The Protective Order Registry provides form Petitions for requesting protective orders under the Domestic Abuse Assistance Act.1 Do not be tied to space limits on the forms. If necessary, add a page so that the Petition will include a sufficiently comprehensive narrative of the abuse you intend to elicit testimony about. Although the forms include a “checklist” to elicit information about types of abuse, e.g., slapping, kicking, etc., lawyers should not rely on that checklist to plead specific acts of abuse.2 Some petitioners will be eligible for protective orders under both the Domestic Abuse Assistance Act and the Post-Separation Family Violence Relief Act. Both statutes may be pleaded together.3
Once an order is granted, the protective order itself must be reduced to a Uniform Abuse Prevention Order form.4 The judge will expect you to complete this form. All necessary relief should be checked and initialed by the judge when signed.
- 1Louisiana Protective Order Registry (LPOR) forms are developed by the Judicial Administrator’s Office, and the construction given by that agency constitutes persuasive interpretive authority. See McCann v. McCann, 09-1341 (La. App. 3 Cir. 3/10/10), 33 So. 3d 389 (citing Roberts v. Baton Rouge, 108 So. 2d 111 (La. 1958)). In McCann, the Louisiana Court of Appeal for the Third Circuit found that inclusion of the category “other” and “grandparent or grandchild” on the LPOR form neither of which is explicitly named in the statute, supports including step-grandchild within scope of statute’s protection. Id.
- 2For additional practical advice on drafting petitions for protection, see Section 4.11.1.
- 3La. R.S.9:368; Louisiana Uniform Abuse Prevention Order Form 19, La. Sup. Ct.
- 4For these forms, see LPOR Forms, La. Sup. Ct.