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Under Minnesota law, harassment includes incidents of assault, stalking, intrusive or unwanted acts, targeted residential picketing or other patterns of harassing behavior. A person who has been the victim of harassment has the right to apply for a harassment restraining order.
Here’s how the process works:
- Fill out forms: You’ll need to fill out the Petitioner’s Affidavit and Petition for Restraining Order with as much information as possible, including as many dates, places, times and specifics as you can remember. It will help you if you have thoroughly documented every incident of harassment you’ve experienced.
- File the forms: File this form with the court administrator, either in your county of residence or the county in which the incident(s) of harassment occurred. You’ll need to pay a filing fee unless the petition alleges acts that would be categorized as felonies or gross misdemeanors. Low-income filers can also request the filing fees be waived by filing an IFP (fee waiver) form, which is provided by the court administrator.
- Getting the restraining order: Once you’ve filed the paperwork, the court administrator passes it on to a judge to review them. The judge will either issue the restraining order, dismiss the case or schedule a hearing with or without a temporary order put in place. If the judge finds your petition included sufficient factual evidence to support a restraining order, the order will be put in place for two years or less. It will stay in effect for the entire stated period unless you or the respondent request a hearing.
- Service: A sheriff or law enforcement agent serves the respondent a copy of the restraining order, at no expense to the petitioner.
For more information about the process of filing for a restraining order, speak with an experienced Minnesota family law attorney at Appelhof, Pfeifer & Hart, P.A.
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