody case is often central.

The stakes are real. A permanent order can appear in background checks, bar you from firearms, affect immigration status, and shape parenting time in a custody case. Agreeing to a permanent order just to make the court date go away is rarely a decision to make without advice, because a respondent who wants a permanent order changed later must generally wait two years between requests under C.R.S. 13-14-108.

Violations, Changes, and How Orders End

Violating a protection order is a crime under C.R.S. 18-6-803.5, and officers must arrest when they have probable cause to believe a violation occurred. Only a judge can change the order. The protected person cannot waive it, and invited contact is still a violation by the restrained person.

Orders can also be changed. Under C.R.S. 13-14-108, the protected person may ask the court to modify or dismiss an order at any time. The restrained person may ask too, but not within two years after the permanent order enters, and then not within two years after any earlier request is decided. The person asking must show, more likely than not, that the change is appropriate or that the order is no longer needed. And if the restrained person is convicted of a new misdemeanor or felony against the protected person after the order enters, the order stays permanent and the court may not modify or dismiss it at the restrained person's request. Only the protected person can still ask for a change.

We handle protection order cases from both sides in Colorado courts, alongside the divorce and custody matters they so often travel with. If you need to seek an order or you have just been served with one, contact us and we will talk through your situation.