What Happens if You Violate a Restraining Order in New York?

If you violate a restraining order in New York, you could be charged with a new criminal offense and incur a variety of penalties and legal consequences. To learn more and secure knowledgeable legal counsel, reach out to a Ramapo criminal defense attorney today.

What is a Restraining Order?

A restraining order is a legal order issued by either a family or criminal court in New York. Formally referred to as an Order of Protection, this document is used to protect a person from another individual and prohibit the restrained person from harming the protected person.

This type of order can do many things, including ordering the restrained person to refrain from contacting the protected person, being within a certain distance of their home, workplace, school, or other places, surrender firearms, move out of a shared residence, and more.

Restraining orders are issued to individuals who have experienced stalking, harassment, abuse, etc. at the hands of another person. These orders can be temporary and expire after a set time or be replaced by a final order, later to be renewed.

What Happens if You Violate a Restraining Order in NY?

When you violate a restraining order in New York, you are committing the crime of contempt to disobey a temporary or final Order of Protection. If the protected person calls the police on you for violating the order, they must make an arrest if there is reasonable cause that you violated the terms. If you committed another crime in tandem with the violation, additional charges can be filed.

You could be charged with either second-degree criminal contempt, first-degree criminal contempt, or aggravated criminal contempt for violating an Order of Protection. The definitions can be found in New York Code Sections 215.0, 215.51, and 215.52. Consider the following.

• Second-degree criminal contempt: Intentionally disobeying or resisting the lawful process or other mandate of a court
• First-degree criminal contempt: Intentionally placing or attempting to place a person in reasonable fear of physical injury, serious physical injury, or death, or with intent to harass, annoy, threaten, or alarm a person repeatedly, makes phone calls or physical contact with a person
• Aggravated criminal contempt: Intentionally or recklessly causing physical injury or serious physical injury to a person, or committing a second or subsequent offense of first-degree criminal contempt

What Are the Penalties for Violating a Restraining Order?

You can face significant legal penalties for violating a restraining order in New York. Depending on the severity level of the offense, you could incur the following.

• Second-degree criminal contempt: Class A misdemeanor, up to 1 year of imprisonment and fines of up to $1,000
• First-degree criminal contempt: Class E felony, up to 4 years of imprisonment and fines of up to $5,000
• Aggravated criminal contempt: Class D felony, up to 7 years of imprisonment and fines of up to $5,000

For more information and to secure legal representation during your case, contact an attorney at the Law Office of Kevin T. Conway today.