Earlier this year, a new Utah law was passed to tighten restrictions on who can get a record expunged. People with protective orders or criminal stalking injunctions in effect are now unable to get any convictions on their record expunged, even if those records have nothing to do with the protective order or stalking injunction in place. Below, we’ll explain these orders and injunctions, how they interact with expungement, and what you can do to make sure your record is eligible for expungement.
Understanding Protective Orders and Injunctions
Before we explain how the new law affects expungement, it helps to know what these orders and injunctions are. In simple terms, protective orders and stalking injunctions are orders signed by a judge that prohibit someone from interacting with, engaging in certain behavior, or being close to someone else. They can be temporary or long-term, and when they are active, violating that court order is a crime.
What is a protective order?
A protective order is a court order that requires one person, called the respondent, to stop contacting or being near another person, called the petitioner. It can require someone to stay away from a home, job, or school. It can also set rules about messages, calls, and social media. Or, it can also just limit certain types of behavior.
Some protective orders are civil, while others are criminal. The court issues criminal protective orders in criminal cases alongside charges or convictions. In contrast, the court issues civil protective orders in separate cases after someone alleges dating violence, sexual violence, cohabitant abuse, or similar conduct. The person making the allegations asks the court for a temporary or “ex-parte” protective order.
If the temporary protective order is granted by the judge, a hearing is held to determine if the protective order should remain in place or be dismissed. Though some parts of the protective order, like awards of property and parent time, automatically expire, until recently, the rest of the order did not and required a person to take action to get rid of it. As a result, even very old protective orders can still be active and require dismissal before that person will be allowed to expunge their criminal record.
What is a stalking injunction?
A stalking injunction is a court order that requires a person to stop following or harassing someone. Like protective orders, a stalking injunction often includes no-contact and stay-away rules. But unlike protective orders, the court can issue a stalking injunction when the two parties do not have a close relationship like living together, dating, or being related by blood or marriage.
There are criminal and civil stalking injunctions, but currently only criminal stalking injunctions prevent expungement eligibility. A criminal stalking injunction is entered within a criminal case.
Active vs. expired protective orders and injunctions
An order is “active” if it is currently in effect. If an order gets dismissed, denied, or has expired, it is not active. When an order is is in effect it can order:
- No contact by phone, text, social media, or in person
- Stay-away zones for home, school, or work
- Limitations against engaging in threatening behavior or abuse
- Other safety rules set by the judge
Protective orders and stalking injunctions have a lot in common when it comes to the legal limits they impose. They both can be classified as active or inactive. Also, they both affect whether or not you are able to move forward with the criminal record expungement process.
Interaction with expungement
Utah House Bill 297 changed the rules around expungement to make it so that people with active protective orders or criminal stalking injunctions against them cannot get any convictions on their record expunged. Criminal stalking injunctions, and both types of protective orders make you ineligible to clear anything from your record, regardless of whether it is related to the criminal stalking injunction or protective order. Once an order or injunction is dismissed, however, Utah law no longer impacts a person’s expungement eligibility.
Effects of HB0297
Utah House Bill 0297, passed in 2025, makes it so that people with an active criminal stalking injunction or any active protective order are ineligible to receive a Certificate of Eligibility for expungement from BCI for any conviction on their record. Getting this certificate is the first step in expunging any convictions on a criminal record. Because of this, HB0297 makes it so that you cannot clear any conviction appearing on a record while an injunction or protective order is active against you.
Expiration of Protective Orders and Injunctions
Not all protective orders last forever. Civil protective orders issued during or after 2020 often automatically expire after three years, though the person who asked for the order (called the petitioner) can apply for a new one. However, before 2020, there was no set expiration date for protective orders. This means that many pre-2020 orders remain active forever and block the expungement process until the person successfully petitions to have them removed.
Criminal protective orders and criminal stalking injunctions work differently. These orders can be permanent and remain in effect unless a court decides to end them. Because they do not expire automatically, they can block the expungement process indefinitely.
HB0297 places limits around all three types of orders, which means BCI cannot issue a Certificate of Eligibility for a conviction while a person has an active order or injunction in place. Once an order expires or the court dismisses it, those barriers are removed, and you may become eligible to clear your record.
What to do if You Have a Protective Order or Injunction
If you have an active order or injunction there are steps you can take to make sure you are eligible for expungement. You have to start by confirming that the order is still in effect. Then, you can request that the court dismiss it. Finally, when the order expires or a court dismisses it, you may be able to move on to expungement.
Step 1: Confirm the status of the protective order
First, you can find out if the order is currently active. To do this, you can create an account through “My Case.” This is a free service that allows you to view your court records.
Once you create a My Case account, you can check whether any active orders or injunctions exist against you. Remember that many newer orders may expire after three years, but older orders can remain in place until the court dismisses them. If you have active criminal protective orders or criminal stalking injunctions, we recommend contacting defense counsel to help remove them. If you have an active civil protective order, proceed to step 2.
Step 2: Request a Dismissal from the Court
At this time, Rasa does not offer civil protective order dismissal assistance. There are many attorneys however, who frequently work in this area of law who can help. Assistance from an attorney is always best. You can search for a lawyer, even at reduced rates, here. There are also free clinics statewide that may provide advice. You can also fill out a request yourself to dismiss a protective order issued against you. You can find those forms, along with more information and requirements about the process, here. Remember: because there is a protective order in place, you may not be able to contact the petitioner, even indirectly, but you can obtain help from an attorney or from the court as described below.
The initial form includes your name, the petitioner’s name, and the reason(s) you think the court should remove the protective order. If you do not know the petitioner’s address, you can also fill out a service assistance form. You can then file this request with the court where the original protective order was handled.
Once you file your petition, you must have notice served to the petitioner. The court can help with this step. The court will schedule a hearing where the judge or commissioner decides whether to dismiss the protective order. If the petitioner has not been served, the court may allow alternate methods of service and reschedule the hearing for a later date.
Step 3: Move on from a protective order
Protective orders and stalking injunctions pause the expungement process, but they don’t block it forever. Once the court has dismissed the order, or it has expired, your path to clearing your record may reopen. After that happens, it’s a good idea to check whether you meet all the other requirements for expungement.
That’s where Rasa’s eligibility tool can help. While it can’t tell you if a protective order is still active, it can show you if you qualify for expungement once the order is no longer in place. You can use it to see your options, understand the next steps, and start moving toward a clean slate.
