Washington

Extreme Risk Protection Order

Last updated 02/15/2024 Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 7.105
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Washington’s Extreme Risk Protection Order law passed by ballot initiative in 2016, with 32 of the state’s 39 counties voting in favor of ERPO. The law took effect on Dec. 6, 2016.

An Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) is a civil order that temporarily prohibits a person who poses a significant danger of causing personal injury to self or others from purchasing or possessing firearms.

Washington’s ERPO law coincided with system reforms recommendations to more fully implement the state’s Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPOs) that prohibit respondents from purchasing and possessing firearms. This commitment to ensuring that people who are respondents in civil domestic violence cases are temporarily dispossessed of their firearms per state law provided an infrastructure and the momentum for realizing EPRO implementation.

In January 2018, the King County Prosecutor’s Office, Seattle City Attorney’s Office, King County Sheriff’s Office, and Seattle Police Department jointly launched the Regional Domestic Violence Firearms Enforcement Unit (RDVFEU), a unit that specializes in Orders to Surrender & Prohibit Weapons issued for DVPOs and ERPO implementation. Trained staff provide support to law enforcement and civilians petitioning for ERPOs and guide them through the different stages of the petition process. To learn more about the RDVFEU, visit their website.1  The RDVFEU serves as a model site for ERPO implementation.

In 2019, Washington lawmakers amended the ERPO law to include threatened hate crimes when considering whether to issue an ERPO, make it explicit that ERPOs apply to people under 18 years of age, and allow law enforcement to petition for an ERPO after hours. In 2021, the legislature consolidated into a single chapter, harmonized, and updated the state’s protection order laws to help make the process safer, more accessible, and more effective. Among the ways in which the ERPO law was strengthened were to prohibit firearm parts that can be assembled to make firearms and to prohibit accessing firearms.

There are two types of ERPOs: a temporary ERPO, which expires upon the full hearing on a petition for an ERPO, and a full ERPO, which is issued after notice to the respondent and a hearing and lasts up to one year.2 In Washington, an ERPO petition may be filed by an intimate partner, a family or household member of the respondent, or a law enforcement agency.3

When the court issues an ERPO—temporary or full—the respondent is prohibited from having in their custody or control, accessing, possessing, purchasing, receiving, or attempting to purchase or receive, a firearm, or a concealed pistol license, and must immediately surrender all firearms in the respondent’s custody, control, or possession, and any concealed pistol license to law enforcement.4 Where a full ERPO has been granted, the judge granting the order must set a review hearing within three judicial days, requiring the respondent to appear and provide proof of compliance with the order to surrender firearms.5 If proof of compliance is provided prior to the hearing, the matter may be stricken from the court’s calendar.

Washington’s ERPO law includes ex parte ERPOs issued by judicial officers; a hearing where the respondent is provided notice and an opportunity to participate; the respondent’s right to counsel (at no expense to the government); and the requirement of relevant evidence (e.g. the enumerated factors the judicial officer must consider) to issue an ERPO.

1 https://kingcounty.gov/en/legacy/depts/prosecutor/ellies-place/rdvfeu.aspx

2 Rev. Code Wash. (RCW) § 7.105.340

3 Rev. Code Wash. (RCW) § 7.105.100

4 Rev. Code Wash. (RCW) § 7.105.340

5 Rev. Code Wash. (RCW) § 7.105.340

Washington's Extreme Risk Protection Order

Effective: December 8, 2016

Order Type Max Duration Burden of Proof Factors to Consider Who May Petition for an ERPO

Ex Parte Order

(Emergency order, if applicable)

14

days

Reasonable cause

  • recent threats or acts of violence toward self or others;
  • history and pattern of violence;
  • behaviors that present an imminent threat of harm to self or others;
  • violation of protection or no contact orders;
  • previous ERPOs;
  • conviction of domestic violence, harassment;
  • ownership of, access to, or intent to possess firearms;
  • reckless use, display, brandishing of firearms;
  • history of use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against another person, or of stalking another person;
  • prior felony or violent crime arrests;
  • alcohol and/or substance abuse;
  • recent acquisition of firearms
  • law enforcement;
  • family members;
  • household members (people with a child in common; domestic and dating partners; people who reside together)

Full Order

 

1

year

Preponderance of the evidence

Factors to Consider
  • recent threats or acts of violence toward self or others;
  • history and pattern of violence;
  • behaviors that present an imminent threat of harm to self or others;
  • violation of protection or no contact orders;
  • previous ERPOs;
  • conviction of domestic violence, harassment;
  • ownership of, access to, or intent to possess firearms;
  • reckless use, display, brandishing of firearms;
  • history of use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against another person, or of stalking another person;
  • prior felony or violent crime arrests;
  • alcohol and/or substance abuse;
  • recent acquisition of firearms
Who May Petition for an ERPO
  • law enforcement;
  • family members;
  • household members (people with a child in common; domestic and dating partners; people who reside together)