Restraining Orders

If you have a valid Rhode Island restraining order that meets federal standards, it can be enforced in another state. The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which is a federal law, says that all valid protection orders granted in the United States receive “full faith and credit” in all state, tribal, and territorial courts. In other words, each state must enforce out-of-state protection orders in the same way it enforces its own orders. If an abuser violates your out-of-state protection order, s/he will be punished according to the laws of whatever state you are in when the order is violated.