Kentucky Interpersonal Protective Orders: A Separate Chapter, but Only Stalking Reaches Harassment
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Kentucky · Last updated October 22, 2026
Kentucky gives the order for people outside your household its own chapter and its own name, yet almost nothing about how it runs differs from the domestic violence order. The interpersonal protective order, or IPO, under KRS chapter 456 is a civil court order telling someone to stop harassing or contacting you and to stay away, and a temporary version, the TIPO, can issue before the other person is heard. Here is the plain limit: the IPO has three grounds, dating violence and abuse, sexual assault, and stalking (KRS 456.030(1)), and ordinary harassment is not one of them. A reader troubled by a neighbour or coworker with no dating relationship must come in through stalking. Since July 15, 2026 that means a course of conduct of two or more acts that seriously alarms, annoys, intimidates or harasses, serves no legitimate purpose and causes substantial mental distress, with no fear-of-injury element (KRS 508.130). If the person is a spouse, ex, family member or someone in an unmarried couple with you, this is the wrong order and you want a domestic violence order under KRS chapter 403 (KRS 403.720). Be clear about what the IPO is not. It runs up to three years, reissuable, on the same petition form (AOC-275.1) and under the same preponderance of the evidence test as a domestic violence order. It is not faster, longer or easier. What differs is who may ask. Filing is free. Eligibility is the court's decision. This page is document preparation information, not legal advice, and no order can guarantee your safety. Attorney review is available through DocDraft.
Find out where you stand in Kentucky
Who is harassing you?
DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.
Can I get a Kentucky interpersonal protective order for harassment by a neighbour?
Not under that label. Kentucky's interpersonal protective order covers dating violence and abuse, sexual assault, or stalking (KRS 456.030(1)). A neighbour with no dating link must be alleged to have stalked you, meaning a two-act course of conduct that harasses, serves no legitimate purpose and causes substantial mental distress.
Is a Kentucky interpersonal protective order different from a domestic violence order?
In who may ask, yes. In operation, hardly. Both last up to three years and may be reissued, both use a preponderance of the evidence standard, and both are requested on form AOC-275.1. The IPO is open to dating violence, sexual assault and stalking victims regardless of household ties.
How long does a Kentucky interpersonal protective order last?
A court fixes the term, not to exceed three years, and it may be reissued on expiration for further periods of up to three years each (KRS 456.060(3)). A stalking conviction opens a separate path, with terms up to ten years under KRS 508.155.
Does it cost anything to file for a Kentucky interpersonal protective order?
No. The Kentucky Court of Justice protective order booklet states that there are no fees or costs for filing a petition. The same booklet covers both the domestic violence order and the interpersonal protective order, because they share a single petition form.
Kentucky interpersonal protective order rules at a glance
Kentucky's separateness is real on paper and thin in practice. KRS chapter 456 creates the interpersonal protective order as its own named instrument, a civil court order directing someone you are not domestically tied to, to stop harassing or contacting you and to keep away. Its stalking ground needs no relationship at all, and the 2026 rewrite of KRS 508.130 asks only for a two-act course of conduct that harasses and causes substantial mental distress. But the term, the preponderance burden and the petition form match the domestic violence order, and stalking is a ground in both chapters. So the honest difference is not speed or length. It is who may ask, and that is the whole reason to know which door fits your facts.
A Daviess County food truck owner and a customer who will not stop
A Daviess County food truck owner parks at the same lunch spot each week. A former customer, angry over a refund, begins turning up at the truck, posting her licence plate and schedule in local groups, and sending messages from new accounts, more than a dozen incidents across four months. They have never dated and share no household. Because ordinary harassment is not an IPO ground, she pleads stalking under KRS 508.130, listing each act with its date, on form AOC-275.1 with the box for no listed relationship ticked. She files free, and asks for a TIPO. Whether the court finds an immediate and present danger, and later finds stalking by a preponderance, is for the court.
Relevant Laws
KRS 456.030 (who may petition for an interpersonal protective order)
Provides that a petition for an interpersonal protective order may be filed by a victim of dating violence and abuse, a victim of stalking, a victim of sexual assault, or an adult on behalf of a minor victim otherwise qualifying for relief. Harassment is not listed as a separate ground.
KRS 456.040 and 456.050 (temporary orders, hearing and service)
Section 456.040 lets the court issue a temporary interpersonal protective order on filing and summons the parties to an evidentiary hearing not more than 14 days later. Section 456.050, as amended in 2025, limits a continued temporary order to six months from issuance and requires rescission without prejudice if the respondent has not been served in that period.
