Protective Orders Defeated; Father’s Visitation Enforced

The Oklahoma Law Behind This Result

A protective order petition under the Protection from Domestic Abuse Act, 22 O.S. § 60 and following, is decided at a full hearing that the court schedules within 14 days of the filing, whether or not an emergency order was issued, and the petitioner carries the burden of proving abuse, stalking, or harassment as the statute defines them.

When the court denies the petition after a contested hearing, no finding of domestic violence is entered, which matters in the custody case because 43 O.S. § 109(I) creates a rebuttable presumption against custody for a parent found to have committed domestic violence. Defeating the petition on the evidence keeps a protective order finding out of the family case, although the custody judge can still hear evidence of domestic violence and make its own determination under § 109(I).

The second half of this result rests on 43 O.S. § 111.3, Oklahoma’s visitation enforcement statute. When a parent has unreasonably denied or interfered with court-ordered visitation, the court must order one or more remedies, such as make-up parenting time, counseling or an educational program, a bond, or another appropriate remedy, and under § 111.3(E) the prevailing party is awarded reasonable attorney fees, mediation costs, and court costs.

Separately, 43 O.S. § 112(D) provides that a pattern of failure to allow court-ordered visitation may be found contrary to the child’s best interests and can support a change of custody. The statute gives the court specific remedies when court-ordered visitation is denied, and a motion to enforce is often the first step that changes the other parent’s behavior.

What Fathers in a Similar Situation Should Know

Protective order filings and withheld visitation tend to arrive together, and they have to be answered separately: the hearing on the petition is defended on the petition’s own allegations, and the lost parenting time is recovered through the enforcement statute. Our Tulsa protective order defense page and our statewide guide to protective order defense walk through the hearing; the visitation enforcement page covers make-up time and fees.