When the Protected Person Wants Contact: No-Contact Orders in Michigan

Sometimes the person a no-contact order protects wants contact: to talk about children, to sort out rent, or to continue the relationship. In Michigan that wish does not change the order. A bond condition is a court order directed at the defendant, the court cannot bind the witness, and only the court can modify its release decision.^[2][1][3] The way to resume contact lawfully is to ask the judge for an amended order.

If you are in danger, call 911. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is free, confidential and available 24/7 at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), or by texting START to 88788.^[7] Advocates there can talk through options whether you want more distance or less.

Whom does the order bind?

Only the defendant. The Domestic Violence Benchbook puts it this way: the "court does not have jurisdiction over the witnesses and, therefore, cannot issue a mutual 'no contact' order."^[1] The benchbook also tells judges to emphasize that the proceedings are between the defendant and the People, not between the defendant and his or her intimate partner.^[1]

Two things follow, and both matter:

• The protected person is not the subject of the bond order.^[1]
• The defendant is, and stays so until the court says otherwise, because the court's release decision is modified only by the court.^[3]

Is the protected person's permission a defense?

This is the question both people ask, and it deserves a careful answer.

The statutes do not create an exception for invited contact. The arrest statute allows a peace officer to arrest, without a warrant, a defendant the officer has reasonable cause to believe "is violating or has violated a condition of release." It says nothing about who called whom.^[4] The same statute sends the hearing and revocation procedure to the court rules.^[5] The court rule lets a court revoke the release order and forfeit bail if "the defendant has failed to comply with the conditions of release."^[8] And when a judge imposes protective conditions, the judge must tell the defendant that a violation of a condition of release means arrest without a warrant and possible forfeiture or revocation of bail.^[9]

What the sources reviewed for this guide do not contain is a Michigan statute, court rule or appellate decision that says in so many words that consent is, or is not, a defense to a bond no-contact violation. This guide does not state a rule the sources do not state. What can be said with confidence is this: the condition is the court's order; it is addressed to the defendant; nothing in the text makes it depend on the protected person's wishes; and it remains in effect until the court modifies it.^[2][1][3]

For a personal protection order there is appellate authority on the point. In In re Kabanuk, the Court of Appeals held that "the behavior of a PPO respondent is the only relevant consideration in a contempt proceeding" and that a person who holds a PPO "is under no obligation to act in a certain way."^[6] Mutual PPOs are not allowed, and a PPO petitioner who wants contact uses a motion to modify or terminate.^[10][11]

What an invitation does not do

What happened	What the law says
The protected person calls, texts or visits	The bond order does not restrain the protected person.[1] The defendant's condition is unchanged.[3]
The two agree, privately or in writing, that the order is off	A release decision is modified by the court, on a party's motion or its own initiative.[3]
The protected person tells police it was invited contact	An officer may arrest on reasonable cause that a release condition is being or has been violated.[4]
The order is a PPO and the petitioner invites the respondent over	The court looks only at the respondent's behavior in a contempt proceeding.[6]

If you are the protected person and want contact

You have not done anything unlawful by wanting contact, and the bond order is not directed at you.^[1] But contact puts the defendant at risk of arrest.^[4] The way to get what you want without that risk is to bring the request to the court.

1. Tell the prosecutor's office. In a misdemeanor domestic assault case, if the defendant did not already plead guilty or no contest at the arraignment, the prosecuting attorney must offer the victim the opportunity to consult about the disposition of the case before finalizing a plea, dismissal or diversion, and on request must confer with the victim before trial.^[12][13] Use that contact to say what you want done with the no-contact condition. Some offices have a victim advocate; practice differs by county.
2. Be specific. The court rule allows a condition "limiting" contact as well as one barring it.^[14] A request can therefore be for a narrower change, such as contact limited to arrangements for children, instead of removing the condition. Any contact is permitted only once the judge has entered the amended order.
3. Know that the court decides. The benchbook advises judges not to ask the complaining witness to approve or agree to release conditions, because doing so may endanger the witness.^[1] The judge may ask questions or may decline to change the order.
4. Appearing in person. Where the court rules make video the preferred mode for a hearing, a victim may request to appear in person.^[15]

If what you want is for the case itself to end, that is a separate question. In Michigan the prosecutor alone possesses the authority to determine whether to prosecute.^[16] See If you want the charges dropped and Can the victim drop the charges?

If you are being asked or pressured to request contact, say so to the prosecutor or an advocate. Credible evidence of threats or intimidation by the defendant, or at the defendant's direction, allows the prosecutor to move to revoke bond.^[17]

If you are the defendant and the protected person reaches out

The following is practical guidance, not a statement of law beyond the citations given.

• Do not reply, call back or meet. The condition is addressed to you, its text does not turn on who starts the conversation, and an officer can arrest on reasonable cause without a warrant.^[1][4]
• Keep the messages rather than deleting them, and give them to your lawyer.
• Do not ask a friend or relative to pass a message back. Whether an order reaches contact through other people depends on its wording, and the interim-bond statute speaks of contact "of any kind."^[18]
• If contact is wanted on both sides, have your lawyer file a motion to modify the condition.^[3] The process is in How to change or lift a no-contact order.
• Do not discuss the case or the other person's testimony. Discouraging or influencing a witness by threat or intimidation is a felony under MCL 750.122, whether or not the witness has been subpoenaed.^[19]

The order also takes effect earlier than many people expect. A court may make a no-contact condition effective while the defendant is still in custody, so a call from the jail can already be covered.^[20]

What is at stake for the defendant

A violation can bring arrest without a warrant, an appearance before the court within one business day, revocation of release and forfeiture of bail.^[4][21][8] A bond condition is a court order punishable as criminal contempt.^[2] Conduct that meets the statutory definition of stalking, which requires a course of two or more acts involving unconsented contact, is aggravated stalking when at least one of the acts violates a condition of pretrial release.^[22][23] The consequences are set out in What happens if a no-contact order is violated.

Living together, children and money

Shared housing, shared children and shared bills are the usual reasons both people want contact, and none of them suspends the order. The court rule lets a judge restrict a defendant's place of residence and bar entry to specified premises.^[14] If the bond condition conflicts with a parenting time or custody order, the most restrictive provision takes precedence until the conflict is resolved.^[24]

The related guides are No-contact orders and seeing your children, Getting belongings from a shared home and How to live with a no-contact order.

What people get wrong

"The order is for the victim, so the victim can waive it." The order is the court's. It is changed by the court, on a party's motion or the court's own initiative.^[3]

"The victim will be charged for violating the order." A criminal court cannot issue a mutual no-contact order.^[1] For PPOs, the Court of Appeals has said the person who holds the order is under no obligation to act in a certain way.^[6]

"We reconciled, so the case is over." Reconciliation changes neither the order nor the charge; the decision to prosecute belongs to the prosecutor.^[16]