How to Fight an OFP in Minnesota

Reviewed by the Marketing Team · Last updated October 23, 2026

Martine Law PLLC | Updated October 23, 2026

To fight an Order for Protection (OFP) in Minnesota, first check whether a hearing is already scheduled. If the petitioner did not request one, the served order gives you five days after service to request a hearing in writing. Then follow every term of the order, preserve your evidence, and prepare to show the judge that domestic abuse, as the statute defines it, did not occur. Never contact the petitioner while you do it. Source: Minnesota Statutes 518B.01, subdivisions 5 and 7

Source: Minnesota Statutes 518B.01, subdivision 5

What is an ex parte OFP, and what can it order?

An ex parte OFP is an order a judge signs on the petitioner’s sworn petition, before you are heard, when the petition alleges an immediate and present danger of domestic abuse. It can restrain domestic abuse, exclude a party from the shared home or the other party’s residence and a specifically described surrounding area, limit your access to the petitioner’s workplace, order no contact by any means including through a third party, continue insurance coverage, and direct the care, possession, or control of pets. Source: Minnesota Statutes 518B.01, subdivision 7

An ex parte order does not award the temporary custody, support, or general property relief available after a hearing, and an OFP never decides title to real estate. Source: Minnesota Statutes 518B.01, subdivisions 6 and 12 It lasts for the fixed period the court sets, often up to two years, but a court can set a longer period, so read the expiration date on your order. Source: Minnesota Statutes 518B.01, subdivision 6

“Temporary restraining order” also describes a temporary HRO and an ordinary civil injunction, so check the statute your papers cite. Source: Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 65.01 If they cite section 609.748, you have a Harassment Restraining Order, and the respondent generally has 20 days after completed service of the petition to request a hearing. Source: Minnesota Statutes 609.748, subdivisions 3 and 4 See OFP vs HRO in Minnesota.

How long do you have to request an OFP hearing?

Five days from service, when the petitioner has not requested a hearing. The served order must then include a request form and a conspicuous notice that no hearing will be held unless you request one within five days of service. Source: Minnesota Statutes 518B.01, subdivision 7

1. A hearing date is already listed. Attend it and start preparing now.
2. No date is listed and the order contains the five-day notice. File the request immediately.
3. The five days have passed. The order stays in effect for its term, but you can still apply to modify it. Source: Minnesota Statutes 518B.01, subdivisions 7 and 11

Under Minnesota’s general rule for computing periods fixed by law, the day of service is excluded, and a last day falling on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday is omitted. Source: Minnesota Statutes 645.15 Treat the earliest possible date as your deadline and file early.

The hearing must then be held within ten days after the court receives your request. If notice cannot be completed in time, the court may reset it up to five days later, and a good-cause continuance is ordinarily limited to five days unless the parties agree and the court approves. Source: Minnesota Statutes 518B.01, subdivision 5

How do you file a request for an OFP hearing?

Use the Minnesota Judicial Branch form OFP202, Request for Hearing. If you file electronically, the court’s form page directs you to use the “Sign and Prepare for eFiling” option first. Source: Minnesota Judicial Branch, Form OFP202 Request for Hearing The Judicial Branch also publishes form OFP201, Information for Respondent, and a Response to Order for Protection packet. Source: Minnesota Judicial Branch, Domestic Abuse forms

• File in the county and case shown on your order, using its court file number.
• Keep a stamped copy or the e-filing confirmation.
• Watch for the hearing notice the court must mail to you. Source: Minnesota Statutes 518B.01, subdivision 5
• Follow its instructions on remote or in-person appearance and exhibits.

In Hennepin County, people representing themselves can get help at the Government Center Self-Help Center, 300 South 6th Street, Floor A-20, Minneapolis. Source: Minnesota Judicial Branch, Hennepin Self-Help Center For hearing representation, see our Orders for Protection page.

What must the petitioner prove at an OFP hearing?

The petitioner must prove a qualifying family or household relationship and domestic abuse. Domestic abuse means physical harm, bodily injury, or assault; the infliction of fear of imminent physical harm, bodily injury, or assault; or terroristic threats, criminal sexual conduct, sexual extortion, or interference with an emergency call, committed against a family or household member. Source: Minnesota Statutes 518B.01, subdivision 2

The petitioner carries the burden. This is a civil case, so the criminal standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt does not apply. You can contest the petition in two ways, and many respondents do both:

• Dispute the facts. Show that the events did not happen as described.
• Dispute the legal fit. Show that what happened, even if partly true, is not domestic abuse as defined. The fear category turns on the respondent’s conduct inflicting fear of imminent harm, not on the petitioner’s fear alone.

