No Contact Order in Maine: Process, Penalties, and Firearm Rules

A no contact order in Maine is a court directive barring one person from contacting another, and Maine law provides three separate versions depending on the relationship and situation: a protection from abuse order under Title 19-A for family or household members, a protection from harassment order under Title 5 for everyone else, and a criminal no-contact condition imposed through bail or jail intake in a domestic violence arrest. Violating any of them is a Class D crime punishable by up to 364 days in jail and a fine of up to $2,000.¹

Which Order Applies to Your Situation

Picking the right path matters, because filing under the wrong statute can delay protection.

Protection from abuse covers family or household members: current and former spouses, people who live or lived together, people who share a child, and dating partners. These orders carry the broadest set of remedies, including removal from a shared home and firearm surrender.

Protection from harassment under Title 5 applies when there is no domestic relationship. A neighbor who threatens you, a coworker who stalks you, or a stranger who will not leave you alone falls under this statute. Violation is also a Class D crime.²

Criminal no-contact conditions arise automatically in some domestic violence arrests. Before bail is set, jail staff or law enforcement can order an arrestee not to contact the alleged victim, and violating that directive is a separate Class D crime under Title 15.³ A judge can later impose no-contact as a bail condition at arraignment.

The sections below focus on protection from abuse orders because they are the most common and carry the widest relief. The enforcement and penalty rules apply equally to harassment orders.

What Counts as Abuse Under Maine Law

Title 19-A, Section 4102 defines abuse broadly, reaching well past physical violence.⁴ You can seek a protection order if a family or household member has done any of the following:

Caused or attempted bodily injury, including sexual assault
Engaged in a course of conduct — threats, harassment, tormenting behavior — that placed you in fear of bodily injury
Used force or threats to make you do something you had a right to refuse, or stop you from doing something you had a right to do
Removed you from your home or workplace, moved you a substantial distance, or confined you without consent
Communicated a threat to commit a violent crime against you or someone else when the natural consequence is reasonable fear
Repeatedly followed you or showed up at your home, school, or workplace without reasonable cause
Distributed private sexual images of you without authorization

The statute also covers sex trafficking of a family or household member.

How to File for a Protection Order

You start by filing a complaint at a Maine courthouse, or by email if you are representing yourself.⁵ You do not need a lawyer. Legal aid organizations and domestic violence programs can help with the paperwork. There is no filing fee for a protection from abuse petition; Maine law and federal VAWA requirements bar courts from charging victims to file.

Temporary Ex Parte Orders

If you are in immediate danger, a judge can issue a temporary order the same day you file, without the other party present. The complaint has to show immediate and present danger of abuse. A temporary order can include every provision a final order can — no contact, stay-away distances, temporary custody of children — and it stays in effect until the full hearing.

The Full Hearing

Maine law requires the court to hold a hearing within 21 days of filing. You have to prove abuse by a preponderance of the evidence, meaning it is more likely than not that the abuse occurred. Both sides can present testimony, police reports, medical records, photographs, and witnesses. The respondent has the right to attend, bring a lawyer, and challenge the evidence.

If the judge finds abuse occurred, the court issues a final protection order. If the respondent fails to appear after being properly served, the judge can still issue the order based on your testimony alone.

What a Final Order Can Require

Final protection from abuse orders are tailored to the facts of each case. Under Section 4007, the court can direct the respondent to stop all threatening, harassing, or abusive behavior toward you and any children in the household, and can also:⁶

Prohibit all direct or indirect contact, including calls, texts, emails, social media, and messages passed through third parties
Require the respondent to stay a specified distance from your home, workplace, and school
Order the respondent to vacate a shared residence, even if their name is on the lease or deed
Grant you temporary custody of minor children and establish visitation terms
Require surrender of all firearms to law enforcement
Award temporary support payments
Grant possession of shared pets or animals

How Long the Order Lasts

A final protection from abuse order lasts for a fixed period of up to two years.⁷ Before it expires, you can ask the court to extend it under Section 4111 if you still need protection. The court can grant extensions based on changed circumstances or ongoing risk, and there is no hard cap on how many times an order can be extended.⁸

Temporary orders stay active from issuance through the full hearing. If the hearing is continued or rescheduled, the temporary order typically remains in force until the court rules.

Penalties for Violating an Order

Violating a protection from abuse order is a Class D crime when the respondent had actual notice of the order.⁹ Class D carries up to 364 days in jail and a fine of up to $2,000. “Actual notice” does not require hand delivery; the statute recognizes notice by means other than service in hand, so a respondent told about the order verbally by an officer can still be convicted.

The violation does not have to be violent. A single text message, showing up at a prohibited location, or asking a friend to pass along a message all qualify. If the violation involves a separate crime — assault, criminal threatening, stalking — the respondent faces additional charges on top of the violation.

Once a Maine court issues an order, it enters the state’s criminal justice information system and the FBI’s National Crime Information Center Protection Order File. Officers can arrest someone without a warrant if they have reason to believe a violation occurred; they do not need to witness it.⁵

Federal Penalties for Crossing State Lines

Traveling into or out of Maine with intent to violate a protection order turns the offense into a federal crime under 18 U.S.C. § 2262:¹⁰

No bodily injury: up to 5 years in federal prison
Serious bodily injury or use of a dangerous weapon: up to 10 years
Permanent disfigurement or life-threatening injury: up to 20 years
Death of the victim: life imprisonment

The statute also reaches forcing a victim to travel across state lines.

