Stalking seems to be more prevalent today than it was in the past. Certainly, the rise in cell phone use and texting provides those so inclined to exhibit stalking behavior with a readily available conduit to further their harrasment of others. Today's blog post focuses on Stalking Protective Orders.
Stalking Protective Orders are authorized pursuant to the Stalking Statutes, located at O.C.G.A. §§ 16-5-90 and 16-5-94. The following is a listing of the types of civil relief available when such an order is obtained.
· A party can be restrained from stalking conduct
· A party can be restrained from harassing or interfering with another party
· A party can be awarded costs and attorney’s fees
· A party can be required to undergo psychiatric counseling
If you read my previous blog post, you will note that the relief available is not nearly as broad as the relief available under a Family Violence Protective Order.
In order to seek relief under this type of TPO, only one requirement must be met:
· There must be an Act of Stalking.
o An Act of Stalking is defined at O.C.G.A. § 16-5-90. An act of stalking is committed when a person:
§ Follows, places under surveillance, or contacts a person
§ At or about a place or places
§ Without the consent of that person
§ For the purpose of harassing and intimidating the other person
o Unlike a Family Violence Protective Order, a Required Relationship is not required.
o An overt threat of death or an act of violence is not required.
To break it down, harassing and intimidating behavior, pursuant to the Stalking Statutes, is:
· A knowing and willful course of conduct
· Directed at a specific person
· Which causes emotional distress by placing him/her in reasonable fear for his/her safety or the safety of a member of his/her immediate family
· By establishing a pattern of harassing and intimidating conduct
o A pattern requires a showing of more than one isolated incident
· Which serves no legitimate purpose
If an abuser is a non-Georgia resident, the pattern of harassing and intimidating behavior must involve more than telephone calls made from out-of-state to a Georgia victim.
The party requesting the TPO (the alleged victim) is referred to as the Petitioner in court-filed documents; the party responding to the TPO (the alleged abuser) is referred to as the Respondent. (A subsequent blog post in this series will outline the process of obtaining a Stalking Protective Order.)
Several features of a Stalking Protective Order are similar to those of a Family Violence Protective Order. First, a valid TPO is entitled to full faith and credit under Article IV, Section 1, of the U.S. Constitution. This means that a TPO shall be enforced wherever a violation occurs, even if the TPO was issued in another jurisdiction. For example, a TPO issued in Fulton County, Georgia, will be enforced even if a violation occurs in Bibb County, Georgia; a TPO issued in Georgia will be enforced even if a violation occurs in California; a TPO issued in New York will be enforced even if a violation occurs in Georgia, etc., etc. A valid TPO is one that is issued by a court having proper jurisdiction over the parties and the subject matter after the respondent received notice of the petition and was afforded due process.
The enforcement features of a Stalking Protective Order allow violations to be swiftly addressed. All Stalking Protective Orders are listed on a protective order registry and placed on the record of the party subject to the order. This information is readily accessible by law enforcement for purposes of enforcing the terms of the order. Further, certain violations may subject the violator to criminal enforcement. When a party subject to the order, without the victim’s consent, commits a violation of the order to harass or intimidate the victim, he/she may be charged with a misdemeanor offense for violation of the TPO. Some violations may even subject the respondent to a felony arrest for Aggravated Stalking pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 16-5-91! These features provide a strong incentive for an abuser to remain in compliance with the terms of the Stalking Protective Order.
Unlike a Family Violence Protective Order, however, a Stalking Protective Order will not include a federal prohibition against possession of a firearm, nor will it include mandatory family violence counseling.
I hope that this blog post has provided you with some insight as to the definition of a Stalking Protective Order, the types of relief available under such an order, the requirements necessary to seek such an order, and the applicable enforcement features. Stay tuned for the next post in this series which will discuss the process for petitioning for a civil temporary protective order.
