Protective Order Can be Dismissed For Tardiness at Hearing
Video Transcribed: What happens if you fail to appear for your protective order hearing in Oklahoma? Tulsa attorney James Wirth has the answer to that question. Okay, so what happens if you have failed to appear for court on a protective order hearing? Well, it depends what your position in the case is. If you’re the petitioner and you file a protective order requesting protection and you fail to appear, generally the court’s going to call your name three times, wait until maybe about 10 minutes after, and then if you’re not there, they’re going to dismiss the protective order. It’s going to be gone and done.
And although you won’t be able to revive that case, should other circumstances arise, you may be able to refile another protective order, but that one’s done. If you are the defendant in a protective order and you fail to appear, same thing. Court’s going to call your name potentially three times, maybe give you a couple extra minutes in case you’re running late or having difficulty getting through security, but about 10 minutes after, maybe 15 minutes after, the court’s not going to bother with it anymore.
If you’re not there, then a default judgment is going to be granted for the petitioner if they say that they still are in need of protection. So if that happens, there’s a couple of things. One, if it’s granted a default against you, you’re going to want to file to vacate that within 30 days because we prefer to have decisions on the merits. So if you’ve got some excuse on why you weren’t there, then there you may have a good chance of getting that vacated and get a hearing on the merits.
But if you’re either the petitioner or the defendant, you’re not able to make it to court and you know it, good options… Hire an attorney, the attorney can appear for you. Odds are they’ll be able to get a continuance for you or at least be able to get it resolved in such a way that your case is not so prejudiced. So it’s always a good idea to have an attorney on those.
But don’t take my word for it. If you are in these circumstances, get specific information and advice from an attorney. So if you want advice from an attorney you can contact me, give me a call. (918) 932-2800 or you can go online wirthlawoffice.com.