See a different stateOhio
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What it is called in Ohio
Domestic Violence Civil Protection Order (CPO)
Ohio's civil domestic-violence order is created by Ohio Revised Code section 3113.31, captioned on the state's own code site "Domestic violence definitions; hearings." (Title 31, Domestic Relations-Children, Chapter 3113, Neglect, Abandonment, or Domestic Violence). The Ohio Supreme Court's own standardized court forms call the result a "Domestic Violence Civil Protection Order" (Form 10.01-I) issued on a "Petition for Domestic Violence Civil Protection Order" (Form 10.01-D), and that is the name used on this page. Ohio keeps a second, separate civil order for people who do not have a qualifying relationship with the person harming them: the civil stalking protection order under Revised Code section 2903.214, captioned "Petition for protection order in menacing by stalking cases." (Title 29, Crimes-Procedure, Chapter 2903, Homicide and Assault). That order is summarized in its own section below. A third order, the criminal temporary protection order under section 2919.26, is issued inside a pending criminal domestic-violence case rather than filed by the person seeking protection, and is outside the scope of this page.
Does this cover me?
Who can ask for one
Ohio covers two separate groups under one statute. A person is protected either because of a listed family-or-household relationship with the person harming them (residing or having resided together as a spouse, former spouse, common-law or cohabiting partner, parent, child, foster parent, or a relative by blood or marriage of any of those people, or sharing a child in common), or, since the definition was broadened, because of a dating relationship of a romantic or intimate nature, whether or not the couple ever lived together — a casual acquaintance or ordinary business or social contact does not count. Who may sign and file the petition is narrower than in some states: the person seeking protection on their own behalf, or a parent or adult household member filing on behalf of another family or household member. There is no separate provision here for a guardian ad litem or a guardian of an incompetent adult filing, unlike Pennsylvania's statute.
Ohio Revised Code section 3113.31, current text effective March 23, 2023 as amended by Senate Bill 210 (134th General Assembly); earlier amendments by House Bill 359 (131st GA, effective September 8, 2016), House Bill 1 and House Bill 49 (132nd GA, effective September 29, 2017), and House Bill 425 (132nd GA, effective April 8, 2019). — who is coveredOhio Revised Code section 3113.31(A)(1): "'Domestic violence' means any of the following: (a) The occurrence of one or more of the following acts against a family or household member: (i) Attempting to cause or recklessly causing bodily injury; (ii) Placing another person by the threat of force in fear of imminent serious physical harm or committing a violation of section 2903.211 or 2911.211 of the Revised Code; (iii) Committing any act with respect to a child that would result in the child being an abused child, as defined in section 2151.031 of the Revised Code; (iv) Committing a sexually oriented offense. (b) The occurrence of one or more of the acts identified in divisions (A)(1)(a)(i) to (iv) of this section against a person with whom the respondent is or was in a dating relationship." Section 3113.31(A)(3): "'Family or household member' means any of the following: (a) Any of the following who is residing with or has resided with the respondent: (i) A spouse, a person living as a spouse, or a former spouse of the respondent; (ii) A parent, a foster parent, or a child of the respondent, or another person related by consanguinity or affinity to the respondent; (iii) A parent or a child of a spouse, person living as a spouse, or former spouse of the respondent, or another person related by consanguinity or affinity to a spouse, person living as a spouse, or former spouse of the respondent. (b) The natural parent of any child of whom the respondent is the other natural parent or is the putative other natural parent." Section 3113.31(A)(4): "'Person living as a spouse' means a person who is living or has lived with the respondent in a common law marital relationship, who otherwise is cohabiting with the respondent, or who otherwise has cohabited with the respondent within five years prior to the date of the alleged occurrence of the act in question." Section 3113.31(A)(8): "'Dating relationship' means a relationship between individuals who have, or have had, a relationship of a romantic or intimate nature. 'Dating relationship' does not include a casual acquaintanceship or ordinary fraternization in a business or social context." Section 3113.31(A)(9): "'Person with whom the respondent is or was in a dating relationship' means an individual who, at the time of the conduct in question, is in a dating relationship with the respondent who is an adult or who, within the twelve months preceding the conduct in question, has had a dating relationship with the respondent who is an adult." Section 3113.31(C): "A person may seek relief under this section on the person's own behalf, or any parent or adult household member may seek relief under this section on behalf of any other family or household member, by filing a petition with the court."
