Oregon Stalking Protective Orders: No Fixed End Date and No Fee, but Only for Fear of Harm
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Oregon · Last updated October 22, 2026
Oregon's stalking protective order carries no fixed end date and no fee, but it is built for fear rather than for annoyance. It is a civil court order, available against someone with no family or household tie to you, directing that person to stop contacting you. The limit comes first. ORS 30.866 requires repeated and unwanted contact, meaning two or more times, that alarms or coerces you, plus reasonable apprehension regarding your personal safety. Alarm means apprehension or fear resulting from the perception of danger (ORS 163.730). If a neighbour, coworker or online critic is humiliating you or damaging your reputation but you have no apprehension about your personal safety, this statute gives you no route. If the person is a spouse, ex-partner, relative or someone you live with, this is the wrong order and you want the Family Abuse Prevention Act restraining order instead (ORS 107.700 to 107.735). Oregon has two entries. In the civil petition you file everything and control the timing. In the law enforcement citation route you control only the complaint you bring to an officer, and the officer decides whether to issue a citation (ORS 163.744, 163.735). 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 Oregon
Who is harassing you?
DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.
Does Oregon require fear for my personal safety to get a stalking protective order?
Yes. ORS 30.866 requires repeated and unwanted contact that alarms or coerces you, contact that would alarm a reasonable person in your situation, and reasonable apprehension regarding the personal safety of you or a member of your immediate family or household. Annoyance or embarrassment alone does not meet that wording.
How long does an Oregon stalking protective order last?
The statute sets no fixed term. The order entered through the citation route is of unlimited duration unless limited by law (ORS 163.738), and a temporary order under the civil petition is continued for an indefinite period (ORS 30.866). The word permanent appears only in court instruction sheets, not in the statute.
Does it cost anything to file an Oregon stalking protective order?
No. ORS 30.866 provides that no filing fee, service fee or hearing fee may be charged for a proceeding under that section. The Oregon Judicial Department instructions say the same. The fee bar covers the civil petition, so you should not be asked to pay to file or to have the respondent served.
What proof standard applies to an Oregon stalking protective order?
A preponderance of the evidence. ORS 30.866 states that proof of the claim shall be by a preponderance of the evidence, which means more likely than not. You must show the repeated and unwanted contact, that alarm was objectively reasonable, and that it caused reasonable apprehension about personal safety.
Oregon stalking protective order rules at a glance
Oregon names this order a stalking protective order, and the name is the limit. Under ORS 30.866 the court's stalking protective order answers a pattern of repeated and unwanted contact that alarms or coerces you and leaves you with reasonable apprehension about personal safety, so it is an order about fear of harm, not a general remedy for being harassed. Oregon sets no relationship requirement for the person you ask the court to restrain, which is why it sits apart from the Family Abuse Prevention Act order that is limited to family or household members. What sets Oregon apart is the rest of the package: no fixed term in the statute, no filing, service or hearing fee, and a second path through a law enforcement citation that you can start but cannot finish yourself.
A Lane County tenant, a landlord's caretaker and a run of unwanted visits
A tenant in Eugene is approached again and again by her building's former caretaker, who was dismissed after a dispute. He appears at her door, follows her to the bus stop and leaves notes describing her daily routine. After the fourth encounter she moves from irritation to real fear for her safety. Because he is not a relative or household member, the family abuse track is closed to her. She files the Petition for Stalking Protective Order in the Lane County circuit court at no cost, listing each contact by date. If the court finds probable cause, a temporary order is entered when she files, and the show cause hearing follows. Whether the judge continues it is for the court to decide.
Relevant Laws
ORS 30.866 (civil action for a court's stalking protective order)
The civil petition statute. Subsection (1) permits a petitioner to bring a civil action in circuit court for a court's stalking protective order if the respondent engages in repeated and unwanted contact that alarms or coerces, the alarm is objectively reasonable, and the contact causes reasonable apprehension regarding personal safety. Subsection (2) provides for a temporary order on probable cause and its continuation for an indefinite period, (3)(a) for a hearing continuance of up to 30 days, (7) for a preponderance standard, and (9) bars any filing, service or hearing fee.
