Idaho Protection Orders for Stalking, Threatening Calls and Bias Harassment: A Narrow Door With a 90-Day Clock
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Idaho · Last updated October 22, 2026
Idaho's protection order for someone who is not family sits in the criminal chapter headed Malicious Harassment, Idaho Code 18-7907, and it is narrower than its name suggests. It is a court order telling a person you are not related to, and not in a domestic relationship with, to stay away from you and stop the conduct. The grounds are a closed list of three: stalking in any degree, threatening telephone calls, and harassment or injury based on race, colour, religion, ancestry or national origin. The conduct must have happened within 90 days before you file and be likely to happen again. Stalking requires a course of conduct, meaning repeated acts of nonconsensual contact, so a neighbour dispute without repeated nonconsensual contact does not fit (Idaho Code 18-7906). If the person is a spouse, partner, ex, relative or household member, you probably want the domestic violence order under Idaho Code 39-6304 instead. One difference runs against you: this order lasts a fixed period of up to one year and can be renewed, but the text offers no permanent option, while a domestic violence order can be made permanent (Idaho Code 18-7907(7), 39-6306(5)). Idaho uses one form for both, CAO DV 1-1, and there is no fee. This is document preparation information, not legal advice, and no order can guarantee your safety. Attorney review is available through DocDraft.
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Who is harassing you?
DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.
Which conduct can an Idaho protection order under Idaho Code 18-7907 cover?
Only three grounds: stalking in any degree, telephoning someone with intent to terrify, threaten or intimidate and threatening injury, and harassment or injury aimed at a person because of race, colour, religion, ancestry or national origin. Idaho Code 18-7907(1) lists them, and no general harassment ground appears in it.
How recent must the conduct be to petition in Idaho?
The judge must find, by a preponderance of the evidence, that you were the victim of the listed conduct within ninety days immediately before the petition was filed, and that it is likely to occur again (Idaho Code 18-7907(4)). Older incidents may help show a pattern, but the clock runs from filing.
How long does an Idaho stalking or harassment protection order last?
Relief runs for a fixed period not to exceed one year. It can be renewed, modified or terminated on motion and good cause after a hearing or written stipulation (Idaho Code 18-7907(7)). The statute text contains no permanent option for this order, unlike the domestic violence order.
Does Idaho charge a fee for this protection order petition?
No. Idaho Code 18-7909 provides that no filing fee, service fee, hearing fee or bond is charged for proceedings seeking only the relief available under sections 18-7907 and 18-7908. The fee bar covers those proceedings; it does not speak to a petition that also seeks other relief.
Idaho civil harassment order rules at a glance
Idaho has no general harassment order. What it has is a petition for a protection order under Idaho Code 18-7907, placed in title 18, chapter 79, the Malicious Harassment chapter, and open to anyone who has been the target of stalking, threatening telephone calls or bias-based harassment, with no relationship to the other person required. The routing to the domestic violence order is therefore by subject, not by exclusion. The odd feature is administrative: one court form, CAO DV 1-1, carries a selector between Domestic Violence (I.C. 39-6304) and Stalking and/or Threats (I.C. 18-7907), so no separate harassment petition exists to look for. A single verified petition may even seek relief under both. Where the two part company is time. The stalking order is capped at one year and renewable, while the domestic violence order can be made permanent.
A Bonner County farm stand, a regular customer and a ninety-day count
A woman who sells produce from a roadside stand in Bonner County has a regular customer who, after she declines his invitations, starts leaving notes under her truck wiper, calling from changing numbers and standing at the stand past closing. She asks him to stop and he does not. Her last unwelcome contact was seventy days ago, which means about twenty days remain on the ninety-day lookback in Idaho Code 18-7907(4). She chooses the Stalking and/or Threats box on form CAO DV 1-1, because he is no relative or partner, and lists the dated acts as repeated nonconsensual contact. She pays no fee under Idaho Code 18-7909. Whether the court finds the conduct likely to recur is for the judge.
Relevant Laws
Idaho Code 18-7907 (petition for a protection order)
Creates the action known as a petition for a protection order where a person intentionally stalks in any degree, telephones another with intent to terrify, threaten or intimidate and threatens injury or physical harm, or, based on race, color, religion, ancestry or national origin, intimidates or harasses another or causes or threatens physical injury or property damage. Subsection (4) sets the preponderance standard, the ninety-day lookback and the likely-to-recur finding. Subsection (7) limits relief to a fixed period not exceeding one year, renewable on good cause. Subsection (10) allows a single verified petition under this chapter and section 39-6304.
