08 Nov Victim Protective Order Expungements
Do not let fights of the past keep you from fighting for your future!
What is a Victim Protective Order?
A Victim Protective Order (VPO) is an order from the court that restricts the ability for people in a prior domestic relationship from contacting one another due to some form of abuse, harassment, threats, stalking and/or intimidation. Some States refer to this as a “restraining order” but the State of Oklahoma refers to this as a Victim Protective Order.
In Oklahoma County, in order to request a Victim Protective Order (VPO) against someone, that person must have committed an act of physical harm or made the threat of physical harm to the victim requesting a VPO. Another stipulation provided by Oklahoma County is that the person you are requesting a VPO against must reside in Oklahoma County. You can also include a child or children in the VPO request, but the person completing the request must be the children’s parent or guardian. The children must also be under the age of eighteen (18) years old and must live with you and you must have legal custody.
Often times, a VPO is requested during or prior to a divorce, child support and/or child custody dispute in court, and it does not take a rocket scientist to understand that tensions and emotions are extremely high during proceedings of a familiar nature. Accusations will fly back and forth across the courtroom, usually with the intention of attacking the character of a domestic partner or painting them as abusive to get the result you desire. Often, as time goes by, those emotions and accusations tend to subside and the two people who were at each others’ throats in court develop an amicable relationship with one another.
Unfortunately for those who have had a VPO granted against them, even in the case mentioned above where emotions have subsided and there is an amicable relationship created between the parties, those VPO records remain open to the public until they are properly expunged. It might even be in the best interest of both parties to have the VPO records expunged and sealed from public records. Perhaps you have a heated courtroom battle with your ex-spouse, but once the dust settles, you do not want your friends, neighbors, family members or even your own children having access to those records.
THAT IS WHERE WE COME IN!!
How to Seal VPO Records in the State of Oklahoma:
The first step in any expungement proceeding is to determine whether or not you are eligible for an expungement. There are certain requirements that are necessary before being eligible for an expungement in the State of Oklahoma. In order to determine eligibility for an expungement in your specific case, please call, e-mail or contact Whiting & Bruner, PLLC on social media utilizing the contact information listed below or by clicking on our “Reservations” tab at the top of this page.
Once it has been determined that your case has been eligible for an expungement proceeding, Whiting & Bruner, PLLC will begin the process by filing a motion in the original VPO case and providing notice to the party that originally requested the VPO against you as well as the appropriate authority, usually the District Attorney of the County in which the VPO was filed and granted. As mentioned previously, an expungement of a VPO record could be helpful to either party involved, so the “victim” who originally filed the VPO can also request an expungement of that VPO using the same procedure.
Once notice has been provided to all necessary parties, each party has an opportunity to object by filing a brief in support of their objection, or if they do not object, can simply sign an order granting the expungement, which would then be provided to the District Attorney and General Counsel for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) for execution before submitting to the assigned Judge for signature.
However, if an objection is filed, either by the State representative or the other party, a hearing will be set in order for a Judge to hear both sides before making a decision with regard to granting or rejecting the petition and order of expungement. The Judge’s decision is based on weighing the privacy interests of the person requesting the expungement with the public’s interest in knowing about the VPO records.
If you have a VPO on your public record or perhaps you have filed a VPO against another person and do not wish for that record to be public knowledge, we are here to help! Please see the following message for our law firm’s contact information, whether you are closer to Oklahoma City or Tulsa, we have got you covered! Reach out to us today to determine eligibility and make that public VPO record history, so you can start working on your future!
CHEAPEST PRICES FOR EXPUNGEMENT AND
WE COVER THE ENTIRE STATE OF OKLAHOMA!
Oklahoma City Law Firm:
Telephone: (405) 525-6671 {Ask for Michael Whiting}
Address: 1901 North Classen Blvd., Suite 222
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73106
Tulsa Law Firm:
Telephone: (918) 488-8000 {Ask for Aaron Bruner}
Address: 6440 South Lewis Avenue, Suite 100
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74136
E-Mail Address: WBLaw@WhitingandBruner.com