There are two major ways that the protective order in terms of legal effect is worse than a lot of criminal misdemeanors. The first is most types of criminal misdemeanors, they don’t set up a negative presumption against you as far as having the right to see your kid. Now they don’t help and they could be relevant to the best interest analysis, particularly if it’s something involving violence or drugs, but it is not an automatic there’s a presumption against you with many misdemeanors. If there’s a protective order in place, that will create that presumption.

Now mind you, if you’re talking about a domestic violence misdemeanor, it’s going to have the same effect if you plead guilty or are convicted. Same thing if it’s a bunch of possession charges that could set up a negative presumption. But even a larceny charge doesn’t set up that presumption the same way that a protective order does.

So that’s the first thing, it can affect your rights to your kids. It also can affect them in another way, because if she puts the kids on the protective order, well, now you’re barred from having any contact at all until you can get them taken off. It’s a routine tactical. A lot of women will do this where they’ll file one and put the kids on it. So, that’s the first thing.

The other thing that happens is protective orders, in addition to being governed by state law, they’re also governed by federal law. If you have a final protective order out against you, you do not have the right to possess, own, purchase, or carry a firearm while that order is enforced. That’s under state law and federal law under the Violence Against Women Act.

So, the other negative implication of having a protective order from a legal standpoint that is not applicable in most cases involving misdemeanors is you lose your right to possess a firearm. You can lose it for up to five years or life if it’s a lifetime protective order, so these are to be taken seriously. Now there are some others, they’re not so much what I would say are legal effects, but they’re problems that can arise from having a protective order out against you in a social context or employment.

Protective orders are public records, and it is generally going to set up the presumption that you are an abuser, that you’re a stalker, and you’re a harasser. I don’t think I need to tell you guys that guys who are viewed that way are not viewed in a positive light. It can affect your employment. I mean, certainly, if you’re in a line of work where you have to carry a firearm, it will affect your employment. It can affect your personal relationships, it can affect your ability if you want to have a romantic relationship in the future because it’s a public record.

So, the moral of this kind of discussion is the idea that if you have been served with a protective order, take it seriously and get counsel right away and fight it. Even if there’s some truth to the allegations, many times these things can be mitigated so it’s not a five-year span of time where you have your rights severely constricted because of this protective order.

So, get good counsel. One place you can find a good Tulsa protective order defense lawyer is Dads.Law, where fathers are not disposable.