Utah

How to Get Protection

What kind of domestic violence protective orders are available?

Utah courts can issue four types of domestic violence protective orders. In most of these orders, the court can help protect you from gun violence or threats of gun violence by an intimate partner:

• Ex parte protective orders1*
• Ex parte dating violence protective orders2*
• Final protective orders3*
• Final dating violence protective orders4*

Respondents* to final protective orders are prohibited from purchasing or possessing* firearms.5 Utah courts can prohibit some respondents to ex parte protective orders and final dating protective orders from possessing firearms.6

In ex parte protective orders, final protective orders, and final dating violence protective orders, courts can also order whatever relief*they deem necessary to protect you, which can include requiring respondents to get rid of their firearms.6

How can you get a protective order?

Click here to see if you are eligible for a protective order in Utah and here to see if you are eligible for a dating violence protective order in Utah.

You can find out more about how to get protection here or at WomensLaw.org.

You can find your local court here.

Court forms can be found here, or you can fill them out online and print them out to bring to court.

What do I do if I do not qualify for protection as a victim of domestic violence or dating violence but I still need protection from someone?

If you do not qualify for protection as a victim of domestic violence or dating violence but need protection from someone (including a stranger, an acquaintance, or another person not covered under a domestic violence or dating violence protective order), you might qualify for some other type of order. Contact VictimConnect at (855) 484-2846 or a lawyer for more information. You can find a lawyer through the Utah Bar Association’s website. If you cannot afford a lawyer, contact Utah Legal Services online or at (800) 662-4245 or find a legal clinic here.

How can the court help protect you?

In Utah, respondents* to final protective orders are prohibited from possessing* firearms.8 A court can prohibit a respondent to an ex parte* protective order or final dating violence protective order from purchasing or possessing firearms in certain circumstances.9

Utah courts can also order whatever relief* they deem necessary to protect you10, except that in an ex parte dating violence protective order, they cannot prohibit respondents from possessing firearms.11 Some of the things a court can order include:

• Requiring the respondent to turn over his/her/their firearms to local law enforcement immediately;
• Ordering law enforcement to retrieve the respondent’s firearms if the respondent does not turn them in as ordered;
• Requiring the respondent to appear before the court to self-report turning over their firearms as ordered;
• Directing law enforcement to follow up with the respondent to make sure the respondent turned over their guns as ordered;
• Scheduling a follow up compliance hearing* to ensure that the respondent has not accessed additional firearms since the order was issued;
• Ordering law enforcement to go to your home at scheduled times to check in on your safety;
• Ordering the respondent to stay away from you, your children, your family, and anyone else in immediate danger, based on the threats and/or actions of the respondent;
• Ordering the respondent not to hurt you or threaten to hurt you in the future;
• Anything else you need to be safe.

How will the court know what you need to protect you from the respondent’s firearms violence?

In your petition* and during any of the hearings* you participate in when you are seeking protection, you will have the opportunity to tell the court about the respondent’s* threats or acts of abuse, especially ones involving firearms. Every situation is different, and it is important to talk to a lawyer about your specific situation. You can find a lawyer through the Utah Bar Association’s website. If you cannot afford a lawyer, contact Utah Legal Services online or at (800) 662-4245.

Your story will help the court decide what relief* to give you. Whether you are filling out court forms or speaking directly to the court, it is important to tell the court about the violence you experienced (working with your lawyer, if you have one), especially if the respondent used or threatened to use a firearm against you, a member of your family, any member of the community, or your pet. Among other things, this may include telling the court:

• About incidents of physical violence or threats of physical violence and include dates wherever you can;
• How the respondent used firearms to hurt or threaten you, your family, your pet(s), or anyone in the community;
• If you fear that the respondent may use firearms violence or threats of firearms violence in the future;
• If the respondent has threatened to harm him/her/themself. This may be a sign that the respondent intends to use a dangerous weapon like a firearm against you, themself, or other people;
• If you can, the type(s), number, and location of firearms the respondent has access to.