No criminal charge is required, and the OFP case runs separately from any criminal case. Source: Minnesota Statutes 518B.01, subdivision 16 Anything you testify to at the OFP hearing is inadmissible in a criminal proceeding, but statements you make outside the hearing are not protected. Source: Minnesota Statutes 518B.01, subdivision 15 If a criminal case is pending, decide whether to testify with that case in mind. See police interviews and your rights in Minnesota criminal cases.

What evidence can help you contest an OFP?

Evidence about the specific events in the petition helps most, such as:

• The complete message history between you and the petitioner, not selected screenshots.
• Call logs and location data showing where you were at the times alleged.
• Photos, videos, or doorbell camera footage.
• Witnesses with firsthand knowledge who saw the events or the parties right afterward.
• Medical records, where the petition alleges a specific injury.
• Filings in a related family court case and the timing of the petition, which the court may weigh.

None of these disproves an allegation on its own. Fear-based abuse needs no documented injury, and later contact or a pending custody case does not by itself show abuse did not occur.

Exhibits must be authenticated with evidence that a screenshot or record is what you say it is. Source: Minnesota Rules of Evidence, Rule 901 A witness who will not come voluntarily can be compelled with a subpoena. Source: Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 45 Share exhibits only as the court directs, never by sending them to the petitioner yourself.

What happens at a contested OFP hearing?

Both sides can testify, call witnesses, cross-examine, and offer exhibits before a judge or referee. The court then dismisses the petition, ending the ex parte order, or issues an OFP after hearing, which can add temporary custody, parenting time, support, use of property, counseling, and other relief. Source: Minnesota Statutes 518B.01, subdivision 6

If the court grants a continuance, it must issue a written order continuing every provision of the ex parte order until it rules. Source: Minnesota Statutes 518B.01, subdivision 5 Attend every hearing yourself, on time.

Can you contact the petitioner while an OFP is in effect?

No. Do not contact the petitioner or any protected person for any reason while you contest the order, not to apologize, explain, or settle the case. If your order bars contact, a call, text, social media message, note, gift, or message relayed through a friend can be charged as a violation, even when the petitioner reaches out first or invites it. Source: Minnesota Statutes 518B.01, subdivisions 6, 7 and 14

Police must arrest without a warrant when they can verify the order and have probable cause of a violation, including probable cause that you knew of the order. If you are first served at a place the order bars you from, you must get a reasonable chance to leave before being arrested for being there. An arrested person is held at least 36 hours, excluding the arrest day, Sundays, and holidays, unless a judge or judicial officer releases the person sooner. Source: Laws 2026, chapter 75, section 5

The petitioner cannot privately cancel the order. Letting an excluded respondent into the home is not a violation by the petitioner, and the invitation does not excuse the respondent. Source: Minnesota Statutes 518B.01, subdivisions 14 and 18 A proven violation can also support an extension or a longer order. Source: Minnesota Statutes 518B.01, subdivision 6a

• Children. Follow the order’s parenting time and exchange terms exactly, or ask the court to modify them. Never arrange exchanges informally.
• Belongings. Ask your lawyer or law enforcement about a civil standby. See retrieving belongings under an OFP.

What are the penalties for violating an OFP?

A knowing violation is ordinarily a misdemeanor with at least three days, which may be stayed, and counseling. Within ten years of a prior qualified domestic violence-related conviction or adjudication, it is a gross misdemeanor with at least ten days that must be served. Within ten years of the first of two or more such priors, or while possessing a dangerous weapon, it is a felony punishable by up to five years, with at least 30 days of incarceration if the sentence is stayed. A misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor conviction also bars possession of all firearms for three years. Source: Laws 2026, chapter 75, section 5 A related criminal case can also bring a Domestic Abuse No Contact Order. See DANCO lawyers and harassment restraining order violation in Minnesota.

How does an OFP affect firearms, housing, custody, and work?

