Peace Orders

After an interim peace order is granted, the case will be set for a temporary peace order in one of the District Courts.  A temporary hearing is typically set within two business days of the commissioner signing the interim order.  Juvenile peace orders are handled in the Circuit Court but should still be heard within a few days.  At the temporary peace order hearing the judge will take testimony from the petitioner unless the respondent consents to the order.  The judge may take this testimony even if the respondent is not present (ex parte hearing), and the order will be granted if the respondent establishes reasonable grounds.  In cases where the respondent is facing criminal charges related to the same incident or wants to resolve the issue there may be a consent agreement and the case will be closed.  If there is no agreement between the parties the judge will ask whether both are ready to proceed to the final hearing.  Each party must agree to waive the temporary hearing and proceed to the final.  We typically recommend skipping the temporary and going straight to the final because the standard of proof is much higher.  In other words, the judge will require much stronger evidence to grant a final peace order.  There may be some select circumstance where a temporary hearing is beneficial, and Benjamin can explain this in more detail after hearing about the facts of your case.  In these cases the final hearing will be set about a week after the temporary.