Domestic Violence means any assault, aggravated assault, battery, aggravated battery, sexual assault, sexual battery, stalking, aggravated stalking, or any criminal offense resulting in physical injury or death of one family or household member by another who is or was residing in the same single dwelling unit.

Your relationship with the person whom the injunction is being filed against must be that of a spouse, an ex-spouse, a relative by blood or marriage or a person who lives or has lived with you in the same dwelling as a family unit, anyone who lives or has lived with you in the same dwelling as a family unit, or anyone with whom you have had a child, with or without having lived together.

Domestic Violence must have occurred between you and this person or you must have reasonable cause to believe that domestic violence is about to occur between you and this person in order to be eligible to obtain an injunction under this statute.

An assault does not have to be physical violence. An assault can occur if someone intentionally threatens to cause you physical violence, even if they do not touch you. This threat must be by word or act and the person threatening you must have done something to make you believe that this violence is about to happen. If the person uses a deadly weapon when committing this act, it is an aggravated assault.

An act of Domestic Violence becomes a battery when someone intentionally touches you without your permission. If that person’s touching you causes you great bodily harm or permanent disability or disfigurement, or if the person uses a deadly weapon, or if you were pregnant and the person knew or should have known, the act becomes an aggravated battery.

If someone purposefully follows or harasses you repeatedly over a period of time for no legitimate purpose, which causes you a great amount of emotional stress, they have committed the act of stalking. If in doing this they threaten your life or threaten to cause injury to you, with the intent to cause you to reasonably fear for your safety, then the act becomes Aggravated Stalking.

Anyone can be eligible to obtain an injunction under this statute if two (2) incidents of stalking, assault, battery, or sexual battery have occurred, but one (1) of the incidents must have occurred within the last six (6) months.

After filling out the paperwork which has been given to you, you will be assisted in completing a petition for an injunction.

If a judge decides you meet the statutory requirements for the injunction, the judge will issue a Temporary Injunction, valid for fifteen (15) days, before you leave today. A hearing will be set within fifteen (15) days, and at that hearing, the judge will decide whether to grant a Permanent Injunction. If a Permanent Injunction is granted, it will be good indefinitely or until dissolved by the Court. A sheriff will try to serve the respondent with a copy of the pertinent court documents.

If the judge decides you do not meet the statutory requirements for the Temporary Injunction, you may still request a hearing where you and the respondent will appear before the judge. A sheriff will try to serve the respondent with a copy of the pertinent court document. However, you will not have the protection of an injunction during the time prior to the hearing.