What you have to show
Ohio Revised Code section 3113.31, current text effective March 23, 2023 as amended by Senate Bill 210 (134th General Assembly); earlier amendments by House Bill 359 (131st GA, effective September 8, 2016), House Bill 1 and House Bill 49 (132nd GA, effective September 29, 2017), and House Bill 425 (132nd GA, effective April 8, 2019). — the groundsOhio Revised Code section 3113.31(C)(1)-(4), what the petition must contain: "(1) An allegation that the respondent engaged in domestic violence against a family or household member of the respondent or against a person with whom the respondent is or was in a dating relationship, including a description of the nature and extent of the domestic violence; (2) The relationship of the respondent to the petitioner, and to the victim if other than the petitioner; (3) If the petition is for protection of a person with whom the respondent is or was in a dating relationship, the facts upon which the court may conclude that a dating relationship existed between the person to be protected and the respondent; (4) A request for relief under this section."
Can I get something today?
ex parte order (temporary protection order pending the full hearing) — before any hearing
This is the order a court can make without the other person present. It is short by design: it holds until a hearing, and the hearing is where the longer order is decided.
The standard the court appliesOhio Revised Code section 3113.31(D)(1): "If a person who files a petition pursuant to this section requests an ex parte order, the court shall hold an ex parte hearing on the same day that the petition is filed. The court, for good cause shown at the ex parte hearing, may enter any temporary orders, with or without bond, including, but not limited to, an order described in division (E)(1)(a), (b), or (c) of this section, that the court finds necessary to protect the family or household member or the person with whom the respondent is or was in a dating relationship from domestic violence. Immediate and present danger of domestic violence to the family or household member or to the person with whom the respondent is or was in a dating relationship constitutes good cause for purposes of this section. Immediate and present danger includes, but is not limited to, situations in which the respondent has threatened the family or household member or person with whom the respondent is or was in a dating relationship with bodily harm, in which the respondent has threatened the family or household member or person with whom the respondent is or was in a dating relationship with a sexually oriented offense, or in which the respondent previously has been convicted of, pleaded guilty to, or been adjudicated a delinquent child for an offense that constitutes domestic violence against the family or household member or person with whom the respondent is or was in a dating relationship."
How long it lastsOhio Revised Code section 3113.31(D)(2)(a): "If the court, after an ex parte hearing, issues an order described in division (E)(1)(b) or (c) of this section, the court shall schedule a full hearing for a date that is within seven court days after the ex parte hearing. If any other type of protection order that is authorized under division (E) of this section is issued by the court after an ex parte hearing, the court shall schedule a full hearing for a date that is within ten court days after the ex parte hearing." Section 3113.31(D)(2)(b): "An ex parte order issued under this section does not expire because of a failure to serve notice of the full hearing upon the respondent before the date set for the full hearing under division (D)(2)(a) of this section or because the court grants a continuance under that division."
Requesting an ex parte order gets a same-day hearing in front of the judge (no notice to the other person beforehand). The court can enter it on a finding of "good cause," and the statute defines immediate and present danger of domestic violence as good cause, giving examples: a threat of bodily harm, a threat of a sexually oriented offense, or a prior conviction, guilty plea, or delinquency adjudication for an act of domestic violence against that same person. How long the temporary order lasts is tied to when the full hearing is set, not a fixed number of days on its own: if the ex parte order excludes the respondent from the residence (division (E)(1)(b) or (c)), the full hearing must be set within seven court days; for any other type of order under division (E), the full hearing must be set within ten court days. The temporary order survives even if the respondent could not be served before that hearing date, or if the court grants a continuance for the reasons the statute lists (no service yet, the parties agree, a party needs time to get a lawyer, or other good cause).
The order after a hearing
How long it lasts, and whether it can be extended
The standard the court appliesOhio Revised Code section 3113.31(E)(1): "After an ex parte or full hearing, the court may grant any protection order, with or without bond, or approve any consent agreement to bring about a cessation of domestic violence against the family or household members or persons with whom the respondent is or was in a dating relationship."
How longOhio Revised Code section 3113.31(E)(3)(a): "Any protection order issued or consent agreement approved under this section shall be valid until a date certain, but not later than five years from the date of its issuance or approval, or not later than the date a respondent who is less than eighteen years of age attains nineteen years of age, unless modified or terminated as provided in division (E)(8) of this section."
Extending or renewing itOhio Revised Code section 3113.31(E)(3)(c): "Any protection order issued or consent agreement approved pursuant to this section may be renewed in the same manner as the original order or agreement was issued or approved."
Ohio's civil protection order has a hard statutory ceiling of five years per order (or, for a respondent who was a minor when the order issued, until they turn nineteen), set by the court at a specific end date rather than defaulting to the maximum. There is no stated cap in the statute on how many times an order can be renewed — renewal simply follows the same filing and hearing process used to get the original order. Either the petitioner or the respondent may separately move to modify or terminate an order that was issued after a full hearing (not an ex parte-only order); section 3113.31(E)(8)(c) lists the factors a court must weigh on such a motion, including whether the petitioner consents, whether the petitioner still fears the respondent, whether the respondent has complied with the order, any new domestic violence convictions, and how much time has passed.
