Cortes-Yepez v. Avelar

Petitioner filed a petition seeking a stalking no contact order against his then-coworker for alleged stalking behavior committed in the workplace. The trial court entered an emergency SNCO but subsequently terminated it and declined to grant a plenary SNCO because petitioner and respondent no longer worked together. On appeal, petitioner argued that the trial court erred in refusing to issue the plenary order because the Stalking No Contact Order Act mandates that the court issue an SNCO when it finds that the respondent engaged in stalking behavior. The appellate court reversed and directed the circuit court to issue the plenary SNCO, explaining that while the likelihood that petitioner and respondent would interact again was more remote when they were no long co-workers, it was not an impossibility. (C.A. WALKER and HYMAN, concurring)