What Happens If You Violate a Colorado Criminal Protection Order?

Introduction

It usually starts small: a text that says “I just want to explain,” a wave across a parking lot, a message passed along through a mutual friend. Under Colorado law, any of these can be treated as a violation of a protection order, and the consequences can arrive faster than the case that produced the order.

If you are restrained by a criminal protection order, the stakes are especially high. This guide explains what counts as a violation, what happens after an arrest, the penalties under C.R.S. § 18-6-803.5,how contempt and felony exposure fit in, and the defenses worth examining. It also reflectsHouse Bill 25-1148, a 2025 law that changed parts of the system. Many online articles still describe the old rules.

What Is a Colorado Criminal Protection Order?

When someone is charged with a crime under Title 18 of the Colorado Revised Statutes, the law creates a mandatory protection order automatically. Under C.R.S. § 18-1-1001, the order takes effect when the court advises the defendant of it at arraignment or the first appearance, and it stays in place until final disposition of the case unless the court modifies or dismisses it. At a minimum it must restrain the defendant from harassing, molesting, intimidating, retaliating against, or tampering with any witness to or victim of the acts charged.

In domestic violence cases and certain other cases, the judge can add more: staying away from the alleged victim’s home and other places they are likely to be, no direct or indirect contact, no firearms or other weapons, limits on alcohol or controlled substances when the information supports a link to the victim’s safety, and protections for animals. These add-on terms are where many people get caught. They are also a separate track from civil protection orders, which a protected person requests by filing a petition under Title 13, Article 14.

What Counts as a Violation?

Under C.R.S. § 18-6-803.5(1), the crime applies once a person has been personally served with an order naming them as the restrained person, or has otherwise gained actual knowledge of its contents from the court or law enforcement. After that point, the statute reaches anyone who:

• Contacts, harasses, injures, intimidates, molests, threatens, or touches the protected person or protected property, including an animal;
• Enters or remains on premises, or comes within a specified distance of the protected person, protected property, or premises named in the order;
• Possesses or consumes alcohol or controlled substances when the order prohibits it;
• Violates another provision meant to protect the protected person from imminent danger to life or health;
• Hires or contracts with someone else to locate or help locate the protected person; or
• Where an order carries firearm terms, possesses or tries to buy a firearm or ammunition, or fails to file the required affidavit or statement on time.

Because so many orders bar both direct and indirect communication, prosecutors commonly build cases on text messages, voicemails, social media messages, and messages relayed through friends or relatives. Being in the same place by chance is treated differently from seeking someone out, but the fact pattern matters, and it is exactly what a defense lawyer will examine.

“But She Contacted Me First”

This is the most common misunderstanding. The order binds the person it restrains, not the person it protects. A protected person’s invitation, apology, or decision to reconcile does not end or change the order. The statute places the duty on the restrained person, and only the court can modify or dismiss the order. The defendant can apply to the court at any time for modification or dismissal, and so can the district attorney.

A protection order binds the person it restrains, not the person it protects.

What Happens Right After an Alleged Violation

Police can be called at any hour. Under C.R.S. § 18-6-803.5(3)(b), an officer with probable cause that a restrained person violated or attempted to violate an order, and that the person was served or had actual notice, must arrest or, if an arrest would be impractical, seek an arrest warrant.

House Bill 25-1148 added a narrow exception: for a short list of situations, an officer may use discretion to arrest, seek a warrant, or issue a summons instead. Those situations are alcohol or drug possession terms, certain imminent-danger terms in orders that do not arise from a domestic violence or Victim Rights Act case, and failure to file the firearm affidavit on time. For ordinary contact or proximity allegations, arrest remains the expected outcome.

After booking, the arrested person may be held or released under the jurisdiction’s bond schedule. At the first court appearance, the prosecutor presents the arrest affidavits and the restrained person’s criminal history.

The statute also directs that if a restrained person already on bond for a protection order violation is arrested for another, the prosecutor must ask the court that set the earlier bond to revoke it and issue an arrest warrant when probable cause exists. The case may be tried in the county where the violation happened or in the county of the court that issued the order.

