How To Get A Restraining Order In Ohio

Civil Stalking Protection Order/Civil Sexually Oriented Offense Protection Order

If you are a victim of menacing by stalking or of a sexually oriented offense, you may apply through Common Pleas Court for a Civil Stalking Protection Order (CSPO) or Civil Sexually Oriented Offense Protection Order (CSOOPO). These are orders that, among other things, can prohibit another person from contacting, following, and/or threatening you for up to five years. Violating a CSPO/CSOOPO is a criminal offense in Ohio, and may result in the arrest and prosecution of a Respondent.

To be eligible to request a CSPO/CSOOPO for yourself and/or a family or household member, you must be a Trumbull County resident eighteen years of age or older. The person you are seeking the protection order against (known as the Respondent) must be eighteen years of age or older, but need not be a Trumbull County resident.

If you are a spouse, former spouse, or blood relative of the Respondent, share children with the Respondent, or live with or have lived with the Respondent within the last five years, you should first consider seeking a Domestic Violence Civil Protection Order through the Trumbull County Domestic Relations Court.

To request a CSPO/CSOOPO, you must file a Petition with the Clerk of Courts. There is no cost to file a Petition, but all Petitions must be notarized. Petition packets are available at the Clerk's Office on the First Floor of the Courthouse, and printable online forms are available at the following links:

Petition: https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/JCS/domesticViolence/protection_forms/stalkingForms/10.03D.pdf

Instruction Sheet for Petition:
https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/JCS/domesticViolence/protection_forms/stalkingForms/10.03G.pdf

After filing a Petition, you will return to the Courthouse the following business day at 8:30 a.m. for a Hearing with a Magistrate to determine whether a short-term temporary Protection Order (known as an Ex Parte Order) will be granted. After that, a second hearing with a Magistrate will be scheduled at which both you and the Respondent will be present and be given the opportunity to present evidence. At the end of that hearing, the Magistrate will determine whether a Full Hearing Protection Order, which can last up to five years, should be granted.

More information about CSPOs, CSOOPOs, and other types of protection orders in Ohio is available at the following link:

https://www.communitylegalaid.org/node/141/civil-stalking-fact-sheet