Short answer
Yes. A domestic violence charge in Colorado comes with an automatic mandatory protection order that can limit contact with the other parent and sometimes the children. The family court also decides for itself whether domestic violence happened, and a finding limits joint decision-making even if the criminal case is still open.
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Schedule a ConsultationDoes a domestic violence arrest create an automatic protection order?
Yes. In Colorado, a mandatory protection order takes effect against anyone charged with a crime once they are informed of it at arraignment or the first court appearance. No one has to ask for it.
"There is created a mandatory protection order against a person charged with a criminal violation of the provisions of this title 18, which order remains in effect from the time that the person is advised of the person's rights at arraignment or the person's first appearance before the court and is informed of the order until final disposition of the action, unless otherwise ordered by the court pursuant to subsection (3)(a) or (6.5) of this section."
What it means: The basic order bars harassing, molesting, intimidating, retaliating against or tampering with any victim or witness. In domestic violence cases, the court can add terms such as no contact, staying away from the home, and firearm restrictions.
In some domestic violence cases involving force, the order also requires you to give up firearms and ammunition for as long as it lasts (C.R.S. 18-1-1001(9)). Read the written order you received at your first appearance. Its exact terms decide what you can and cannot do.
Can I contact my kids while the criminal case is open?
It depends on the written order. If your children are named as victims or witnesses, or the court added a no-contact term that covers them, any contact breaks the order. If they are not covered, contact with them may be allowed, but you still cannot use them to reach the protected parent.
Many families end up with an order that protects one parent while the children are not listed. Contact with the children is then possible in principle, but every exchange risks contact with the protected parent. Messages passed through the children can count as contact with the protected parent.
The safe approach is to get written permission from a court before you see or call the children: either a modification of the mandatory protection order, or parenting orders from the family court that the criminal order allows.
What happens when the criminal protection order and the parenting plan conflict?
The criminal order still applies until the criminal court changes it. A parenting plan from the family court does not give you permission to break a mandatory protection order, so the fix is a motion in the criminal case.
"Nothing in this section precludes the defendant from applying to the court at any time for modification or dismissal of the protection order issued pursuant to this section or the district attorney from applying to the court at any time for further orders, additional provisions under the protection order, or modification or dismissal of the same. The trial court retains jurisdiction to enforce, modify, or dismiss the protection order until final disposition of the action."
What it means: You or your lawyer file the request in the criminal case. Ask for a specific change, such as allowing exchanges at a set place or through a third party, or allowing contact with the children while keeping the order in place for the other parent.
Either side can also ask for a hearing on the terms of the order in domestic violence cases (C.R.S. 18-1-1001(6)). The judge weighs the request against the safety of the protected person, and the prosecutor can oppose it.
A criminal order and a civil protection order can exist at the same time (C.R.S. 18-1-1001(10)). If both are in place, you have to follow both. This is where having the criminal case and the family case handled together matters, because a change in one court does not change the other.
How can a plea or conviction affect custody?
The family court makes its own finding about domestic violence using the preponderance standard, which is lower than the criminal standard. A plea or conviction can be used as evidence of domestic violence, and a dismissal does not stop the family court from looking at the same events.
"If a court determines by a preponderance of the evidence that a party has committed domestic violence, child abuse or neglect, or sexual assault that resulted in the conception of a child, it is not in the best interests of the child to allocate mutual decision-making responsibility over the objection of the other party or the legal representative of the child unless the court makes specific findings that mutual decision-making can occur without coercion, intimidation, retaliation, or risk of harm to the abused party or the child"
What it means: If the family court finds domestic violence, the other parent can usually block joint decision-making. The court also treats the safety of the child and the abused parent as its primary concern when it sets parenting time (C.R.S. 14-10-124(4)(d)).
Plea decisions in the criminal case should be made with the custody case in mind. What you admit in one case can be used in the other.
Mistakes that make it worse
These three mistakes come straight from how the statutes work, and each one can hurt both cases.
- Accepting an invitation from the protected parent. The order restrains you, and the statute has no exception for contact the protected person invites. Only a judge can change the order.
- Treating a parenting plan as permission. Until the criminal court modifies the mandatory protection order, its terms still apply.
- Keeping firearms when the order requires you to give them up. Possessing a firearm while barred by a protection order is its own violation (C.R.S. 18-6-803.5(1)(c)).
Violating a protection order is a class 2 misdemeanor, and more serious in some situations, such as a prior conviction for the same offense. Officers must arrest, or seek a warrant, when they have probable cause (C.R.S. 18-6-803.5(2) and (3)).
Common questions
Can the alleged victim drop the mandatory protection order?
No. It is a court order in the criminal case. The defendant or the district attorney can ask the judge to modify or dismiss it (C.R.S. 18-1-1001(3)(a)).
How long does a mandatory protection order last?
Until the criminal case ends: dismissal, acquittal or completion of the sentence (C.R.S. 18-1-1001(8)(b)), unless the court changes it sooner.
If my charge is dismissed, does that end the custody question?
No. The family court decides whether domestic violence happened based on its own evidence and a preponderance standard, so it can still consider the same events.
Related guides
Sources
- C.R.S. § 18-1-1001 (mandatory protection order)
- C.R.S. § 18-6-803.5 (violation of a protection order)
- C.R.S. § 14-10-124 (best interests of the child)
This article explains Colorado law in general terms. It is not legal advice about your situation. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.