Procedure
YOU CAN FILE FOR AN EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE ORDER (“EPO”) IN TULSA COUNTY IF:
- You live in Tulsa County, or
- The abuser lives in Tulsa County, or
- The incident occurred in Tulsa County
For domestic and family violence, sexual assault, stalking and teen dating violence, you should file for a Emergency Protective Order at the Family Safety Center.
IF YOU HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE OFFENDER…
You can seek legal protection from acts of domestic abuse committed by a “family or household member” against you or your minor child. This means you can seek protection from:
- A spouse or an ex-spouse
- The present spouse of an ex-spouse
- Parents, grandparents, step-parents, adoptive parents and foster parents
- Children, grandchildrent, step-children, adopted children and foster children
- Anyone related to you by blood or marriage
- Anyone you live with or used to live with
- Anyone with whom you have a child, even if you never married that person
- Someone you are dating or anyone you used to date
- Boyfriend / girlfriend
- Ex-Boyfriend / ex-girlfriend
- Apartment / Dorm roommate
- Adult child / parent
- In-law / ex-in-law
- Father / mother of a child they had together, but not married.
IF YOUR ABUSER IS NOT A “FAMILY OR HOUSEHOLD MEMBER” UNDER THIS DEFINITION, YOU MAY BE ELIGIBLE FOR A STALKING PROTECTIVE ORDER.
A “stalking protection order” is a civil court order that is designed to protect you from a stalker by ordering him/her to stop following you and threatening you. Even though you use the same petition as a protective order for domestic abuse to file for a stalking order, you do not need to have a “family or household member” relationship with the stalker in order to file for a protection order against him/her, although if you do have that type of relationship, you could still apply for this order.
Paperwork for the Emergency Protective Order must be completed no later than 1:00pm for same day hearings; hearings take place at 2:00pm. If you arrive after 1:00pm, you may still complete the paperwork, but you will need to come back the following day for the actual hearing. If you have questions, you can call the Family Safety Center directly at (918) 742-7480.
If you are needing to file an Emergency Protective Order against a person who does not meet the relationship criteria (listed above), you will need to go to the Family Relations desk on the second floor of the Tulsa County courthouse, between 8:30am and 1:00pm. The court clerks will assist you in completing the paperwork.
THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE ORDERS:
- The Emergency Protective order is not in effect until it has been served to the defendant.
- The emergency protective order cannot be used as a child pickup.
- The petitioner can not violate their own emergency protective order.
- Any law enforcement officer can serve the emergency protective order. If the defendant comes around you, call 911 and have an officer come to your location. As long as you have a copy of the petition and the emergency protective order, they can serve your copy to the defendant.
Family Safety Center Details
Family Safety Center
Police Courts Building
600 Civic Center, Suite 103
Tulsa, OK 74103-3822
Phone: (918) 742-7480
The Family Safety Center is open from 8:00am until 5:00pm Monday through Friday. (It follows the Tulsa County Courthouse holiday schedule)
Emergency Number: (918) 743-5763