Protective Orders in Glen Burnie, MD

Legal help with protective orders for Glen Burnie, Maryland residents from The Law Office of Thomas K. Mallon in Towson.

Service areas / Glen Burnie / Protective Orders

The Law Office of Thomas K. Mallon, LLC provides protective orders assistance for people in Glen Burnie. The information below explains the issues to discuss with an attorney and connects you with the firm’s original Maryland service guide.

Working with our Towson office from Glen Burnie

Glen Burnie is in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. The Law Office of Thomas K. Mallon, LLC serves this area from 1107 Kenilworth Drive, Suite 305, Towson, MD 21204. This is the firm’s Towson office, not a separate office in this community.

Maryland law applies throughout the service area. Where a matter must be filed depends on the type of proceeding and the facts, not simply on the location of the attorney’s office. Discuss residence, existing orders, and any pending case at your consultation.

Read the Anne Arundel County service-area guide for the original local context.

If you are in immediate danger, call 911.

The National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24 hours a day at 1-800-799-7233, by text to 88788, or by chat at thehotline.org. A court order is a legal step, not an emergency response.

Maryland has two separate orders for someone who needs to be protected from another person. Which one applies depends entirely on your relationship to that person, and filing for the wrong one costs time you may not have.

Protective order or peace order

Protective order

For people in a domestic or family relationship with the person they need protection from. Maryland calls these people a “person eligible for relief,” and the category includes:

A current or former spouse
A cohabitant, meaning someone you have lived with in an intimate relationship
A person related by blood, marriage or adoption
A parent, stepparent, child or stepchild who has lived with you for at least 90 days in the past year
Someone you have a child with
Someone you have had a sexual relationship with in the past year
A vulnerable adult
A victim of rape or a sexual offense, or an attempt, within the past six months

A protective order can be filed in either the District Court or the Circuit Court, there is no filing fee, and there is no deadline: you can file at any time after the abuse occurs.

Peace order

For everyone else. A neighbor, a coworker, a dating partner who does not meet the categories above, a stranger. An employer can also file on behalf of an employee who has been threatened at work.

Peace orders are filed in the District Court only, there are filing and service fees, which can be waived for someone unable to afford them, and there is a hard deadline: the petition must be filed within 30 days of the act you are complaining about. Missing that window closes the door.

The three stages

These cases move in steps, and each step has a different judge, a different standard and a different lifespan.

Interim order

Issued by a District Court commissioner when the courts are closed, for example at night or over a weekend. It lasts only until the court can hold a temporary hearing, normally the next day the court is open.

Temporary order

Issued by a judge after hearing from the petitioner alone. For a protective order it generally lasts up to seven days, and a court can extend it up to six months where needed to effect service. For a peace order it likewise runs up to seven days, extendable to 30 days.

Final order

Entered after a hearing where both sides appear and present evidence. This is the hearing that decides the case, and it is the one to prepare for properly.

What has to be proved

At a final protective order hearing the judge must find by a preponderance of the evidence that the alleged abuse occurred, meaning more likely than not. A respondent can also consent to the order being entered without that finding.

That standard is lower than the criminal standard, which is one reason a protective order case can succeed where a criminal charge did not, and it is also why the specifics matter: dates, messages, photographs, medical or police records, and witnesses do the work. Characterizations do not.

How long a final order lasts

Final protective order: up to one year. Up to two years where it is issued within a year after a prior order that lasted at least six months expired. Permanent in narrow circumstances involving a conviction and a sentence of at least five years, with the victim’s consent.
Final peace order: up to six months, extendable by another six months for good cause.

What a court can order

A final protective order can do considerably more than tell someone to stay away. A judge may:

Order the respondent to stop the abuse, threats and contact
Order the respondent to vacate the home
Order the respondent to stay away from your home, workplace, school, or a child’s school or daycare
Award temporary custody of a minor child, and set or deny visitation
Award use and possession of a vehicle, and possession of a pet
Order emergency family maintenance, which is temporary financial support
Order the surrender of firearms
Order counseling or a domestic violence program
Order any other relief the judge finds necessary to protect the person eligible for relief

Because a protective order can set temporary custody and support, it frequently runs alongside a divorce or custody case. The two interact, and decisions made in one affect the other. See legal custody, emergency custody and temporary orders.

If you are the respondent

A final protective order is not a private matter. It is entered into a statewide database, it can require you to surrender firearms, it can remove you from your home, and it can affect employment, professional licensing and security clearances. Consenting to an order “to make this go away” carries consequences that outlast the order itself.

Both sides of these cases deserve preparation. If you have been served with a petition, the temporary order is not the end of the matter, and the final hearing is where the evidence is actually tested.

What to bring

A copy of any interim or temporary order and the petition
A dated account of what happened, incident by incident
Messages, call logs, photographs, and any police or medical records
Names and contact details of anyone who saw or heard anything
Any existing custody, support or divorce order

Official resources

Talk with a Towson attorney

The Law Office of Thomas K. Mallon, LLC offers a free consultation. Call (410) 847-9075 or request a consultation online. The office is at 1107 Kenilworth Drive, Suite 305, Towson, MD 21204.

This page provides general information about Maryland law. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Maryland law changes, and how it applies depends on the facts of your situation.

Protective Orders resources

Read the full Maryland protective orders guide. Bring relevant agreements, court papers, financial records, and a list of questions that relate to your situation. If you have received papers with a deadline, tell the office when you contact us.

Other services in Glen Burnie

Discuss your situation

or call (410) 847-9075. Advice about your particular matter requires a consultation. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship.

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