West Virginia Code § 48-27-505

Time period a protective order is in effect; extension of order; notice of
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order or extension.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (d), section four hundred one of this article, a
protective order, entered by the family court pursuant to this article, is effective for either
ninety days or one hundred eighty days, in the discretion of the court. Upon receipt of a
written request for renewal from the petitioner prior to the expiration of thee original order,
the family court shall extend its order for an additional ninety-day period.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), the court may enter a protective order
for a period of one year if the court finds by a preponderance of uthe evidence, after a hearing
that any of the following aggravating factors are present:
(1) That there has been a material violation of a previously entered protective order;
(2) That two or more protective orders have been entered against the respondent within the
previous five years; l
(3) That respondent has one or more prior convictions for domestic battery or assault or a
felony crime of violence where the victim wias a family or household member;
(4) That the respondent has committed a violation of the provisions of section nine-a, article
two, chapter sixty-one of this code against a person protected by an existing order of
protection; or
(5) That the totality of the circumstances presented to the court require a one year period in
order to protect the physical safety of the petitioner or those persons for whom a petition
may be filed as provi ded in subdivision (2), section three hundred five of this article.
(c) The court may extend a protective order entered pursuant to subsection (b) of this
section for whatever period the court considers necessary to protect the physical safety of
the petitioner or those persons for whom a petition may be filed as provided in subdivision
(2), section three hundred five of this article, if the court finds by a preponderance of
evidence, after a hearing of which respondent has been given notice, that:
(1) A material violation of the existing protective order has occurred; or
(2) Respondent has committed a material violation of a provision of a final order entered
pursuant to subsection (c), section six hundred eight, article five of this chapter has
occurred.
(d) To be effective, a written request to renew a ninety or one hundred eighty-day order
must be submitted to the court prior to the expiration of the original order period. A notice
of the extension shall be sent by the clerk of the court to the respondent by first-class mail,
addressed to the last known address of the respondent as indicated by the court file. The
extension of time is effective upon mailing of the notice.
(e) Certified copies of any order entered or extension notice made under the provisions of
this section shall be served upon the respondent by first class mail, addressed to the last
known address of the respondent as indicated by the court file, and delivered to the
petitioner and any law-enforcement agency having jurisdiction to enforce the order,
including the city police, the county sheriff's office or local office of the West Virginia State
Police within twenty-four hours of the entry of the order. The protective order shall be in full
force and effect in every county of this state. e
(f) The family court may modify the terms of a protective order upon mrotion of either party.
(g) The clerk of the circuit court shall cause a copy of any protecutive order entered by the
family court pursuant to the provisions of this article or pursuant to the provisions of chapter
forty-eight of this code to be forwarded to the magistrate or tmagistrate court clerk and the
magistrate or magistrate court clerk shall forward a copy of the protective order to the
appropriate state and federal agencies for registration of domestic violence offenders as
required by state and federal law.

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