Penalties for Violating a Colorado Protection Order

Under C.R.S. § 18-6-803.5(2)(a), violating a protection order is a class 2 misdemeanor. It becomes a class 1 misdemeanor if any of these is true: the restrained person has a prior conviction for violating an order, the order was issued under C.R.S. § 18-1-1001 (a criminal protection order), the basis for the order included an allegation of stalking, or the parties were in an intimate relationship. In practice, that makes class 1 the default for criminal protection orders and most domestic violence cases.

Consecutive Sentences

A sentence for violating a protection order must run consecutively, meaning on top of and not at the same time as, the sentence for the crime that gave rise to the order. House Bill 25-1148 narrowed that rule to cases involving domestic violence or crimes listed in the Victim Rights Act (with two exceptions in that list) for orders tied to offenses committed on or after July 1, 2025. If your case is in that category, a short jail sentence on the violation can stack onto the original sentence.

Contempt of Court

A violation can also be punished as contempt of court, separately from a new criminal charge. The protected person may start contempt proceedings when the order came from a civil case, or ask the prosecutor to do so when it came from a criminal case. Colorado separates remedial contempt, meant to force compliance, from punitive contempt, meant to punish past conduct. Punitive contempt is generally kept to six months or less because longer sentences trigger a right to a jury trial. When stalking is involved, the stalking statute requires sentences for the stalking, the protection order violation, and any contempt to be served consecutively.

When a Violation Becomes a Felony

• Stalking. Colorado’s stalking statute, C.R.S. § 18-3-602, is a felony even on a first offense. It rises to a class 4 felony when a protection order, bond condition, or other court order was in effect at the time.
• Intimidating or retaliating against a witness or victim. Contact meant to pressure someone about the case can be charged under C.R.S. §§ 18-8-704 and 18-8-706. Since 2025, courts must warn defendants about this at the first appearance.
• Firearms. Possessing or trying to buy a firearm or ammunition while an order with firearm terms is in effect is itself a violation under § 18-6-803.5(1)(c). Federal law can separately restrict firearm possession for people subject to certain protection orders.

How a Violation Affects the Original Case

A new violation rarely stays in its own lane. Prosecutors on the original case can point to it when arguing about bond, offers, and sentencing. If the original case involves domestic violence as defined in C.R.S. § 18-6-800.3, the order is harder to shed: the court may dismiss a criminal protection order at resolution only when the case is not a domestic violence or Victim Rights Act case. A violation can also complicate probation, parenting time, employment screening, and firearm rights. Noncitizens should speak with an immigration attorney before resolving any charge.

Defenses to a Protection Order Violation Charge

 

Scope of the order. The conduct charged must be conduct the order actually prohibited. Vague wording, distance limits, exceptions for child exchanges or court appearances, and later modifications can all matter. The statute treats an amending or superseding order as part of the protection order, so the exact version in force on the date matters.

Identity and authorship. Texts can be sent from a shared phone, a spoofed number, or an account controlled by someone else. Proof that the defendant personally sent the message is not automatic.

Lawfulness of the stop or arrest, and suppression. If officers violated constitutional limits, statements or evidence may be suppressed, which can leave a case with little else.

What does not work. Saying the protected person agreed, started the contact, or wanted to reconcile does not excuse a violation. If an order is unfair or no longer needed, the remedy is to file a motion with the court, not to violate the order.

What to Do If You Are Accused, or Unsure What the Order Allows

1. Stop all contact, direct and indirect. That includes messages through friends, relatives, and social media.
2. Get the actual order. Read the exact terms. The standardized form lists the people, places, and distances covered.
3. Do not talk it through with police or the protected person. Anything said can become evidence.
4. Preserve, never delete. Keep messages, call logs, and location records that show who reached out and when.
5. Talk to a Colorado criminal defense lawyer before filing anything. A lawyer can ask the court to modify or dismiss an order and can handle the new charge and the original case together.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

• C.R.S. § 18-6-803.5, Crime of violation of a protection order
• C.R.S. § 18-1-1001, Protection order against defendant
• C.R.S. § 18-1.3-501, Misdemeanors classified
• C.R.S. § 18-3-602, Stalking
• HB25-1148, Criminal Protection Order & Protection Order Violation (Colorado General Assembly)
• HB25-1148, signed act (PDF)

This article is general information for Colorado readers, last updated September 30, 2026. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Laws change and every case turns on its own facts, so speak with a licensed attorney about your situation.