What could happen if I violate a court’s protective order or a “no-contact” condition of my supervision?

If you violate a court’s protective order or a “no-contact” condition of your supervision that forbids you from contacting another person, you could be fined and/or re-incarcerated for violating the court order or the conditions of your supervision.[2362] While following the protective order, you can still challenge, fight or appeal it! Read the next question on PG. 738 to learn how.

Again, it is important to get to know the SPECIFICS of any protective orders or “no-contact” conditions against you so that you do not violate them.

IMPORTANT: You might have protective and restraining orders against you from both criminal and civil courts, each with different conditions or requirements. So what rules should you follow? Answer: the criminal court order! A protective order from criminal court is stronger than a civil restraining order from family, probate, dependency, or any other civil court. If you have multiple orders against you from different courts, you MUST follow the criminal protective order.[2363]

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It is also important to know about any conditions or orders against you, because if you go to court to ask for greater rights with your child (for example, increased custody or visitation), the judge will consider any protective or restraining orders against you.[2364]

IMPORTANT: If your criminal case involved domestic violence or child abuse, then it is possible that the judge gave your child a protective order against you. If your child has a protective order against you, do NOT contact your child.

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  1. 2362

    Intentionally violating a protective order is a misdemeanor offense. Cal. Penal Code § 166(c). ↑

  2. 2363

    CR-6000 Rev 1/29/15, available at http://www.scscourt.org/documents/CR-6000.pdf (“The new rules provide that if any CPO or Civil RO requires no contact, that no contact order will be enforced… First, CPOs have priority over Civil ROs.”). ↑

  3. 2364

    Cal. Fam. Code § 3031; see also Form FL-105 (Declaration Under Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction & Enforcement Act), at q.5, http://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/fl105.pdf. ↑