Rule 3.707.Modification, Termination, or Extension of Order

MCR 3.707 covers what happens to a personal protection order after it is entered. Three things can happen to the order here. It can be narrowed, it can be lifted, and it can be pushed further out in time. Each has its own timetable.

Who may move, and when

Subrule (A)(1)(a) lets the petitioner move to modify or terminate the order and request a hearing at any time after issuance. The respondent's position is different. Under (A)(1)(b), a respondent may move to modify or terminate an ex parte personal protection order, or an ex parte order extending one, within 14 days after being served with or receiving actual notice of the order. Any other motion by a respondent to modify or terminate an order requires a showing of good cause. The distinction is between challenging an order entered without a hearing and reopening an order the respondent had a chance to contest.

Serving the motion

Subrule (A)(1)(c) requires the moving party to serve the motion and the notice of hearing at least 7 days before the hearing date, under MCR 2.105(A)(2), at the mailing address or addresses given to the court. The court may allow another manner of service under MCR 2.105(J) on an appropriate showing. That period shortens when the moving party is a respondent in a listed group: a respondent licensed to carry a concealed weapon who is required to carry a weapon as a condition of employment, a police officer certified under the Michigan law enforcement training council act of 1965, 1965 PA 203, MCL 28.601 to 28.616, a sheriff, deputy sheriff, or member of the Michigan department of state police, a local corrections officer, a department of corrections employee, or a federal law enforcement officer who carries a firearm during the normal course of employment. For a moving party in one of those categories, notice one day before the hearing is deemed sufficient notice to the petitioner.

Hearing deadlines

Under subrule (A)(2), the court must schedule and hold a hearing on a motion to modify or terminate within 14 days of the filing of the motion. Where the respondent is a person described in MCL 600.2950(2) or 600.2950a(5), the court must schedule the hearing within 5 days after the motion is filed. Subrule (A)(3) requires the clerk to notify the law enforcement agency named in the order immediately when the order is modified or terminated, and requires the changed order to be served as provided in MCR 2.107.

Extending an order

Subrule (B)(1) gives the petitioner an ex parte route to extend the order without a hearing by requesting a new expiration date. Two deadlines frame it. The motion must be filed with the issuing court no later than 3 days before the order is to expire, and the court must act on the motion within 3 days after it is filed. Missing the filing deadline does not end the matter: the rule states that failure to timely move for an extension does not preclude the petitioner from commencing a new personal protection action against the same respondent under MCR 3.703. Subrule (B)(2) requires an amended order when the expiration date changes, immediate notice from the clerk to the law enforcement agency named in the order, and service on the respondent under MCR 2.107.

Capacity and cost

Subrule (C) carries the next friend requirement forward: petitioners or respondents who are minors or legally incapacitated individuals proceed through a next friend as provided in MCR 3.703(F). Subrule (D) states that there are no motion fees for modifying, terminating, or extending a personal protection order.