A no contact order in Vermont is a condition a criminal court attaches to a defendant’s release, ordering the defendant not to communicate with an alleged victim, witness, or other protected person while the case is pending. Breaking it is a separate crime: up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine as criminal contempt, or up to one year and a $5,000 fine if the conduct also violates an abuse prevention order. The order runs until a judge changes it or the case ends, and the protected person cannot cancel it by asking, calling, or showing up.
Where the Order Comes From
The order is not a lawsuit and not something the protected person files. When someone is arrested, a judge or magistrate sets conditions for release under Vermont’s pretrial release statute, 13 V.S.A. § 7554.1Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code Title 13 Chapter 229 – Bail and Recognizance A no contact provision is one of those conditions. The prosecutor usually asks for it. The judge issues it. The defendant is bound by it the moment it’s entered.
Posting bail does not lift it. Being released on your own recognizance does not lift it. The order is a direct command from the court to the defendant, and it operates independently of any bail arrangement.
What the Order Prohibits
The restrictions are designed to close every channel between the defendant and the protected person. That means no face-to-face contact, no phone calls, no texts, no emails, no messages through social media. It also means no indirect contact: the defendant cannot ask a friend, family member, or anyone else to pass along a message, deliver something, or relay information.2Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code 15 V.S.A. 1103 – Requests for Relief
Most orders include a stay-away distance from the protected person’s home, workplace, or school, with the specific distance set by the judge.3Vermont Judiciary. Protective Orders Some orders also bar the defendant from possessing firearms, which can pull in additional federal consequences discussed below.
The Protected Person Cannot Waive It
This is the trap that produces the most violations. Because the order runs from the court to the defendant, the protected person has no power to cancel it. If she calls, texts, comes to the door, or says she wants to reconcile, the defendant is still required to disengage. Only the defendant faces charges for the contact, even when the protected person started it.
Couples reconcile informally, resume contact, assume everything is fine because both people agreed, and then a neighbor calls the police or the relationship sours again. A new criminal charge lands on top of the original case.
Penalties for Violating the Order
A violation can be prosecuted in more than one way, and the charges can stack.
Criminal Contempt
The usual charge is criminal contempt under 13 V.S.A. § 7559, which lets the State’s Attorney prosecute any violation of release conditions under Rule 42 of the Vermont Rules of Criminal Procedure. The maximum penalty is a $1,000 fine, six months in jail, or both.4Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code 13 V.S.A. 7559 – Violations of Conditions of Release The court can also revoke or tighten release conditions, which can mean going back into custody until trial.
A police officer can arrest a defendant without a warrant on probable cause that a no contact condition was violated. The officer does not have to witness the contact.4Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code 13 V.S.A. 7559 – Violations of Conditions of Release
Violation of an Abuse Prevention Order
When a civil abuse prevention order is in place alongside the criminal no contact condition, the same contact can be charged under 13 V.S.A. § 1030, which carries heavier penalties. A first offense is up to one year in prison and a $5,000 fine. A second or subsequent offense, or a first offense when the defendant has a prior conviction for domestic assault, first-degree aggravated domestic assault, or second-degree aggravated domestic assault, is up to three years in prison and a $25,000 fine.5Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code Title 13 Chapter 19 Section 1030 – Violation of an Abuse Prevention Order
The State’s Attorney picks which statute to charge. In domestic violence cases, prosecutors tend to use § 1030 where the facts support it because the exposure is larger. A single incident can produce both a contempt charge and a § 1030 charge when both a criminal no contact condition and a civil order were in effect.
Children and the Family Home
In a domestic violence case, the order often separates parents from shared children and pushes one party out of the family residence. If the defendant and the protected person have children together, the defendant generally cannot see or communicate with the children unless the court builds in a specific exception. Any exception typically requires supervised visitation at a neutral location.
For housing, the defendant usually has to leave the shared home immediately, whatever the lease or deed says. The order overrides property rights while it is in force. If the defendant needs belongings, the court can arrange a law enforcement escort.
These effects are temporary and tied to the criminal case. The no contact order does not settle custody or support on its own. Parents who need lasting arrangements have to open a separate parentage, divorce, or dissolution case in family court.6Vermont Judiciary. Relief From Abuse
Firearms
Federal law adds a layer that catches defendants by surprise. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8), it is a federal crime to possess a firearm or ammunition while subject to a qualifying protection order.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 922 – Unlawful Acts A qualifying order must:
- Have been issued after a hearing where the defendant received actual notice and a chance to participate. Ex parte and emergency orders generally don’t qualify.
- Restrain the defendant from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or child, or from conduct that would place an intimate partner in reasonable fear of bodily injury.
- Either include a finding that the defendant is a credible threat to the physical safety of the partner or child, or explicitly prohibit the use or threatened use of physical force.
The federal ban applies only when the protected person is an “intimate partner” as federal law defines that term: a current or former spouse, a co-parent, or someone the defendant has cohabited with romantically. An order protecting a witness who is not an intimate partner would not trigger it. Whether a Vermont pretrial no contact condition qualifies depends on the specific language of the order and the hearing that preceded it.
The maximum penalty for possessing a firearm while subject to a qualifying order is 15 years in federal prison. Defendants who own firearms should raise this with counsel immediately after the order is issued. A conviction for a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence carries its own permanent federal firearms disability under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9).
Changing or Lifting the Order
Only the criminal court that issued the order can change it. The defendant, usually through an attorney, files a written motion explaining why the condition should be modified. Common reasons are the need for supervised visitation with a child, a change in housing that makes the current terms unworkable, or a shift in the underlying safety concerns.
The court notifies the prosecutor and the protected person, and both can oppose the motion. A hearing is typically required. The judge weighs the defendant’s reasons against ongoing safety. Courts are conservative here, especially in domestic violence cases, and a defendant with any history of violating the existing order has virtually no chance of getting it relaxed.
Modification does not always mean full removal. A judge may open a narrow exception, such as contact for exchanging children at a designated location, while keeping the broader restriction in place.
Enforcement Across State Lines
The order does not stop at Vermont’s border. Under 18 U.S.C. § 2265, a protection order issued by a court with jurisdiction after reasonable notice and an opportunity to be heard must be enforced by every other state as if it were that state’s own order.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 2265 – Full Faith and Credit Given to Protection Orders The defendant does not need to register the order elsewhere for it to be enforceable, and out-of-state law enforcement can act on it.
A defendant who moves to New Hampshire or travels to New York is still bound. Contacting the protected person from across state lines can also produce federal charges for interstate violation of a protection order under 18 U.S.C. § 2262, with penalties well beyond state contempt exposure.
How This Differs From a Relief From Abuse Order
A no contact order is sometimes confused with Vermont’s Relief From Abuse (RFA) order, but the two work differently. An RFA is a civil order the person seeking protection files in the Family Division of the Superior Court under 15 V.S.A. § 1101, and the plaintiff must prove abuse by a preponderance of the evidence to obtain a final order.9Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code 15 V.S.A. 1101 – Definitions2Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code 15 V.S.A. 1103 – Requests for Relief A no contact order requires no filing from the protected person; the criminal court imposes it. Vermont also has a separate civil order for stalking or sexual assault under 12 V.S.A. Chapter 178 for situations that don’t meet the family or household member requirement.10Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code Title 12 Chapter 178 – Orders Against Stalking or Sexual Assault A defendant can be subject to a criminal no contact order and a civil protective order at the same time.