What the judge can actually order
Wider than most people expect. In most states this list reaches the home, the children and money, not just distance.
The statutory list
Ohio Revised Code section 3113.31, current text effective March 23, 2023 as amended by Senate Bill 210 (134th General Assembly); earlier amendments by House Bill 359 (131st GA, effective September 8, 2016), House Bill 1 and House Bill 49 (132nd GA, effective September 29, 2017), and House Bill 425 (132nd GA, effective April 8, 2019). — remediesOhio Revised Code section 3113.31(E)(1)(a)-(k): "(a) Direct the respondent to refrain from abusing or from committing sexually oriented offenses against the family or household members or persons with whom the respondent is or was in a dating relationship; (b) With respect to a petition involving family or household members, grant possession of the residence or household to the petitioner or other family or household member, to the exclusion of the respondent, by evicting the respondent, when the residence or household is owned or leased solely by the petitioner or other family or household member, or by ordering the respondent to vacate the premises, when the residence or household is jointly owned or leased by the respondent, and the petitioner or other family or household member; (c) With respect to a petition involving family or household members, when the respondent has a duty to support the petitioner or other family or household member living in the residence or household and the respondent is the sole owner or lessee of the residence or household, grant possession of the residence or household to the petitioner or other family or household member, to the exclusion of the respondent, by ordering the respondent to vacate the premises, or, in the case of a consent agreement, allow the respondent to provide suitable, alternative housing; (d) With respect to a petition involving family or household members, temporarily allocate parental rights and responsibilities for the care of, or establish temporary parenting time rights with regard to, minor children, if no other court has determined, or is determining, the allocation of parental rights and responsibilities for the minor children or parenting time rights; (e) With respect to a petition involving family or household members, require the respondent to maintain support, if the respondent customarily provides for or contributes to the support of the family or household member, or if the respondent has a duty to support the petitioner or family or household member; (f) Require the respondent, petitioner, victim of domestic violence, or any combination of those persons, to seek counseling; (g) Require the respondent to refrain from entering the residence, school, business, or place of employment of the petitioner or, with respect to a petition involving family or household members, a family or household member; (h) Grant other relief that the court considers equitable and fair, including, but not limited to, ordering the respondent to permit the use of a motor vehicle by the petitioner or, with respect to a petition involving family or household members, other family or household members and the apportionment of household and family personal property; (i) Require that the respondent not remove, damage, hide, harm, or dispose of any companion animal owned or possessed by the petitioner; (j) Authorize the petitioner to remove a companion animal owned by the petitioner from the possession of the respondent; (k) Require a wireless service transfer in accordance with sections 3113.45 to 3113.459 of the Revised Code."
Firearms
What Ohio’s own law says
This is genuinely unusual and worth a reader's attention: unlike New York and Pennsylvania, the text of Ohio Revised Code section 3113.31 does not itself order a respondent to surrender firearms, does not create a state relinquishment, safekeeping, or third-party-transfer mechanism, and does not direct a sheriff to take custody of weapons. The only firearms-related requirement written into the civil protection order statute is that the court must give both parties the notice quoted above — that federal law, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(8), may already make it a crime for a person subject to certain protection orders to possess or buy a firearm, and that they should ask a lawyer. Enforcement and confiscation, if any, therefore rest on federal law and on the discretion the court otherwise has, rather than on a dedicated state relinquishment statute. A bill that would have changed this, House Bill 335 of the 133rd General Assembly, was introduced on the Ohio General Assembly's own site with the stated purpose "to require a person who is subject to a civil or criminal domestic violence temporary protection order to surrender the person's firearms," and would have amended sections 2919.26 and 3113.31 and enacted new sections 2919.261 and 3113.311; the bill's own status page shows it was introduced in the House and never advanced past that stage, so it never became law. We did not find, and are not aware of, a later-enacted Ohio statute that fills this gap as of this research date.
Ohio Revised Code section 3113.31, current text effective March 23, 2023 as amended by Senate Bill 210 (134th General Assembly); earlier amendments by House Bill 359 (131st GA, effective September 8, 2016), House Bill 1 and House Bill 49 (132nd GA, effective September 29, 2017), and House Bill 425 (132nd GA, effective April 8, 2019). — firearmsOhio Revised Code section 3113.31(F)(2): "Upon the issuance of a protection order or the approval of a consent agreement under this section, the court shall provide the parties to the order or agreement with the following notice orally or by form: 'NOTICE. As a result of this order or consent agreement, it may be unlawful for you to possess or purchase a firearm, including a rifle, pistol, or revolver, or ammunition pursuant to federal law under 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(8) for the duration of this order or consent agreement. If you have any questions whether this law makes it illegal for you to possess or purchase a firearm or ammunition, you should consult an attorney.'"
▸ See how this compares — all 50 states, side by side
What it costs
Fees
This no-fee rule is written directly into the civil protection order statute itself, not left to a court-system policy page. It covers the filing fee and every downstream cost named — issuance, registering the order in another county, modifying it, enforcing it, dismissing or withdrawing it, serving it, a subpoena for a witness, and even getting a certified copy — for the petitioner. Section 3113.31(J)(2) separately allows the court to assess costs against the respondent in connection with those same steps, and section 3113.31(E)(8)(e) allows the court to assess costs against a respondent whose own motion to modify or terminate the order is denied.
Ohio Revised Code section 3113.31, current text effective March 23, 2023 as amended by Senate Bill 210 (134th General Assembly); earlier amendments by House Bill 359 (131st GA, effective September 8, 2016), House Bill 1 and House Bill 49 (132nd GA, effective September 29, 2017), and House Bill 425 (132nd GA, effective April 8, 2019). — feesOhio Revised Code section 3113.31(J)(1): "Subject to divisions (E)(8)(e) and (J)(2) of this section and regardless of whether a protection order is issued or a consent agreement is approved by a court of another county or a court of another state, no court or unit of state or local government shall charge the petitioner any fee, cost, deposit, or money in connection with the filing of a petition pursuant to this section or in connection with the filing, issuance, registration, modification, enforcement, dismissal, withdrawal, or service of a protection order, consent agreement, or witness subpoena or for obtaining a certified copy of a protection order or consent agreement."
If they break it
What a violation is, and what it carries
Ohio Revised Code section 3113.31, current text effective March 23, 2023 as amended by Senate Bill 210 (134th General Assembly); earlier amendments by House Bill 359 (131st GA, effective September 8, 2016), House Bill 1 and House Bill 49 (132nd GA, effective September 29, 2017), and House Bill 425 (132nd GA, effective April 8, 2019). — violationOhio Revised Code section 2919.27(A): "No person shall recklessly violate the terms of any of the following: (1) A protection order issued or consent agreement approved pursuant to section 2919.26 or 3113.31 of the Revised Code; (2) A protection order issued pursuant to section 2151.34, 2903.213, or 2903.214 of the Revised Code; (3) A protection order issued by a court of another state." Section 2919.27(B): "(1) Whoever violates this section is guilty of violating a protection order. (2) Except as otherwise provided in division (B)(3) or (4) of this section, violating a protection order is a misdemeanor of the first degree. (3) Violating a protection order is a felony of the fifth degree if the offender previously has been convicted of, pleaded guilty to, or been adjudicated a delinquent child for any of the following: (a) A violation of a protection order issued or consent agreement approved pursuant to section 2151.34, 2903.213, 2903.214, 2919.26, or 3113.31 of the Revised Code; (b) Two or more violations of section 2903.21, 2903.211, 2903.22, or 2911.211 of the Revised Code, or any combination of those offenses, that involved the same person who is the subject of the protection order or consent agreement; (c) One or more violations of this section. (4) If the offender violates a protection order or consent agreement while committing a felony offense, violating a protection order is a felony of the third degree."
Worth knowing about Ohio
Three things stand out about Ohio's approach. First, the firearms gap described above: Ohio requires the federal-law notice but, unlike many other states, has no state-statute mechanism ordering relinquishment, and a 2019-2020 bill that would have added one (House Bill 335) never passed. Second, Ohio's civil stalking protection order, described below, includes a distinctly Ohio feature not found in the domestic-violence statute: a court may order the respondent to be electronically monitored (GPS-tracked) for a period the court sets, if it finds by clear and convincing evidence that the respondent's past conduct endangered the protected person's health, welfare, or safety and that the respondent presents a continuing danger. Third, Ohio's domestic-violence definition folds a "dating relationship" category into the same statute and the same order (section 3113.31(A)(1)(b)), rather than routing daters to a separate order the way some states do — but several major forms of relief (housing, custody, and support) remain available only to family or household members, not to a petitioner protected solely because of a dating relationship, which is a distinction worth a reader's attention.
The part that is the same in every state
An order from one state works in all of them
This is federal law and it does not change at a state line. An order issued by one state, tribe or territory must be enforced by every other as if that state had issued it. And you do not have to register it in the new state first — registration is optional, not a precondition to enforcement.
