Types of PPOs in Michigan: Domestic, Stalking, and Sexual Assault

Michigan has three types of personal protection order (PPO): the domestic relationship PPO, the nondomestic stalking PPO, and the nondomestic sexual assault PPO.^[1] The Michigan Judicial Institute's benchbook describes them as "distinguished by the categories of persons who may be restrained."^[1] Choosing the right type matters because each has its own eligibility rule, its own petition form, and its own test for the judge.

If you are in immediate danger, call 911. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is free and confidential, and it answers around the clock at 1-800-799-7233 or by texting START to 88788.^[6]

The three types side by side

	Domestic relationship	Nondomestic stalking	Nondomestic sexual assault
Statute	MCL 600.2950	MCL 600.2950a(1)	MCL 600.2950a(2)[1]
Relationship needed	Spouse or former spouse, child in common, dating relationship, or same household[2]	None; the order can be sought against any individual[3]	None stated; the grounds turn on a sexual assault conviction or on an actual or threatened sexual assault[5]
What the court looks for	Reasonable cause to believe the respondent may commit a listed act[7]	A petition alleging facts that constitute stalking, aggravated stalking, or unlawful posting[3]	A conviction, or a petition alleging facts showing the respondent perpetrated or threatened sexual assault[5]
Petition and order forms	CC 375 and CC 376	CC 377 and CC 380	CC 395 and CC 396[8]

Domestic relationship PPOs (MCL 600.2950)

Who can be restrained

Under MCL 600.2950(1), an individual may petition for a PPO against a spouse, a former spouse, an individual with whom he or she has had a child in common, an individual with whom he or she has or has had a dating relationship, or an individual residing or having resided in the same household.^[2] The household category is written without any reference to romance, so it reaches people who simply live or lived together.^[2]

"Dating relationship" has a statutory definition: "frequent, intimate associations primarily characterized by the expectation of affectional involvement." A casual relationship, or ordinary fraternization between two people in a business or social context, does not qualify.^[9] The criminal domestic assault statute, MCL 750.81(2), uses a similar list of relationships.^[10] That list is discussed in Who is covered by a domestic relationship and What counts as a dating relationship.

The test the judge applies

The court "shall issue" a domestic relationship PPO if it determines there is reasonable cause to believe the respondent may commit one or more of the acts listed in MCL 600.2950(1).^[7] In making that decision the court must consider the testimony, documents, or other evidence offered, and whether the respondent has previously committed or threatened to commit a listed act.^[11]

The petitioner bears the burden of proof.^[12] The Court of Appeals has said the statute requires only reasonable cause to believe the respondent may commit one of the acts, so the respondent need not have already committed one before an ex parte order issues.^[13]

A court may not refuse a domestic relationship PPO solely because there is no police report, no medical report, no report or finding of an administrative agency, or no physical signs of abuse or violence.^[14]

Nondomestic stalking PPOs (MCL 600.2950a(1))

This is the PPO for people who have no domestic relationship: neighbors, co-workers, acquaintances, strangers. An individual may petition to restrain any individual from conduct prohibited under MCL 750.411h (stalking), MCL 750.411i (aggravated stalking), or MCL 750.411s (posting messages through an electronic medium without consent).^[3]

The court shall not grant relief unless the petition alleges facts that constitute stalking or the other covered conduct.^[3] Stalking means a willful course of conduct involving repeated or continuing harassment that would cause a reasonable person to feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated, threatened, harassed, or molested, and that actually causes the victim to feel that way. A course of conduct is a pattern of two or more separate noncontinuous acts evidencing a continuity of purpose.^[4] The elements are explained in Michigan's stalking law, and unlawful posting in Online harassment and posting messages.

No criminal case is needed. Relief may be sought and granted whether or not the respondent has been charged or convicted under those statutes.^[3]

Speech has limits as a basis for this kind of order. The Court of Appeals has held that a comment that was offensive and in poor taste but constitutionally protected could not support a PPO, and it has rejected an order whose ban on speech was "much too broad and unconfined to the boundaries set in MCL 750.411s."^[15]

If an earlier petition was denied, a second petition repeating only the same allegations is barred. If a new incident occurs, the court may consider the earlier incidents together with the new one in deciding whether there is a pattern of conduct.^[16]

Nondomestic sexual assault PPOs (MCL 600.2950a(2))

A sexual assault PPO has three possible grounds: the respondent has been convicted of a sexual assault of the petitioner; the respondent has been convicted of furnishing obscene material to the petitioner under MCL 750.142 or a substantially similar law elsewhere; or the petitioner has been subjected to, threatened with, or placed in reasonable apprehension of sexual assault by the respondent.^[5]

Where the court determines that the respondent was convicted of sexually assaulting the petitioner, the statute says the court "shall grant relief." Without a conviction, the court shall not grant relief unless the petition alleges facts demonstrating that the respondent perpetrated or threatened sexual assault against the petitioner, but relief may be granted regardless of whether the respondent has been charged or convicted.^[5]

In hearings on this type of PPO, Michigan's rape-shield statute applies, and a written motion and offer of proof under it must be filed at least 24 hours before a hearing on the petition or on an alleged violation.^[17]

Rules that apply to every type

• One court. PPO cases are heard in the family division of circuit court.^[18]
• No filing fee. There are no fees for filing a personal protection action.^[19]
• No mutual orders. A court shall not issue a mutual PPO, and separate orders against each party are prohibited unless both have properly petitioned.^[20]
• Parents and their minor children. A court shall not issue a PPO where the respondent is the petitioner's unemancipated minor child or the petitioner is the respondent's unemancipated minor child.^[21]
• Young respondents. A PPO may not be issued against a child less than 10 years of age.^[22] Orders against respondents under 18 are subject to the Juvenile Code.^[23] See PPOs involving minors.
• Written reasons. If the court refuses to grant a PPO, it must immediately state its specific reasons in writing. In a nondomestic case the court must also state in writing its specific reasons for issuing the order.^[24]

One rule applies only to the two nondomestic types: a court shall not issue a PPO under MCL 600.2950a if the petitioner is a prisoner.^[25]

Orders that are not PPOs

Several other orders are often confused with the three PPO types. A no-contact condition in a criminal case is a bond condition that a judge or magistrate imposes on a defendant's release to protect named persons.^[26] An extreme risk protection order is a separate order that differs from a PPO in who may ask for it and whom it protects.^[27] These are compared in PPO vs. no-contact order vs. restraining order, Extreme risk protection orders, and Peace bonds.

What people get wrong

"You can only get a PPO against a partner." The nondomestic stalking PPO can be sought against any individual.^[3]

"One bad incident with a stranger is enough." A nondomestic stalking PPO based on stalking needs more than one act, because stalking is defined as a course of conduct made up of two or more separate acts.^[3][4] The sexual assault PPO is a separate route with its own grounds.^[5] A domestic relationship PPO works differently: the question is whether there is reasonable cause to believe the respondent may commit a listed act.^[7]

"The judge will not act without a police report." For a domestic relationship PPO, the absence of a police report cannot be the sole reason for refusing the order.^[14]

Each type has its own petition form.^[8] Once the type is clear, the next steps are in How to get a PPO in Michigan. What each type can order the respondent not to do is in What a PPO can prohibit. The procedure a respondent uses to challenge any of the three types is in How to fight or terminate a PPO.