Could an old restraining order be expunged or sealed?
Assuming this is a civil protection order (meaning one not connected to a criminal charge), the short answer is no. On paper there is a court rule that allows for some court records to be sealed. However, the case of Seattle Times v. Ishikawa dramatically reduced the ability of courts to use that option of sealing records. I have tried a number of times in a number of different courts to have records of civil protection orders sealed (even ones where the request for an order was denied) and have never had any success. It is frustrating, but until the law changes, it is nearly impossible to get these records sealed.
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