North Carolina No-Contact Orders for Stalking or Nonconsensual Sexual Conduct: Not a Harassment Order
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · North Carolina · Last updated October 22, 2026
North Carolina has no harassment order for people who are not family, and a reader should know that before anything else. What it has is the civil no-contact order for stalking or nonconsensual sexual conduct under N.C. Gen. Stat. Chapter 50C, and G.S. 50C-1(7) limits it to exactly those two acts. Someone harassed by a neighbour or a stranger, in a way that falls short of stalking, has no Chapter 50C remedy at all. The words "cease harassment of the victim" appear in G.S. 50C-5(b)(3) only as relief a judge may order after one of the two acts is found, never as a ground. The order itself is a court directive aimed at someone you are not in a personal relationship with, telling them to stay away from you and stop contacting you. If the person is a spouse, ex, dating partner, relative or household member, this is the wrong order and you want a domestic violence protective order under Chapter 50B instead, because Chapter 50C protects only a person harmed by someone outside a G.S. 50B-1(b) personal relationship (G.S. 50C-1(8)). One act of nonconsensual sexual conduct can be enough, stalking needs more than one occasion, the other person must be 16 or older, and physical injury is not required (G.S. 50C-5(a)). Filing and service cost nothing (G.S. 50C-2(b)). A permanent order lasts up to one year and can be renewed (G.S. 50C-8). 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 North Carolina
Who is harassing you?
DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.
Can I get a North Carolina no-contact order against a neighbour who is only harassing me?
Only if the conduct amounts to stalking or nonconsensual sexual conduct. G.S. 50C-1(7) names those two acts and no others, so general harassment, a single threat, or noise and hostility without a stalking course of conduct falls outside Chapter 50C. Whether your facts qualify is for the court to decide.
How long does a North Carolina civil no-contact order last?
A permanent order is effective for a fixed period not to exceed one year (G.S. 50C-8(b)). A temporary order granted without notice must expire by its terms within not more than 10 days after entry (G.S. 50C-6(b)(4)). The complainant can ask the court to renew a permanent order before it expires.
Does a North Carolina no-contact order require physical injury?
No. G.S. 50C-5(a) says the court shall not require physical injury to the victim when deciding whether to issue an order. The finding needed is that the respondent committed unlawful conduct, meaning stalking or nonconsensual sexual conduct, and the respondent must have been 16 years of age or older.
Is there a filing fee for a North Carolina no-contact order?
No. G.S. 50C-2(b) bars court costs and attorneys' fees for filing or serving the complaint or serving any orders, except as provided in Rule 11 of the Rules of Civil Procedure. The section's own catchline reads "filing fees not permitted." The statute does not bar you from paying a private lawyer.
North Carolina civil no-contact order rules at a glance
North Carolina names its non-domestic order for what it reaches, and that name is the whole lesson. The civil no-contact order for stalking or nonconsensual sexual conduct under Chapter 50C is a court order directing a person who is not in a G.S. 50B-1(b) personal relationship with you to keep away and stop contacting you. It is not a harassment order. Its only grounds are the two acts in G.S. 50C-1(7). The routing test is unusual because it is written as a negative: you qualify as a victim only where the other person is not someone you share a personal relationship with, and if you do, Chapter 50B governs instead. The rest favours the petitioner. Filing and service are free, no physical injury is needed, and a one-year order can be renewed again and again on good cause alone, with no new act required (G.S. 50C-8(c)).
A Durham County food truck owner and the customer who follows her route
A food truck owner in Durham County finds the same former customer waiting at each of her lunch locations over three months. He photographs her through the service window, turns up at her commissary kitchen, and sends messages after she asks him to stop. They have never dated or lived together, so Chapter 50B is not in play. A neighbour or customer who merely stares or complains would have no Chapter 50C route, so the question for her is whether the pattern is stalking under G.S. 14-277.3A. She files form AOC-CV-520 at no cost, asks for a temporary order without notice, and the court sets the hearing clock. If the order is entered, it lasts up to one year, and renewal is a separate motion. Whether the court finds stalking is for the court to decide.
Relevant Laws
N.C. Gen. Stat. 50C-1 (definitions: unlawful conduct and victim)
Defines unlawful conduct as nonconsensual sexual conduct, including single incidents, or stalking, committed by a person 16 years of age or older, excluding self-defense. Defines a victim as a person against whom unlawful conduct has been committed by another person not involved in a personal relationship with them as defined in G.S. 50B-1(b).
N.C. Gen. Stat. 50C-2 (filing and fees)
Governs who may file, including a competent adult resident for a minor child or incompetent adult. Subsection (b), whose catchline reads filing fees not permitted, bars court costs and attorneys' fees for filing or serving the complaint or serving any orders, except as provided in Rule 11.
