Orders of Protection in Arizona: How They Work, on Both Sides

Who qualifies, and for what

An order of protection under A.R.S. § 13-3602 requires a qualifying relationship between the parties — spouses and former spouses, people who live or lived together, people with a child in common, relatives, and romantic or sexual partners. It is the same relationship test that makes a criminal charge a domestic violence offense. Between people with no qualifying relationship — neighbors, coworkers, acquaintances — the equivalent tool is an injunction against harassment.

How one is issued

The petition is prepared through AZPOINT, Arizona’s online portal, and presented to a judge in any municipal, justice, or superior court — the judge decides the same day, ex parte, based only on the petitioner’s sworn statements. If granted, the order takes effect when law enforcement serves it, and it lasts two years from service. It can bar contact, exclude the defendant from a shared home and workplace, and prohibit firearm possession.

If you have been served: the hearing is everything

A served defendant may request one contested hearing, where the petitioner must prove the allegations and both sides can present evidence and cross-examine. This hearing is routinely treated too casually — but the order’s consequences are not casual: firearm loss, exclusion from your own home, and real weight in any custody case, since findings of domestic violence feed the § 25-403.03 presumption. Violating the order, even at the other person’s invitation, is a crime.

How this interacts with a criminal case

Orders of protection often run alongside a criminal domestic violence charge and a family court case at once — three proceedings about the same facts, where testimony in one can be used in the others. They need one coordinated strategy, which is exactly the situation a firm handling both family law and criminal defense is built for.