Violation of a court order is a serious crime and can hurt and individual’s case for willingness to cooperate. Residents in New York should be aware of the different types of order of protection that can be granted from the various courts and what the order of protection explicitly calls for. A protection order is issued to limit an individual’s behavior or actions who harms or threatens to harm another individual, including harassing the individual.

Three main courts can provide an order of protection. These are:

• Family courts that pertain mainly to family or persons who have intimate relationships.
• Criminal courts can issue an order of protection as a condition of the defendant’s release from custody, whether from bail or at the end of their sentence.
• A Supreme court typically issues orders of protections through divorce proceedings to protect divorced individuals.

The courts may provide an order of protection against an individual for drug charges or other non-drug related charges such as domestic violence or other crimes. The type of charges that an individual has will decide what court issues order of protection.

Understanding what order of protection is mandated to an individual is important as any action made by the alleged offender that is explicitly called out by the order of protection can result in additional charges. Examples of potential order of protections are:

• An individual may not have a gun
• Move out of residence by a particular date
• Stay away from particular family members
• An individual may not be in a particular store/building

Understanding the order of protection and the details associated with it is important as not accidentally breaking the order, or so that the individual is not wrongfully accused of violating an order of protection when their action was not covered in it. Finding an experienced and expert defense attorney may help an individual navigate the legal process and have an advocate represent them in the court of law for drug charges and others.