questions & answers

Question: I live in Nevada, but my father lives in Arizona. His wife claims that she has a restraining order against my wife and I, prohibiting us from contacting my father. I have never been served or even contacted by any law enforcement entity in Nevada or Arizona. Is there any definitive way to to determine if there is an order in place?

Answer: The following is provided for general information only. To find out how the law applies to a specific situation, contact an attorney directly.  An order of protection will become enforceable once it has been served to the party named in it. If an order was filed and granted the requesting party has 1 year to have it served. At the end of that year, that order is no longer valid and the party would have to file another order. Once it is served, the defendant will be entitled to one hearing on the order. The defendant must file a written request for a hearing in the same Court that issued the Order of Protection.  If the defendant shows up before they are served, the requesting party can still call 911, and the police will treat the order as enforceable if they are presented with a copy of the order.  Without knowing the court in which an order was filed it could be difficult to track down the order. The Arizona Supreme court website has a public access lookup tool which could be useful.