No Contact Orders, Shield or Sword?

No Contact Orders in Missouri: Shield or Sword?

You got arrested, you bonded out, and somewhere in that stack of paperwork is a line that says no contact. If you don’t take that one line seriously, it can cost you more than the charge itself.

What a No Contact Order Is

In a Missouri criminal case, a no contact order is usually a condition of your bond. The judge sets it, often in domestic assault and harassment cases, and it stays in place until the judge changes it or the case ends.

It’s not the same as an order of protection. That’s a civil order the other person asks the court for (see Orders of Protection – Shields or Swords?). You can be under both at once.

What Counts as Contact

More than you’d think:

• Calls, texts, emails, and social media, including likes, comments, and tags
• Showing up at their home or work
• Messages passed through friends or family
• Hanging around when you run into them in public. Leave.
• Replying when they reach out first. Yes, even then. The order binds you, not them.

What Happens If You Break It

• You can be arrested and your bond revoked, which means sitting in jail until the case is over.
• If there’s also an order of protection, violating that is a separate crime.
• The prosecutor will use it against you on the original charge.

Shield or Sword

The shield: a no contact order gives someone breathing room while a case plays out. Sometimes that’s exactly what’s needed.

The sword: the other side is often the one calling, texting, and showing up, and the defendant is the one who gets arrested for answering.

Can It Be Changed?

Yes, but only by the judge. Not the prosecutor, not the alleged victim, and not you. Your lawyer can file a motion to modify your bond conditions, for example to allow contact about the kids, to let you pick up your things from the house, or to let you move back home if both of you want that. The judge decides, and the prosecutor usually gets a say. Until a new order is signed, the old one stands.

If You’re Under a No Contact Order

1. Read your bond paperwork and know exactly who and where you’re barred from.
2. Don’t respond. Screenshot and save anything they send you.
3. Leave if you run into them.
4. Don’t use friends or family as messengers.
5. Call a lawyer about modifying it instead of working around it.

Break the order and you’ve handed the prosecutor a gift. Call me first. We’ll figure out whether it can be changed and how to live with it until then.