ORS 163.730 (definitions for the stalking protective order statutes)
Defines the terms the petition depends on, including alarm as apprehension or fear resulting from the perception of danger, coerce, household member, immediate family, and repeated as two or more times. These definitions are what the court uses to measure whether contact was repeated and whether the petitioner was alarmed.
ORS 163.735 and 163.738 (citation and order of unlimited duration)
Governs the law enforcement citation route. An officer who has probable cause shall issue a citation, the respondent must appear within three judicial days, the hearing may be continued up to 30 days, and the resulting order is of unlimited duration unless limited by law (ORS 163.738(2)(b)).
ORS 163.744 (initiating a citation by presenting a complaint)
Provides that a person may initiate an action seeking a citation by presenting a complaint to a law enforcement officer. This is the only step in the citation route that the reader controls. ORS 163.753 gives immunity for issuing or not issuing a citation.
ORS 107.700 to 107.735 (Family Abuse Prevention Act, the domestic violence order)
The family abuse restraining order, relationship-gated to family or household members. ORS 107.705 defines family or household members to include spouses, former spouses, adult persons related by blood, marriage or adoption, and persons who are cohabiting or who have cohabited. A petitioner inside those relationships asks about this order instead of a stalking protective order.
Oregon Judicial Department, Filing for a Stalking Protective Order (packet)
The court's own instruction packet, with the Petition for Stalking Protective Order, the Temporary Order on Petition/Citation for Stalking Protective Order and the General Judgment re: Stalking Protective Order. The forms carry titles but no form number, and the packet footer reads OJD OFFICIAL (Feb 2025).
Regional Variances
Oregon stalking protective order rules at a glance
Instrument name
Stalking protective order, formally a court's stalking protective order, under ORS 30.866 for the civil petition and ORS 163.730 to 163.755 for definitions and the citation route. It is separate from the Family Abuse Prevention Act restraining order (ORS 107.700 to 107.735).
Who it covers, and the relationship test
No family or household relationship is required of the respondent. ORS 30.866 refers to a respondent generally. Protection extends to the petitioner and to members of the petitioner's immediate family or household (ORS 163.730). The family abuse order, by contrast, is limited to family or household members (ORS 107.705).
The standard
Repeated and unwanted contact that alarms or coerces, objectively reasonable alarm, and reasonable apprehension regarding personal safety (ORS 30.866(1)). Repeated means two or more times. A reader with no apprehension about personal safety has no route under this statute.
Burden of proof
Preponderance of the evidence (ORS 30.866(7)).
Temporary order
On filing, and on a finding of probable cause from the petition's allegations, the court shall enter a temporary order. The show cause hearing may be continued up to 30 days (ORS 30.866(2), (3)(a)). On the citation route the respondent must appear within three judicial days (ORS 163.735(1)).
Duration
No fixed term. The citation-route order is of unlimited duration unless limited by law (ORS 163.738(2)(b)), and the civil route continues a temporary order for an indefinite period (ORS 30.866(2)). The statute does not use the word permanent.
Renewal
The statute provides no renewal mechanism. Oregon Judicial Department instructions say either party may ask the court to dismiss the order, which is court guidance and not statutory text.
Court and form
Circuit court. The form is titled Petition for Stalking Protective Order, with no form number printed, in the packet marked OJD OFFICIAL (Feb 2025).
Filing fee
None. No filing fee, service fee or hearing fee may be charged (ORS 30.866(9)).
Service
The petition and temporary order are served on the respondent with an order to appear and show cause why the temporary order should not be continued (ORS 30.866(2)). No service fee may be charged.
Which route you control
On the civil petition you control filing, timing and content. On the citation route you control only the complaint (ORS 163.744); the officer decides whether to issue the citation (ORS 163.735).
Frequently Asked Questions
Other Oregon guides
Adult Guardianship in Oregon
Adverse Possession in Oregon: 10 Years Plus an Honest Belief of Ownership
Asset Protection Planning in Oregon (2026)
Dealing With Debt Collectors in Oregon (2026)
Delinquent Property Taxes in Oregon: One Circuit Court Judgment, Then Two Years to Redeem
Expunging a Criminal Record in Oregon (2026)
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