N.C. Gen. Stat. 50C-5 (relief)
Subsection (a) lets the court issue temporary or permanent orders on a finding that the victim has suffered unlawful conduct and says physical injury shall not be required. Subsection (b)(3) lists ceasing harassment of the victim as one form of relief, available only after unlawful conduct is found.
N.C. Gen. Stat. 50C-6 (temporary orders without notice)
Allows a temporary order on specific facts showing immediate injury, loss or damage, with a certification of efforts to give notice or of good cause. An order granted without notice must expire within not more than 10 days. Subsection (d) permits a designated judge or magistrate to act when court is not in session.
N.C. Gen. Stat. 50C-8 (duration, renewal and hearing)
Subsection (b) limits a permanent order to a fixed period not exceeding one year. Subsection (c) lets the court renew an order, including one already renewed, on a motion filed before expiry and for good cause, and states that no new act of unlawful conduct is required.
N.C. Gen. Stat. 50C-10 (violation)
Provides that a knowing violation of an order under Chapter 50C is punishable as civil or criminal contempt under Chapter 5A of the General Statutes.
N.C. Gen. Stat. 50B-1 (domestic violence, the other track)
Defines domestic violence and the personal relationships, in subsection (b), that place a petitioner under the Chapter 50B domestic violence protective order instead. A petitioner in such a relationship with the other person is routed to Chapter 50B, not Chapter 50C.
N.C. Gen. Stat. 14-277.3A (stalking)
Defines the offence of stalking and the course of conduct of following or otherwise harassing on more than one occasion, which Chapter 50C borrows as one of its two grounds.
N.C. Gen. Stat. Chapter 95, Article 23 (Workplace Violence Prevention Act)
A separate civil no-contact order, with broader grounds, that may be filed only by an employer on behalf of an employee or on its own behalf, never by the individual victim. A permanent order lasts a fixed period not exceeding one year (G.S. 95-267(b)).
AOC-CV-520, Complaint For No-Contact Order For Stalking Or Nonconsensual Sexual Conduct
The North Carolina court form, Rev. 7/24, used to file the complaint under G.S. 50C-2. The companion form for renewal is AOC-CV-525, Motion To Renew/Set Aside No-Contact Order For Stalking Or Nonconsensual Sexual Conduct.
Regional Variances
North Carolina civil harassment order rules at a glance
Instrument name
Civil no-contact order for stalking or nonconsensual sexual conduct, under N.C. Gen. Stat. Chapter 50C. It is not a general harassment order, and the court form is titled accordingly. A separate employer-only order exists under Chapter 95, Article 23.
Who it covers, and the relationship test
A victim of unlawful conduct committed by another person not involved in a personal relationship with them as defined in G.S. 50B-1(b) (G.S. 50C-1(8)). The test is negative: where such a relationship exists, Chapter 50B applies instead.
The standard
A finding that the victim suffered unlawful conduct, meaning nonconsensual sexual conduct (a single incident suffices) or stalking, by a respondent 16 or older. Physical injury is not required (G.S. 50C-1(7), 50C-5(a)). General harassment is not a ground.
Temporary order
May be granted without notice on specific facts showing immediate injury, loss or damage. It expires within not more than 10 days. A designated judge or magistrate may act when court is not in session (G.S. 50C-6(a), (b)(4), (d)).
Hearing timing
Hearing within 10 days of the motion where an ex parte order was granted. Where it was denied, trial is set within 30 days of the denial (G.S. 50C-6, 50C-8(a)).
Duration
A permanent order is effective for a fixed period not to exceed one year (G.S. 50C-8(b)).
Renewal
On the complainant's motion filed before expiry, for good cause, one or more times. No new act of unlawful conduct is required. Extensions are granted only in open court. Form AOC-CV-525 (G.S. 50C-8(c), (d)).
Court and form
The court, on form AOC-CV-520, Complaint For No-Contact Order For Stalking Or Nonconsensual Sexual Conduct, Rev. 7/24, also published in Spanish and Vietnamese.
Filing fee
None. No court costs or attorneys' fees for filing the complaint, except as provided in Rule 11 (G.S. 50C-2(b)).
Service
Free. The same subsection bars court costs and attorneys' fees for service of the complaint and of any orders (G.S. 50C-2(b)).
Firearm provision
This page does not state a firearm rule for Chapter 50C. Ask the clerk or an attorney what applies to your order, and do not assume it matches the domestic violence track.
Violation
A knowing violation is punishable as civil or criminal contempt under Chapter 5A (G.S. 50C-10).
Frequently Asked Questions
Other North Carolina guides
Adult Guardianship in North Carolina
Adverse Possession in North Carolina: Twenty Years, or Seven With Color of Title
Asset Protection Planning in North Carolina (2026)
Dealing With Debt Collectors in North Carolina (2026)
Delinquent Property Taxes in North Carolina: The Sale Is Not Final Until a Clerk Confirms It
Expunging a Criminal Record in North Carolina (2026)
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