Protection Orders

Definitions

Protection Order

A civil order issued if an incident has occured recently.

No Contact Order

A criminal action issued after an arrest has been made.

Obtaining a Protection Order

With a protection order in place, the perpetrator will

• be prevented from molesting, assaulting or harassing you and your children.
• have no contact with you and your children in person, by mail, by telephone, or by a third party.
• be prevented from entering your home or place of business.
• be restrained from interfering with the care and custody of your minor children.

Obtaining a No Contact Order

"No Contact" orders are issued at the request of the prosecutor or at the discretion of the judge in criminal cases only.

Call the Snohomish County Prosecutor at 425-388-3628 or your local City Attorney and ask for a "No Contact" order prohibiting contact with you or your children by your batterer pending trial.

Application Forms

The Snohomish County Superior Court has specific office staff to assist people with obtaining forms and processing copies of the orders. Go to the Snohomish County Superior Court Protection Order Office in Everett on the corner of Pacific and Rockefeller to the 1st Floor, Room C-105 between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. any weekday. After filling out the papers, you will see a commissioner at 1 p.m.

You may also call the Snohomish County Domestic Violence Protection Order Office at 425-388-3638 for more information.

Hearings

Your first hearing can be held at a district court or superior court.

If you have children or shared property and your first hearing was at a district court, your second hearing will be transferred to Superior Court.

Temporary Protection Orders, Anti-Harassment Orders can be obtained at the following district and superior courts:

• South District Court
• Everett District Court
• Cascade District Court
• Evergreen District Court
• Snohomish County Superior Court

The clerks at the district courts are required to inform you how to get an order at superior court if they cannot assist you at the time you come in.

Violations of Court Orders

Violations of Protection Orders, Anti-Harassment Orders, and No Contact Orders after they have been served on the perpetrator is a criminal offense.

Call 911 immediately when a violation occurs. If you call within four hours of the incident, officers are required to search for the perpetrator.

If you live inside the city's limits, you would utilize that city's police department. You will know that you live inside the limits if the municipal police respond to the scene. Municipal police wear blue uniforms.

If you live outside of a city's limits, a Snohomish County Deputy Sheriff would respond. The Sheriff Deputy wears either a brown or green uniform.

The police department is required to provide a copy of the report if you are filing a Crime Victim's Compensation claim. They are reluctant to do so if the investigation is still open. In that case, contact a legal advocate.

Violations of any of the above Orders are criminal charges, and charging decisions are made by the Prosecutor's Office, NOT the police department. An officer cannot refuse to take your written complaint, even if the officer does not take your incident seriously.

If the perpetrator is charged, hearings will be scheduled at the following appropriate court:

• Bothell Municipal Court
• Edmonds Municipal Court
• Everett Municipal Court
• Lynnwood Municipal Court
• Marysville Municipal Court

All other cities’ criminal cases would be heard in the nearest district court or superior court if it is a felony.

• South District Court
• Everett District Court
• Cascade District Court
• Evergreen District Court
• Snohomish County Superior Court

See "Resources" for telephone numbers.