Maryland Peace Order Laws

Created by FindLaw's team of legal writers and editors | Last updated March 07, 2018

In Maryland, peace orders are similar to protective orders as they involve court orders protecting against the harmful acts or threats of others. Often these are sought in domestic violence cases, but they can be used in other situations, like when a celebrity is seeking protection from an "overly devoted" fan.

This relationship of the parties is actually what determines whether a protective or peace order can be used. Protective orders apply to domestic relationships, such as when the petitioner (the one seeking court protection) and the respondent (the one who will be subject to the order):

• Are current or former spouses;
• Have had a sexual relationship and lived together for at least 90 days during the last year;
• Are related by blood, marriage, or adoption;
• Have a parent-child or stepparent-stepchild relationship and lived together for at least 90 days during the last year;
• Have a child in common; and
• Have had a sexual relationship within 1 year before the petition.

In all other cases where no domestic relationship exists, a peace order would be needed.

Obtaining a Maryland Peace Order

To obtain a peace order, a petitioner must allege that the respondent took any of the following actions within 30 days before filing the petition:

• Acts causing serious bodily harm or placing petitioner in fear of serious bodily harm;
• Assault;
• Rape or a sexual offense;
• False imprisonment;
• Harassment;
• Stalking;
• Trespass; and
• Malicious destruction of property.

Peace orders are issued after a hearing in which a judge weighs the evidence and determines whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that the respondent:

• Has committed the alleged acts; and
• Is likely to commit the alleged acts in the future

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