Office of the DeKalb County District Attorney

Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit

Sherry Boston, District Attorney

Step One: Qualification

Home   Victim Assistance   Program Overview   Protective Orders   Step One: Qualification

Process
  • The person filing for either petition for protection must be an adult over the age of 18 or an emancipated minor.
  • The petition must be filed in the county in which the offender (Respondent) lives. The only exception is if the defendant lives out of state. Then the petition may be filed in the county in which the violent act/stalking occurred.
  • Family Violence Temporary Protective Order
    • The relationship between the parties must be one defined under the Family Violence Act O.C.G.A. §19-13-1 for a Family Violence Temporary Protective Order:
      • Past or present spouses
      • Persons who are parents of the same child
      • Parents and children
      • Stepparents and stepchildren
      • Foster parents and foster children
      • Other persons living or formerly living in the same household
    • The violence within the relationship must be one defined under the Family Violence Act O.C.G.A. §19-13-1 for a Family Violence Temporary Protective Order:
      • Any felony
      • Battery (O.C.G.A. §16-5-23.1)
      • Simple battery (O.C.G.A. §16-5-23)
      • Simple assault (O.C.G.A. §16-5-20)
      • Assault
      • Stalking (O.C.G.A. §16-5-90)
      • Criminal damage to property, second degree (O.C.G.A. §16-7-23)
      • Unlawful restraint
      • Criminal trespass (O.C.G.A. §16-7-21)
  • Stalking Temporary Protective Order
    • A person commits the offense of stalking when he or she follows, places under surveillance, or contacts another person at or about a place or places without the consent of the other person for the purpose of harassing and intimidating the other person. Harassing and intimidating means a knowing and willful course of conduct directed at a specific person which causes emotional distress by placing such person in reasonable fear for such person’s safety or the safety of a member of his or her immediate family, by establishing a pattern of harassing and intimidating behavior, and which serves no legitimate purpose.