Wyoming Order of Protection for Stalking Victims: Filed by You, Heard Within 72 Hours
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Wyoming · Last updated October 22, 2026
Wyoming's non-domestic protective order sits in the criminal procedure title, yet you can file it yourself, and the court must set your hearing within 72 hours. Be clear about its reach first: it is an order of protection for a victim of stalking or sexual assault, not a general harassment order, so harassment protects you only where it amounts to stalking under Wyo. Stat. 6-2-506 (Wyo. Stat. 7-3-506). In plain terms, it is a circuit court order telling someone you are not related to or living with to stop contacting you and to stay away. If the person is a spouse, partner, ex, family or household member, this is the wrong order and you want a domestic abuse protection order under the Family Violence Protection Act instead (Wyo. Stat. 35-21-101 et seq.). Stalking means acting with intent to harass through a course of conduct reasonably likely to harass, and harassment includes conduct a reasonable person would find causes substantial emotional distress (Wyo. Stat. 6-2-506(a)(ii), (b)). The victim is the first person the statute lists as able to petition (Wyo. Stat. 7-3-507(a)(i)). An order lasts for a fixed period of no more than three years. Whether you qualify is for the court to decide, and no order can guarantee your safety. This page is document preparation information, not legal advice. Attorney review is available through DocDraft.
Find out where you stand in Wyoming
Who is harassing you?
DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.
Can I file for a Wyoming order of protection myself, or only the state?
You can file yourself. Although the statute sits in the criminal procedure title, Wyo. Stat. 7-3-507(a)(i) lists the victim first among those who may petition. A district attorney may also file on the victim's behalf, but only if the victim consents, so that route adds to yours rather than replacing it.
Does Wyoming have an order for harassment that is not stalking?
The order is for victims of stalking or sexual assault. Stalking is defined by reference to Wyo. Stat. 6-2-506(b), which requires intent to harass and a course of conduct reasonably likely to harass. Harassment is therefore reachable through that definition, rather than through a freestanding harassment order.
How soon is the hearing after I file in Wyoming?
Within seventy-two hours. Wyo. Stat. 7-3-508(a) requires the court to schedule a hearing within 72 hours of the petition being filed, and each party must be served with an order to appear at least twenty-four hours before it. A missed 72-hour window does not affect the validity of the hearing or any order.
How long does a Wyoming order of protection last?
It is effective for a fixed period of time not to exceed three years. Either party may move to modify, terminate or extend it. An extension may run for periods not to exceed three years each, if the court finds from specific facts that a clear and present danger to the victim continues to exist.
Wyoming order of protection rules at a glance
Wyoming's instrument is an order of protection for a victim of stalking or sexual assault, found in Wyo. Stat. 7-3-506 to 7-3-512. It directs a person you are not domestically related to to stay away from you and stop contacting you. What sets it apart is the way its stalking predicate is built. Stalking is committed by a course of conduct, undertaken with intent to harass, that is reasonably likely to harass, and the statute's own harass test names substantial emotional distress first, ahead of fear for safety. A third limb covers substantial fear for the destruction of your property. The order also runs the fastest clock of any comparable order: the court must schedule the hearing within 72 hours of filing. Because the article is placed among the criminal procedure statutes, readers often assume only the state can bring it. The victim can.
A Natrona County salon owner and a former friend who will not stop posting
A Natrona County salon owner falls out with a former friend over a debt. Over the next four months the friend posts lewd images captioned with her name, sends dozens of late-night messages through new accounts, and keys the paint on her car in the shop lot. They have never lived together or dated. She reads the stalking definition and sees three limbs her facts touch: substantial emotional distress, fear for her safety, and fear for the destruction of her property. She files in circuit court in her own name, not through the prosecutor. Because the court must schedule the hearing within 72 hours, she brings printed messages and a dated list that same week. What the judge decides is the court's call.
Relevant Laws
Wyo. Stat. 7-3-506 (definitions for orders of protection)
Opens the article on orders of protection for victims of stalking and sexual assault. Subsection (a)(iv) defines stalking by reference to conduct under Wyo. Stat. 6-2-506(b), which is how the criminal stalking offence supplies the predicate for the civil order.
