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Violating a Colorado protection order can trigger a new criminal charge and contempt proceedings in the same court, and any new sentence must be served back-to-back with the sentence you were already facing, not at the same time. That means a single phone call, text message, or chance encounter can double your exposure while you are still on bond or probation. Denver criminal defense attorneys at the Law Office of Jacob Martinez have defended clients against these charges across Colorado since the firm was founded in 2014.

Types of Protection Orders That Can Lead to Criminal Charges

Colorado courts issue several types of protection orders, and the source of the order affects how a violation is prosecuted:

• Civil protection orders under Article 14 of Title 13 of the Colorado Revised Statutes are requested by a private petitioner in domestic violence, stalking, or harassment cases
• Mandatory protection orders (MPOs) are automatically issued in every criminal case from the first court appearance until the case is fully resolved
• Temporary and permanent protection orders that begin as short-term TPOs and become PPOs after a full hearing
• Extreme risk protection orders restrict firearm possession

Our Denver criminal defense lawyer reviews the source document early on because the charging level depends on which order is involved.

Elements Prosecutors Must Prove

To secure a conviction, the state must prove the defendant knowingly violated a valid protection order. Specifically, the prosecution must show that the defendant was personally served with the order or otherwise had actual knowledge of its terms, and then committed an act the order prohibited, whether that was contacting the protected person, coming within a specified distance, returning to a shared residence, possessing a firearm, or any other restriction in the order. Our criminal defense attorney attacks each element, and gaps in service or notice often become the difference between a conviction and a dismissal.

Penalties for a Colorado Protection Order Violation

Penalty levels depend on the type of order and the defendant’s history:

• Class 2 misdemeanor (first civil order violation, no aggravators): up to 120 days in jail and a $750 fine
• Class 1 misdemeanor (prior conviction, stalking-based order, intimate-relationship order, or MPO: up to 364 days in jail and a $1,000 fine
• Mandatory firearm relinquishment, with noncompliance treated as contempt of court

Under C.R.S. § 18-6-803.5, any sentence for violating a protection order must be served back-to-back with the sentence in the underlying case, not at the same time. A first-time defendant on pretrial release can effectively double their jail exposure with a single violation.

How Criminal Contempt Charges Overlap With Prosecution

A violation of a protection order can also trigger contempt proceedings under Colorado Rule of Civil Procedure 107, separate from and in addition to any new criminal case. A court can impose remedial contempt to compel the person to comply with the order, or punitive contempt to punish them for violating it, with punitive contempt typically limited to six months in jail plus a fine, because longer sentences trigger the right to a jury trial.

Violations of a civil protection order also allow the protected party to initiate a contempt motion directly. Our Denver criminal defense lawyer handles both tracks at once because a weak contempt ruling can later be used to support a protection order prosecution.

Defense Strategies in Colorado Protection Order Cases

The most common defense at trial is that the alleged violation was not knowing, meaning the criminal intent that the state must prove. Other approaches include showing that the defendant was never personally served and lacked actual knowledge of the order’s terms, that the contact was purely accidental, that the order language was too vague to support the charge, or that the protected person initiated the contact, which may not be a full defense but can support a motion to modify.

Our criminal defense attorney also files motions to modify or dismiss unenforceable orders where the court’s original findings were inadequate or the terms were too vague to be enforceable.

Do Not Talk to the Protected Party or Law Enforcement Until You Have Counsel

Once a protection order violation is alleged, anything you say to the protected party, a witness, or an investigator can become part of the state’s case, and the back-to-back sentencing rule means your freedom can hinge on what happens in the next few days. The Law Office of Jacob Martinez has defended against criminal charges in Colorado courts for over a decade, and founding attorney Jacob E. Martinez has been recognized as a Top 100 Trial Lawyer by The National Trial Lawyers, alongside associates Brett Eliasen and Tyler Selcer. Call or contact us online to discuss your case with our Denver criminal defense lawyer.