Tennessee Code section 39-13-113 makes it a crime to violate an order of protection. Police can arrest you without a warrant and you will be held for 12 hours, without bond, unless you surrender yourself, usually with the help of your lawyer.
To constitute a violation of the statute:
(1) The accused person must have received notice of the request for an order of protection or restraining order;
(2) The accused person must have had an opportunity to appear and be heard in connection with the order of protection or restraining order; and
(3) The court made specific findings of fact in the order of protection or restraining order that the accused person committed domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking.
A violation of the statute is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to 11 months and 29 days incarceration and a fine up to $2,500.
Further, any sentence of incarceration based on a conviction for violation of an order of protection must be served consecutively to the sentence for any other offense that is based on the same factual allegations. However, the sentencing judge or magistrate may specifically order the sentences for the offenses arising out of the same facts to be served concurrently.
Beware: it is a violation of the statute to possess a firearm while under an order of protection. The Tennessee statute makes it a Class A misdemeanor but under the federal statute, 18 USC 922(g)(8), it is punishable by 10 years in prison.
One last note: The statute applies to violating a “no contact order.” For example, if someone bonds out after an assault charge, a condition of the bond is usually to stay away from the purported victim and that means no contact with that person. No phone calls. No nothing.