KRS 456.060 (the standard of proof and the term)
Provides that the court may issue an interpersonal protective order if it finds by a preponderance of the evidence that dating violence and abuse, sexual assault, or stalking has occurred and may again occur. The order is effective for a period fixed by the court, not to exceed three years, and may be reissued for further periods of up to three years each.
KRS 508.130 (stalking, as rewritten effective July 15, 2026)
Defines stalking as an intentional course of conduct directed at another person that seriously alarms, annoys, intimidates or harasses them, serves no legitimate purpose, and causes substantial mental distress. Enacted by 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 67 (HB 521), which also repealed KRS 508.140 and 508.150.
KRS 456.010 (definitions, including dating relationship)
Defines a dating relationship as one between individuals who have or have had a relationship of a romantic or intimate nature, excluding a casual acquaintanceship or ordinary fraternization in a business or social context. This definition governs the dating violence ground, not the stalking ground.
KRS 403.720 (the domestic violence order definitions that route you elsewhere)
Defines domestic violence and abuse as conduct, including stalking and sexual assault, between family members or members of an unmarried couple. A petitioner inside that group uses the domestic violence order under KRS chapter 403, not the interpersonal protective order.
2026 Ky. Acts ch. 67 (HB 521)
The session law, signed April 10, 2026 and effective July 15, 2026, that rewrote KRS 508.130 as a single stalking offence, repealed KRS 508.140 and 508.150, and amended KRS 456.010 and 508.155.
Form AOC-275.1, Petition/Motion for Order of Protection
The combined petition for KRS chapters 403 and 456, with a relationship checkbox for cases where none of the listed relationships apply but stalking or sexual assault is alleged. The printed edition is Rev. 6-23 and predates the 2026 stalking rewrite.
Kentucky Court of Justice protective order booklet (P123)
The court system's guide to protective orders, which states that there are no fees or costs for filing a petition.
Regional Variances
Kentucky civil harassment order rules at a glance
Instrument name
Interpersonal protective order (IPO) under KRS chapter 456, with a temporary version called a TIPO. Kentucky has no free-standing civil harassment order, and chapter 456 contains no harassment ground of its own.
Who it covers, and the relationship test
Victims of dating violence and abuse, stalking, or sexual assault (KRS 456.030(1)). Stalking and sexual assault need no relationship. Dating violence needs a relationship of a romantic or intimate nature (KRS 456.010). Family members and unmarried couples go to the domestic violence order under KRS chapter 403.
The standard
Preponderance of the evidence that dating violence and abuse, sexual assault, or stalking has occurred and may again occur (KRS 456.060(1)). For a non-dating respondent the live ground is stalking: a course of conduct that seriously alarms, annoys, intimidates or harasses, serves no legitimate purpose and causes substantial mental distress (KRS 508.130). Same test as the domestic violence order.
Temporary order
A TIPO may issue on filing where the court finds an immediate and present danger. The evidentiary hearing is set not more than 14 days out (KRS 456.040). If the respondent is unserved, continuation is capped at six months from issuance, then the order is rescinded without prejudice (KRS 456.050).
Duration
A period fixed by the court, not to exceed three years (KRS 456.060(3)). Identical to the domestic violence order. A stalking conviction opens a separate path of up to ten years under KRS 508.155.
Renewal
May be reissued on expiration for further periods of up to three years each (KRS 456.060(3)). A court may consider whether the order has been violated since issuance.
Court and form
Form AOC-275.1, Petition/Motion for Order of Protection, one form for both KRS chapter 403 and chapter 456. The printed edition is Rev. 6-23 and predates the 2026 stalking rewrite, so confirm the current version with the clerk.
Filing fee
None. The Kentucky Court of Justice protective order booklet states that there are no fees or costs for filing a petition.
Service
Service on the respondent matters because an unserved temporary order is limited to six months from issuance and then rescinded without prejudice (KRS 456.050). This page does not state who serves or at what cost.
Firearm provision
This page does not state a firearm rule for the interpersonal protective order. If firearms are part of your situation, ask the court clerk or an attorney rather than assuming either way.
Violation
This page does not detail the penalty for violating an interpersonal protective order. An order directs behaviour and carries consequences for violation, but it cannot guarantee safety. Keep a copy with you and report violations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Other Kentucky guides
Adult Guardianship in Kentucky
Adverse Possession in Kentucky: Fifteen Years, or Seven With Record Title
Asset Protection Planning in Kentucky (2026)
Dealing With Debt Collectors in Kentucky (2026)
Delinquent Property Taxes in Kentucky: Twelve Percent Interest, and a Fee Stack That Dwarfs It
Expunging a Criminal Record in Kentucky (2026)
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