§ 551 — Order of protection

§ 551. Order of protection. The court may make an order of protection\nin assistance or as a condition of any other order made under this\narticle. The order of protection may set forth reasonable conditions of\nbehavior to be observed for a specified time by the petitioner or\nrespondent or both. No order of protection may direct any party to\nobserve conditions of behavior unless the party requesting the order of\nprotection has served and filed a petition or counter-claim in\naccordance with section one hundred fifty-four-b of this act. Such an\norder may require the petitioner or the respondent:\n (a) to stay away from the home, school, business or place of\nemployment of any other party, the other parent, or the child, and to\nstay away from any other specific location designated by the court;\n (b) to permit a parent, or a person entitled to visitation by a court\norder or a separation agreement to visit the child at stated periods;\n (c) to refrain from committing a family offense, as defined in\nsubdivision one of section eight hundred twelve of this act, or any\ncriminal offense against the child or against the other parent or\nagainst any person to whom custody of the child is awarded, or from\nharassing, intimidating or threatening such persons;\n (d) to permit a designated party to enter the residence during a\nspecified period of time in order to remove personal belongings not in\nissue in this proceeding or in any other proceeding or action under this\nact or the domestic relations law;\n (e) to refrain from acts of commission or omission that create an\nunreasonable risk to the health, safety or welfare of a child;\n (f) to participate in an educational program and to pay the costs\nthereof if the person has the means to do so, provided, however, that\nnothing contained herein shall be deemed to require payment of the costs\nof any such program by the state or any political subdivision thereof;\n (g) to provide, either directly or by means of medical and health\ninsurance, for expenses incurred for medical care and treatment arising\nfrom the incident or incidents forming the basis for the issuance of the\norder;\n (h) to pay the reasonable counsel fees and disbursements involved in\nobtaining or enforcing the order of the person who is protected by such\norder if such order is issued or enforced, whether or not an order of\nfiliation is made;\n (i) 1. to refrain from intentionally injuring or killing, without\njustification, any companion animal the respondent knows to be owned,\npossessed, leased, kept or held by the person protected by the order or\na minor child residing in such person's household.\n 2. "Companion animal", as used in this section, shall have the same\nmeaning as in subdivision five of section three hundred fifty of the\nagriculture and markets law;\n (j) 1. to promptly return specified identification documents to the\nprotected party, in whose favor the order of protection or temporary\norder of protection is issued; provided, however, that such order may:\n(A) include any appropriate provision designed to ensure that any such\ndocument is available for use as evidence in this proceeding, and\navailable if necessary for legitimate use by the party against whom such\norder is issued; and (B) specify the manner in which such return shall\nbe accomplished.\n 2. For purposes of this subdivision, "identification document" shall\nmean any of the following: (A) exclusively in the name of the protected\nparty: birth certificate, passport, social security card, health\ninsurance or other benefits card, a card or document used to access\nbank, credit or other financial accounts or records, tax returns, any\ndriver's license, and immigration documents including but not limited to\na United States permanent resident card and employment authorization\ndocument; and (B) upon motion and after notice and an opportunity to be\nheard, any of the following, including those that may reflect joint use\nor ownership, that the court determines are necessary and are\nappropriately transferred to the protected party: any card or document\nused to access bank, credit or other financial accounts or records, tax\nreturns, and any other identifying cards and documents;\n (k) 1. to refrain from remotely controlling any connected devices\naffecting the home, vehicle or property of the person protected by the\norder.\n 2. For purposes of this subdivision, "connected device" shall mean any\ndevice, or other physical object that is capable of connecting to the\ninternet, directly or indirectly, and that is assigned an internet\nprotocol address or bluetooth address; and\n (l) to observe such other conditions as are necessary to further the\npurposes of protection.\n The court may also award custody of the child, during the term of the\norder of protection to either parent, or to an appropriate relative\nwithin the second degree. Nothing in this section gives the court power\nto place or board out any child or to commit a child to an institution\nor agency. In making orders of protection, the court shall so act as to\ninsure that in the care, protection, discipline and guardianship of the\nchild his religious faith shall be preserved and protected.\n Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions, an order of protection, or\ntemporary order of protection where applicable, may be entered against a\nformer spouse and persons who have a child in common, regardless of\nwhether such persons have been married or have lived together at any\ntime, or against a member of the same family or household as defined in\nsubdivision one of section eight hundred twelve of this act.\n In any proceeding pursuant to this article, a court shall not deny an\norder of protection, or dismiss an application for such an order, solely\non the basis that the acts or events alleged are not relatively\ncontemporaneous with the date of the application or the conclusion of\nthe action. The duration of any temporary order shall not by itself be a\nfactor in determining the length or issuance of any final order.\n The protected party in whose favor the order of protection or\ntemporary order of protection is issued may not be held to violate an\norder issued in his or her favor nor may such protected party be\narrested for violating such order.\n