Firearms. An OFP must bar firearm possession while it is in effect when it restrains harassing, stalking, or threatening the petitioner, or conduct placing the petitioner in reasonable fear of bodily injury, and either finds you a credible threat or prohibits the use of physical force. The court orders transfer under section 518B.03 and permit surrender, and on an imminent-risk finding, immediate law enforcement possession. Source: Laws 2026, chapter 75, section 4 A compliance hearing follows within ten business days after the transfer order unless the court waives it after finding compliance or a credible declaration of nonpossession. Source: Laws 2026, chapter 75, section 6 The court publishes the transfer forms. Source: Minnesota Judicial Branch, Transfer of Firearms forms The state ban covers ammunition. Source: Minnesota Statutes 624.713, subdivision 1 See does a restraining order affect my gun rights.

Housing. An exclusion controls who may be at the home regardless of whose name is on the lease or deed, though it does not change title. Source: Minnesota Statutes 518B.01, subdivisions 6 and 12

Custody. An OFP after hearing can set temporary custody and parenting time, and a later custody court must consider a finding that domestic abuse occurred. Source: Minnesota Statutes 518B.01, subdivisions 6 and 17 See OFPs and HROs in custody and parenting time.

Work and records. An OFP can exclude you from the petitioner’s workplace. Source: Minnesota Statutes 518B.01, subdivision 6 It is a civil order, not a conviction, and OFP records have no remote public access, so background check results depend on the search. Source: Rules of Public Access to Records of the Judicial Branch, Rule 8

Can an OFP be modified, vacated, dismissed, or appealed?

Yes, through different routes. Either party can apply to modify an existing OFP after notice and a hearing, using form OFP401. Source: Minnesota Statutes 518B.01, subdivision 11 Source: Minnesota Judicial Branch, Domestic Abuse forms For a long-term order, the respondent may apply only after five years without a violation and must prove a material change in circumstances and that the original reasons no longer apply and are unlikely to recur. A denial bars another request for five years. Source: Minnesota Statutes 518B.01, subdivision 11

An appeal to the Court of Appeals challenges legal error. Under the general appellate rule, an appeal from an appealable order is due within 60 days after a party serves written notice of its filing. Source: Minnesota Rules of Civil Appellate Procedure, Rule 104.01 A motion for relief from an order does not suspend it. Source: Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 60.02

Dismissal ends that order, but it does not erase every consequence. A custody court weighs domestic abuse as a best-interest factor on its own, and firearm restrictions can arise from another order, conviction, or law. Source: Minnesota Statutes 518.17, subdivision 1 Source: Minnesota Statutes 624.713, subdivision 1 For the full OFP process, see what is an Order for Protection in Minnesota.

Questions people ask

What happens if I miss the five-day deadline to request a hearing?

The ex parte order stays in effect for the period the court set without a contested hearing. You can still apply to modify it, but you will be asking the court to change an existing order rather than deciding whether one should issue. Source: Minnesota Statutes 518B.01, subdivisions 7 and 11

Do I have to move out if my name is on the lease?

Yes, if the order excludes you from the home. The order controls occupancy regardless of whose name is on the lease or deed. Arrange a civil standby to retrieve belongings. Source: Minnesota Statutes 518B.01, subdivision 7

Can I get a public defender for an OFP hearing?

Not ordinarily. The public defender statute covers criminal and certain other proceedings, not a civil OFP case, so you can represent yourself, use a court self-help center, or hire a lawyer. If you are charged with a crime, you may qualify for a public defender in that case. Source: Minnesota Statutes 611.14

Will the OFP be dismissed if the petitioner does not show up?

The petitioner carries the burden, so a petitioner who does not appear may not be able to keep the order in place, but the outcome is up to the court. Attend every hearing yourself regardless.

Can I contact the petitioner about our children?

Only if the order expressly allows that contact, and only in the way it allows. Otherwise, follow the order’s parenting time terms or ask the court to modify them. A text about the children can still be a violation. Source: Minnesota Statutes 518B.01, subdivisions 6 and 11

Talk with Martine Law about fighting an OFP

The request deadline may already be running. Martine Law PLLC represents respondents at contested OFP hearings across Minnesota and defends the criminal charges that follow an alleged violation. Contact Martine Law PLLC online. Phones are answered 24/7. Call 612-294-0650 to request a free consultation.

This article is general information about Minnesota law and is not legal advice for any specific situation.