Applying for A Protective Order

• Jurisdiction: Maryland

II. APPLYING FOR A PROTECTIVE ORDER

A. Persons Eligible for a Protective Order

In order to qualify for a protective order, a person must be a "person eligible for relief" as defined by the statute.⁵ To qualify as "a person eligible for relief," an individual must have at least one of the following relationships to the respondent:

(1) Current or former spouse of the respondent.⁶ There is no requirement that the spouses live together in order to qualify for a protective order.

(2) Cohabitant with the respondent.⁷ A "cohabitant" is defined as someone who has had a sexual relationship with and resided with the respondent for at least 90 days within the last year before filing.⁸ The definition of cohabitant does not require, however, that the 90 days be consecutive.

(3) Related to the respondent by blood, marriage, or adoption.⁹ This category typically includes any family relationships, such as adult parent-child relationships, siblings, cousins, in-laws, grandparent-grandchild relationships, and family members of adopted children.

(4) Parent, stepparent, child, or stepchild of the respondent or the person eligible for relief who resides or resided with the respondent or person eligible for relief for at least 90 days within 1 year before the filing of the petition.¹⁰ This category includes a specific subset of the family relationships more broadly defined in (3) above, which covers those parties who have resided with the respondent or person eligible for relief for at least 90 days within the last year before filing.

(5) Vulnerable adult.¹¹ A "vulnerable adult" is defined as someone over the age of 18 who lacks the physical or mental capacity to provide for their daily needs.¹² Vulnerable adults are not required to live with the respondent, as many vulnerable adults are abused by caretakers who provide services to the vulnerable adult but do not live with them.

(6) An individual who has a child in common with the respondent.¹³ If the parties are the parents of children together, there is no requirement that they live together or that the child be a minor to qualify under this relationship category.

(7) An individual who has had a sexual relationship with the respondent within 1 year before the filing of the petition.¹⁴ This category covers those individuals who have had a sexual relationship within the year prior to filing. This category was added during the 2015 Legislative Session to include intimate partner violence between individuals in a dating relationship, as well as rape victims who have experienced an involuntary sexual relationship with the respondent. For rape victims, a protective order offers more relief than a peace order: the protective order gives victims an order of longer duration, more relief options, and requires the respondent to surrender all firearms during the term of the order.

If the petitioner or a person on whose behalf a petition is filed, such as a minor child or a vulnerable adult, does not meet the statutory criteria of a "person eligible for relief," the court cannot issue a protective order and the petitioner will be instructed to begin the application process anew under the Peace Order statute.

B. Acts of Abuse Covered by the Statute

In addition to having one of the covered relationships, a petitioner must allege at least one act of abuse enumerated in the act.¹⁵ Not all types of abusive behavior entitle an individual to a protective order. For example, an individual who experiences emotional or financial abuse, even if that abuse is severe and injurious, is not eligible for protection under the statute. The statute defines "abuse" as one or more of the following acts:

(1) An act that causes serious bodily harm.¹⁶

(2) An act that places an eligible person in fear of imminent serious bodily harm.¹⁷

(3) Assault in any degree.¹⁸ The term "assault" includes an assault, a battery, or both. First degree assault includes acts that cause serious bodily harm or that place one in fear of serious bodily harm. Assault in the second degree occurs when a person makes offensive physical contact with another, attempts to make offensive physical contact with another, or intentionally frightens another.

(4) Rape or sexual offense, or attempted rape or sexual offense.¹⁹ The various degrees of rape, sexual offense, and attempted rape or sexual offense are defined in Crim. Law I §§ 3-303 through 3-308.²⁰

(5) False imprisonment.²¹ False imprisonment is the confinement or detention of a person against that person's will, accomplished by force, threat of force, or deception.²²

(6) Stalking.²³ Stalking is defined in Crim. Law I § 3-802 as "a malicious course of conduct that includes approaching or pursuing another" where the perpetrator intends to place, knows, or reasonably should have known that the conduct would place another in reasonable fear of serious bodily injury, assault in any degree, rape or sexual offense, false imprisonment, death, or where such behavior threatens a third person. As of October 2016, stalking now covers acts by the perpetrator

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