Wyo. Stat. 7-3-507 (petition for order of protection)
Provides that a petition for an order of protection for a victim may be filed by the victim, by the district attorney on behalf of the victim if the victim consents, or by a person with legal authority to act for a victim who is a minor, a vulnerable adult, or an adult who cannot file because of age, disability, health or inaccessibility.
Wyo. Stat. 7-3-508(a) (hearing within seventy-two hours)
Requires the court to schedule a hearing within seventy-two hours of the filing of the petition and to cause each party to be served with an order to appear, with service at least twenty-four hours before the hearing. Failure to hold or complete the hearing within seventy-two hours does not affect the validity of the hearing or any order issued.
Wyo. Stat. 7-3-509 and 7-3-510 (duration and extension)
Provides that an order is effective for a fixed period of time not to exceed three years, that either party may move to modify, terminate or extend it, and that extensions may be for periods not to exceed three years each if the court finds from specific facts that a clear and present danger to the victim continues to exist.
Wyo. Stat. 6-2-506 (stalking and the definition of harass)
Subsection (a)(ii) defines harass as a course of conduct, including verbal threats, written threats, lewd or obscene statements or images, vandalism or nonconsensual physical contact, directed at a specific person that the defendant knew or should have known would cause substantial emotional distress, substantial fear for safety, or substantial fear for the destruction of property. Subsection (b) makes stalking an offence where a person acts with intent to harass through a course of conduct reasonably likely to harass.
Wyo. Stat. 35-21-101 et seq. (Family Violence Protection Act, the domestic abuse order)
The separate domestic abuse protection order chapter, which requires a household or family relationship. A petitioner whose harasser is a spouse, former spouse, partner, or household member uses this chapter rather than the stalking order in Title 7. The two tracks differ in their protections, so the routing matters.
Regional Variances
Wyoming civil harassment order rules at a glance
Instrument name
Order of protection for a victim of stalking or sexual assault, Wyo. Stat. 7-3-506 to 7-3-512. Wyoming has no freestanding general harassment order, so harassment is reached only where it is stalking under Wyo. Stat. 6-2-506.
Who it covers, and the relationship test
No household or family relationship is required. The victim may file, as may the district attorney with the victim's consent, or a person with legal authority for a minor or vulnerable adult (Wyo. Stat. 7-3-507(a)). A spouse, partner or household member belongs under Wyo. Stat. 35-21-101 et seq. instead.
The standard
Stalking, meaning intent to harass and a course of conduct reasonably likely to harass. Harass means a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person substantial emotional distress, substantial fear for safety, or substantial fear for the destruction of property (Wyo. Stat. 6-2-506(a)(ii), (b)).
Hearing and temporary relief
The court must schedule a hearing within seventy-two hours of filing, with each party served an order to appear at least twenty-four hours before it. A failure to hold or complete the hearing within seventy-two hours does not affect the validity of the hearing or any order (Wyo. Stat. 7-3-508(a)).
Duration
A fixed period of time not to exceed three years, subject to motions by either party to modify, terminate or extend (Wyo. Stat. 7-3-509).
Renewal
Extensions for periods not to exceed three years each, if the court finds from specific facts that a clear and present danger to the victim continues to exist (Wyo. Stat. 7-3-510).
Court and form
Circuit court. This page does not give a form number; the court clerk can say which petition form the circuit court uses.
Filing fee
This page does not state a filing fee. Ask the circuit court clerk what applies and whether a fee waiver is available.
Service
Each party must be served with an order to appear at least twenty-four hours before the hearing (Wyo. Stat. 7-3-508(a)). Ask the clerk how service is arranged.
Firearm provision and violation
This page does not state a firearm provision or a violation penalty, because neither has been confirmed here. Read the order you receive, and ask the court or an attorney what it requires.
Frequently Asked Questions
Other Wyoming guides
Adult Guardianship in Wyoming
Adverse Possession in Wyoming: One Sentence of Statute and Ten Years
Asset Protection Planning in Wyoming (2026)
Dealing With Debt Collectors in Wyoming (2026)
Delinquent Property Taxes in Wyoming: A Fixed Price, a Certificate of Purchase, and a Deadline Set by an Application
Expunging a Criminal Record in Wyoming (2026)
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