18 U.S.C. s. 2265(a)Any protection order issued that is consistent with subsection (b) of this section by the court of one State, Indian tribe, or territory (the issuing State, Indian tribe, or territory) shall be accorded full faith and credit by the court of another State, Indian tribe, or territory (the enforcing State, Indian tribe, or territory) and enforced by the court and law enforcement personnel of the other State, Indian tribal government or Territory as if it were the order of the enforcing State or tribe.
18 U.S.C. s. 2265(d)(2)Any protection order that is otherwise consistent with this section shall be accorded full faith and credit, notwithstanding failure to comply with any requirement that the order be registered or filed in the enforcing State, tribal, or territorial jurisdiction.
The same section also says the enforcing state must not tell the restrained person that the order has been registered there unless the protected person asks it to, and must not publish anything online that would be likely to reveal the protected person’s identity or location.
The federal firearms rule needs a hearing first
This is the single most misunderstood point in the whole subject, and it cuts against what most people assume. The federal prohibition at 18 U.S.C. s. 922(g)(8) reaches a person subject to an order only where three things are true: the order was made after a hearing of which they had actual notice and at which they had a chance to take part; it restrains them in relation to an intimate partner or that partner’s child; and it either carries a credible-threat finding or expressly forbids the use of force.
So an emergency or ex parte order does not trigger the federal prohibition on its own — there has been no hearing yet. State law may go further, and many states do, which is why the state rule is set out on this page separately. In United States v. Rahimi (2024) the Supreme Court upheld s. 922(g)(8), holding that “When an individual has been found by a court to pose a credible threat to the physical safety of another, that individual may be temporarily disarmed consistent with the Second Amendment.”
This rule is narrower than it looks, and the detail matters. Who counts as an “intimate partner” is a defined term that excludes dating partners you never lived with; the two halves of the third condition are not equally settled after Rahimi; and there is a separate federal route based on convictions rather than orders, which does reach dating partners. We set all of it out, quoted from the United States Code, on one page: Guns and protection orders — the federal rule.
How does this state compare? Ten states do nothing at all about firearms on a protection order; fourteen prohibit possession but give the court no way to collect them. All fifty side by side: which states actually take the guns.
You should not be charged for this — in any state
This is settled, and it is worth knowing before you walk into a courthouse. Under 34 U.S.C. s. 10450, a state applying for STOP grant funding must certify to the Attorney General that its "laws, policies, and practices do not require" a victim to bear the costs associated with the filing, issuance, registration, modification, enforcement, dismissal, withdrawal or service of a protection order or a petition for one — nor the costs of filing criminal charges, or of warrants and witness subpoenas. A jurisdiction that does charge has its funds withheld and redistributed to the states that do not.
Every state receives STOP funding and every state has certified compliance. The practical consequence, in the words of the National Center on Protection Orders and Full Faith & Credit, is that victims "should not be required to pay such costs in any state". That covers having the papers served on the other person, which is the charge people are most often asked for.
Two honest qualifications. The provision does not stop a court charging the respondent — many states order costs against them, and that is permitted. And it is a funding condition rather than a direct federal ban, so what a clerk does on a given day can still be wrong. If you are asked to pay a fee for any of the things listed above, you can say that your state has certified under 34 U.S.C. s. 10450 that it does not charge for them. Advocates can also raise it with the National Center on Protection Orders and Full Faith & Credit on 1-800-903-0111, prompt 2.
Where this state’s own statute says so expressly, that is quoted above.
Checked 29 August 2026How we checked this page
Every quotation above was read in the source named in the Authority line, not taken from a summary or another website. Where a source would not open, we say so at the point we relied on something else.
On this date we also re-checked every section cited above for repeal, renumbering or amendment since 2024. That sweep is not decorative: it is what caught North Dakota’s protection order chapter being repealed and replaced, Nebraska’s moving to an entirely new title, and a dozen 2025 and 2026 amendments that most published guidance has not yet picked up.
Nothing is outstanding on the main questions for Ohio. What we cannot promise is that nothing has changed since this date. Quote the words with confidence; check a section number before you put it in a filing. And if anything here does not match what a clerk or judge tells you, the court is right and we are wrong — tell us and we will fix it.
We keep a public record of every time we have got the law wrong on these pages, what caused it, and how long it was live: where we were wrong.
If there are children
What Ohio presumes about custody, and the emergency jurisdiction that exists when someone has to leave the state.
Know someone in Ohio staring at this number?
A straight answer about money is more useful than most advice, and it costs nothing to pass along. Nothing here asks for their real name, and nobody finds out they looked.