Served With a PPO in Michigan: What to Do Next

If you have been served with a Michigan personal protection order (PPO), the order is already in effect. A PPO is effective and immediately enforceable anywhere in the state once a judge signs it.^[1] If it was issued ex parte, meaning without notice to you, you may file a motion to modify or terminate it and request a hearing within 14 days after you were served or received actual notice of the order.^[2]

Being served with a PPO is not a criminal charge, and a judge who issued the order ex parte has heard only one side so far.^[6][7] The steps below explain what the paper means, what the deadlines are, and how to stay in compliance while you decide what to do.

Step 1: Work out which document you received

Two different sets of papers are served in PPO cases, and they call for different responses.

What you received	What it means	What comes next
A signed Personal Protection Order (for example, form CC 376 or CC 380)	An order is in force against you now.[1][8]	You may file a motion to modify or terminate an ex parte order within 14 days after service or actual notice.[2]
A petition with a notice of hearing (form CC 381)	No order has been entered yet; the court has scheduled a hearing on the petition.[9][8]	Attend the hearing. If the respondent fails to appear and the court finds the petitioner made diligent attempts at service, the order may be entered without further notice.[10]

Notice of a hearing on the petition can be short. One day before the hearing is deemed sufficient notice for a domestic relationship or nondomestic stalking petition, and two days for a nondomestic sexual assault petition.^[11] The hearing itself is described in What to expect at a PPO hearing.

Step 2: Read the order line by line

PPOs are not all the same. A judge selects which kinds of conduct to restrain from a statutory list.^[12] Under MCR 3.706(A), the order must state:

• the conduct that is enjoined;^[13]
• that the order is effective when signed and enforceable immediately anywhere in Michigan;^[13]
• that a violation subjects the respondent to immediate arrest and, on a finding of criminal contempt, up to 93 days in jail and a fine of up to $500;^[13]
• an expiration date stated clearly on the face of the order;^[13]
• the law enforcement agency designated to enter it into the Law Enforcement Information Network (LEIN);^[13]
• for an ex parte order, that the respondent may file a motion to modify or terminate within 14 days after service or actual notice, and that motion forms and filing instructions are available from the clerk of the court.^[13]

Look for three things in particular: whether the order bars you from a home or other premises, whether it restricts firearms, and whether it affects contact with children. A firearm prohibition applies only if the judge included it.^[14] What each possible term means is explained in What a PPO can prohibit.

Step 3: Comply from the first minute

An adult who fails to comply with a PPO is subject to immediate arrest and the criminal contempt powers of the court.^[15] A police officer may arrest without a warrant on reasonable cause to believe the respondent is violating or has violated the order.^[16] Disagreeing with the order, or planning to challenge it, does not change that: a PPO stays in force until it expires or a judge terminates it.^[17]

Some points that respondents commonly misjudge:

• Contact started by the petitioner. The order restrains only you. The Court of Appeals has said that a person who holds a PPO is under no obligation to act in a certain way and that the court must look only to the behavior of the person the PPO is against.^[5] See When the protected person wants contact.
• "The petitioner said it was dropped." A petitioner ends a PPO by filing a motion to terminate it, which the court then decides.^[17] Until there is a signed order saying so, treat the PPO as active.
• Repeated contact. If conduct amounts to stalking and at least one of the acts violates a restraining order the person has actual notice of, the offense is aggravated stalking, a felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison.^[18]

A practical approach is to stop all direct and indirect communication, keep the order with you, save rather than answer any messages you receive, and raise questions about belongings, the home, or children through the court rather than with the petitioner.

Step 4: Decide whether to ask for a hearing, and watch the deadline

A respondent challenges a PPO by filing a motion to modify or terminate it. The timing rules are:

• Within 14 days. A respondent may file the motion and request a hearing within 14 days after being served with, or receiving actual notice of, an ex parte PPO.^[2] An officer who tells an unserved respondent about the order must record in the Law Enforcement Information Network that the respondent has actual notice of it.^[19]
• After 14 days. A later motion requires a showing of good cause. The same is true of a motion directed at a PPO that was issued after a hearing.^[3]
• The hearing date. The court must schedule a hearing within 14 days after the motion is filed.^[20]
• Serving the motion. The moving party must serve the motion and notice of hearing at least 7 days before the hearing date.^[21]

The form is SCAO form CC 379, Motion to Modify, Extend, or Terminate Personal Protection Order.^[8] There is no motion fee.^[4] The process is laid out in How to fight or terminate a PPO.

At a hearing on a timely motion to terminate an ex parte PPO, the petitioner bears the burden of justifying continuation of the order.^[22] Due process requires that the respondent be allowed to present evidence and to know and respond to the evidence offered, including by cross-examining the petitioner.^[23] Preparation is covered in Preparing for a PPO hearing as the respondent.

If you have children with the petitioner

A PPO takes precedence over any existing custody or parenting time order until the PPO expires or the court with jurisdiction over custody modifies its order to accommodate the PPO.^[24] If you want the existing custody or parenting time order changed, the motion goes to the court that has the custody case, and the hearing must be held within 21 days after the motion is filed.^[25] See PPOs, children, and parenting time.

If the order mentions firearms

A PPO may prohibit purchasing or possessing a firearm.^[14] Separately, a person who is the subject of a PPO is disqualified from a Michigan concealed pistol license, and a PPO entered into LEIN after notice and an opportunity for a hearing disqualifies a person from a license to purchase a firearm.^[26][27] A federal statute applies to certain orders issued after a hearing.^[28] These rules are explained in PPOs and firearms.

If you work in law enforcement or corrections

If the respondent is identified in the pleadings as a law enforcement officer, the clerk must notify the officer's employing agency about the PPO; the clerk must also notify the Department of Corrections if the respondent is identified as one of its employees.^[29] Where the PPO prohibits firearms and the respondent is in one of the listed occupations, the court must schedule the hearing on a motion to modify or rescind within 5 days after the motion is filed.^[20]

If there is also a criminal case

A PPO and a criminal case are separate proceedings. A criminal court can impose its own protective conditions on a defendant's release, and those conditions are not a PPO.^[30] Each order has to be followed for as long as it is in place. See No-contact orders explained and PPO vs. no-contact order vs. restraining order.

A hearing on a PPO petition is held on the record.^[10] A respondent who also faces charges has reason to get legal advice before testifying; see The right to a lawyer.

What people get wrong

"The deadline is 21 days." The respondent's period is 14 days from service or actual notice.^[2]

"It does not count until it is served." The order is enforceable when signed. The protection for an unserved respondent is narrower: an opportunity to comply before a custodial arrest.^[1][19]

"Once the deadline passes, nothing can be done." A motion can still be filed after 14 days, with a showing of good cause.^[3]

"Ignoring it will make it go away." A PPO stays in force until it expires or a judge terminates it, and the petitioner may ask the court to extend it.^[17][31] See How long a PPO lasts and PPO violation penalties.