Section 16-5-95. Offense of violating family violence order; penalty

   (a) As used in this Code section, the term:

   (1) "Civil family violence order" means any temporary protective order or permanent protective order issued pursuant to Article 1 of Chapter 13 of Title 19.

   (2) "Criminal family violence order" means:

      (A) Any order of pretrial release issued as a result of an arrest for an act of family violence; or

      (B) Any order for probation issued as a result of a conviction or plea of guilty, nolo contendere, or first offender to an act of family violence.

   (3) "Family violence" shall have the same meaning as set forth in Code Section 19-13-1.

(b) A person commits the offense of violating a civil family violence order or criminal family violence order when such person knowingly and in a nonviolent manner violates the terms of such order issued against that person, which:

   (1) Excludes, evicts, or excludes and evicts the person from a residence or household;

   (2) Directs the person to stay away from a residence, workplace, or school;

   (3) Restrains the person from approaching within a specified distance of another person; or

   (4) Restricts the person from having any contact, direct or indirect, by telephone, pager, facsimile, e-mail, or any other means of communication with another person, except as specified in such order.

(c) Any person convicted of a violation of subsection (b) of this Code section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

(d) Nothing contained in this Code section shall prohibit a prosecution for the offense of stalking or aggravated stalking that arose out of the same course of conduct; provided, however, that, for purposes of sentencing, a violation of this Code section shall be merged with a violation of any provision of Code Section 16-5-90 or 16-5-91 that arose out of the same course of conduct.

Code 1981, § 16-5-95, enacted by Ga. L. 2003, p. 652, § 1; Ga. L. 2013, p. 667, § 1/SB 86.