What Is a No Contact Order in Georgia?

Many criminal and juvenile courts in Georgia impose no contact orders on individuals in certain situations.  Typically, these are imposed when a person is charged with or convicted of certain offenses.  Sometimes they are imposed because a court believes it is necessary to protect a person.  Other times a no contact order is put in place because a court is worried about the individual getting in to more trouble if they continue to have contact with the same people.  The most common types of cases that we see no contact orders in are allegations of family violence.  Click here for more information specifically related to family violence cases.
Whenever a client of ours has a no contact order, we believe it is important for them to understand:

1. What does a no contact order mean?
2. How do you avoid violating a no contact provision?
3. What happens if you violate a no contact order?

What Does a No Contact Order Mean?

A no contact order means no contact whatsoever, which includes:

• no in person contact,
• no contact through third parties,
• no contact through telephone,
• no contact through text message,
• no contact through social media.

We want to protect our clients so that they don’t go back to jail for violating a no contact order. Sometimes people think that, “Well, if the other person initiated contact, it’s okay.” That does not mean it’s okay.
If you’re the one under the no contact order, that means that you’re going to be the one who gets in trouble for violating that no contact order.
One big mistake people make is having contact through third-parties.  No contact through third-parities means that you can’t tell a someone else to tell the person something on your behalf.  For example, you can’t ask a friend to tell the person something on your behalf. If you do this, it is still contact.

How Do You Avoid Violating a No-Contact Provision?

The proactical advise for what to do to avoid violating a no contact provisions is to make sure you have no contact whatsoever.  Especially, in the ways listed above.  Here are some ways to handle situations where someone who you have a no contact order against tries to have contact with you:

• If you get a call from somebody that you have a no contact order with and you are able to see their number on your phone, then don’t answer it.
• If you answer a call from a blocked number and you hear the person’s voice, then hang up immediately.
• If someone you are not to have contact with sends you a text message, then don’t respond to it.
• If the person shows up at your front door, then don’t open the door.  If you’ve already opened it, then close the door once you see them there.
• If they show up and won’t leave, then call the police.
• If you’re out in a public setting, like the grocery store, and you see them, just leave.

Violating a no contact order in any of these ways is not worth the issues that they can create.

What Happens If You Violate a No Contact Order?

What happens depends on how you are under a these conditions.
If you are out on bond with a no contact condition, this can mean:

• new criminal charges;
• going back to jail with no bond; and
• the prosecution seeking harsher penalties in your case.

If you are under sentence and violate a no contact provision, this can mean:

• new criminal charges; and
• a violation of probation.

Either of these scenarios can result in being sent back to jail with no bond and being sentenced to additional jail time.
If you are under conditions of a pre-trial diversion program or some other pre-trial process, a violation can mean that you lose the opportunity to get whatever benefit you are supposed to get at the end of that pretrial diversion program.
If you’re dealing with a case that has a no contact provision, we can help you:

• understand what you need to do to avoid violating it,
• seek a modification of the no contact provision to change or remove it.

For help with a case involving a no contact order, contact us to learn how we can help.