Idaho Code 18-7906 (stalking in the second degree)
Defines second degree stalking as a knowing and malicious course of conduct that seriously alarms, annoys or harasses the victim and is such as would cause a reasonable person substantial emotional distress, among other alternatives. The section also defines a victim as the person who is the target of a course of conduct. Together with section 18-7905 it supplies the stalking ground in section 18-7907.
Idaho Code 18-7908 (ex parte temporary protection orders)
Provides that an ex parte temporary protection order is effective for a fixed period not to exceed fourteen days but may be reissued for good cause shown, and that a full hearing shall be set for not later than fourteen days from its issuance.
Idaho Code 18-7909 (no fees for these proceedings)
Provides that no filing fee, service fee, hearing fee or bond shall be charged for proceedings seeking only the relief provided under sections 18-7907 and 18-7908.
Idaho Code 39-6304 (the domestic violence protection order petition)
The domestic violence order that the form CAO DV 1-1 selector refers to. A petitioner who is a family or household member, or in a dating relationship with the respondent, should look here rather than to section 18-7907, because the protections differ between the two tracks.
Idaho Code 39-6306(5) (domestic violence order duration, for contrast)
Provides that a domestic violence protection order may continue for an appropriate time period or be made permanent. Note the contrast with section 18-7907(7), whose text limits relief to a fixed period not exceeding one year and offers no permanent option.
Idaho Court form CAO DV 1-1, Sworn Petition for Protection Order
The single petition form. It carries a selector between Domestic Violence (I.C. 39-6304) and Stalking and/or Threats (I.C. 18-7907). The printed edition read is dated 07/01/2019 and is published on the Idaho Supreme Court self-help site.
Regional Variances
Idaho civil harassment order rules at a glance
Instrument name
Petition for a protection order, for stalking, threatening telephone calls or bias-based harassment, under Idaho Code 18-7907. It sits in title 18, chapter 79, headed Malicious Harassment. Idaho has no general harassment order, so this is a narrow route.
Who it covers, and the relationship test
No relationship is required. Section 18-7907 names none, and a victim is the target of a course of conduct (Idaho Code 18-7906). If the person is a spouse, partner, ex, relative or household member, the domestic violence order under Idaho Code 39-6304 may be the better fit.
The standard
A preponderance of the evidence that you were the victim of the listed conduct within ninety days before filing and that it is likely to occur in the future (Idaho Code 18-7907(4)). The grounds are a closed list of three. Course of conduct means repeated acts of nonconsensual contact.
Temporary order
An ex parte temporary protection order lasts up to fourteen days and may be reissued for good cause. It needs a showing that present harm could result. A full hearing must be set within fourteen days of issuance (Idaho Code 18-7908).
Duration
A fixed period not to exceed one year (Idaho Code 18-7907(7)). There is no permanent option in the text, unlike the domestic violence order, which may be made permanent under Idaho Code 39-6306(5). This difference runs against the petitioner.
Renewal
The order may be renewed, modified or terminated on motion and good cause shown, with notice to all parties and after a hearing or written stipulation filed with the court (Idaho Code 18-7907(7)).
Court and form
Idaho state court, on the single Sworn Petition for Protection Order, form CAO DV 1-1. A selector chooses between Domestic Violence (I.C. 39-6304) and Stalking and/or Threats (I.C. 18-7907). A separate harassment petition does not exist.
Filing fee
None. No filing fee, service fee, hearing fee or bond is charged for proceedings seeking only the relief under sections 18-7907 and 18-7908 (Idaho Code 18-7909).
Service
No service fee applies to proceedings seeking only the relief under sections 18-7907 and 18-7908 (Idaho Code 18-7909). Ask the clerk how service of your papers is arranged.
Firearm provision and violation
This page does not state a firearm rule or a violation penalty for the order, because neither has been confirmed here. Ask the court clerk or an attorney about both before you rely on either.
Frequently Asked Questions
Other Idaho guides
Adult Guardianship in Idaho
Adverse Possession in Idaho: Twenty Years, Every Tax Bill, and the Owner's Recorded Answer
Asset Protection Planning in Idaho (2026)
Dealing With Debt Collectors in Idaho (2026)
Delinquent Property Taxes in Idaho: Three Years, a Commissioners' Hearing, Then the County Holds the Deed
Expunging a Criminal Record in Idaho (2026)
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