Firearm Restrictions Trigger Automatically

A qualifying protection order triggers a separate federal ban on possessing, purchasing, or receiving firearms under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8). This applies even when the Maine order says nothing about guns. The federal prohibition attaches when the order meets three conditions:¹¹

It was issued after a hearing where the respondent had actual notice and the chance to participate (ex parte temporary orders generally do not trigger it; final orders do)
It restrains the respondent from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or that partner’s child
It either finds the respondent to be a credible threat to the physical safety of the partner or child, or explicitly prohibits the use or threatened use of physical force

ATF Form 4473 asks every firearm buyer whether they are subject to a qualifying restraining order. Answering “yes” blocks the sale. Answering “no” when the answer is yes is a separate federal felony. Possessing a firearm already owned at the time the order issues is also a federal crime. Hunting rifles, shotguns, and handguns are all covered, with no exception for sporting use.

Enforcement in Other States

A Maine protection order does not expire at the New Hampshire line. Under the Violence Against Women Act, every state, territory, and tribal court must give full faith and credit to protection orders issued elsewhere and enforce them as if they were local orders.¹²

The protected person does not have to register the order in a new state to make it enforceable. Federal law explicitly says no prior registration or filing is required. Carrying a certified copy still helps during a police encounter, because officers can read the terms immediately rather than wait for a database check. The NCIC Protection Order File provides a backstop: any officer running a name anywhere in the country sees the active order.¹³

Modifying or Ending an Order

Either party can file a motion to modify or terminate a protection order by showing sufficient cause.⁸ The court holds a hearing, both sides present evidence, and the judge decides based on whether circumstances have genuinely changed.

Respondents who want an order lifted generally need concrete evidence of changed behavior: completed counseling, stable housing, sustained compliance with the order’s terms. Arguing that enough time has passed is rarely enough. Even one violation during the term usually ends any realistic chance of termination.

Protected persons can also seek changes. If the danger has grown, you can ask the court to add conditions, extend the order, or widen the prohibited zones. If you want the order dropped, the court will still make its own assessment, and judges sometimes keep orders in place over the petitioner’s objection when the history suggests a cycle of abuse and reconciliation.

Defenses If You Are Accused of a Violation

The prosecution has to show the respondent had notice of the order and then engaged in prohibited conduct. The strongest defense is lack of notice: if the respondent was never served and had no other reliable way to learn of the order, that is a complete defense.⁹ Courts read “actual notice” broadly, though. Verbal notification from an officer counts, and evidence that the respondent was present at the hearing can satisfy the requirement.

A second line of defense attacks the underlying order itself. If it was entered without proper jurisdiction or without meeting due process, the respondent can argue it is invalid. This is a harder argument and usually requires a lawyer.

Accidental or unavoidable contact is a practical defense in small communities. Running into the protected person at the only grocery store in town and leaving immediately looks very different from showing up at their workplace. The key questions are whether the contact was intentional and whether the respondent withdrew once contact occurred.

Fallout for Jobs and Housing

Employment

A protection order is a civil matter, not a criminal conviction, and it does not automatically disqualify you from employment. Standard private-employer background checks often will not surface a civil order unless it is tied to a criminal case. Background checks for law enforcement, government positions, or security clearances typically review both civil and criminal court records and will pick up an active order.

The practical disruption can be significant even without a formal consequence. If you and the protected person work at the same site, you may need to transfer, change shifts, or leave the job to comply with the order. Maine employers are not required to fire someone over a protection order, but they do have to accommodate its terms, and that accommodation sometimes makes staying unworkable.

Professional licensing boards for healthcare, law, education, and other regulated fields often ask about court orders or pending matters. An active protection order can trigger extra scrutiny, especially in fields involving vulnerable populations.

Housing

Protection orders often require the respondent to vacate a shared home, even when the respondent is the sole leaseholder or owner. Finding alternative housing on short notice is one of the hardest immediate burdens respondents face.

For protected persons, federal law provides important safeguards. Under VAWA, tenants in federally assisted housing cannot be denied admission, evicted, or terminated from housing assistance because they are a victim of domestic violence.¹⁴ An incident of abuse cannot be treated as a lease violation by the victim, and landlords in covered housing programs must comply with court orders regarding property access and control. If your landlord threatens eviction because of disturbances related to the abuse, that threat likely violates federal law if you live in subsidized or assisted housing. Private-market tenants have fewer federal protections, though Maine landlord-tenant law may still apply.

1
Maine State Legislature. Maine Code 17-A 1604 – Imprisonment for Crimes Other Than Murder
2
Maine Legislature. Maine Code 17-A 506-B – Violation of Protective Order
3
Maine State Legislature. Maine Code 15-1094-B – Improper Contact with a Family or Household Member Prior to the Setting of Preconviction Bail
4
Maine State Legislature. Maine Code 19-A 4102 – Definitions
5
State of Maine Judicial Branch. Abuse and Harassment
6
Maine State Legislature. Maine Code 19-A 4007 – Relief
7
Maine State Legislature. Maine Code 19-A 4110 – Relief
8
Maine State Legislature. Maine Code 19-A 4111 – Modifying and Extending Orders
9
Maine State Legislature. Maine Code 19-A 4011 – Violation
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 2262 – Interstate Violation of Protection Order
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 922 – Unlawful Acts
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 2265 – Full Faith and Credit Given to Protection Orders
13
Federal Bureau of Investigation. Privacy Impact Assessment for the National Crime Information Center
14
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 34 USC 12491 – Housing Protections for Victims of Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking