Extreme Risk Protection Order
An Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) is a temporary court order that prohibits a person from possessing or purchasing firearms.
In January 2024, the Minnesota Legislature enacted laws to authorize court-ordered surrender of firearms in certain dangerous situations. Minnesota is the 20th state to enact this type of legislation, often referred to as “red flag” laws.
Extreme Risk Protection Orders can protect household members from self-harm or harm to others. They can also provide critical intervention to prevent mass harm, including school shootings, and domestic terrorism or violent extremism.
Who can apply for an Extreme Risk Protection Order?
Family members* or guardians, law enforcement, and city and county attorneys' offices may petition for an ERPO.
* A family or household member is defined as a spouse, former spouse, parent/child, anyone currently living with the Respondent or a person involved in a significant romantic or sexual relationship with the Respondent.
How to apply for an Extreme Risk Protection Order in Ramsey County?
Apply for an ERPO any of the following ways:
-
Complete Forms In Person:
Go to the the Juvenile & Family Justice Center for information and assistance with completing and filing the forms. - Complete Forms and Deliver to the Juvenile & Family Justice Center:
Find Forms: Minnesota Judicial Branch ERPO forms (category Firearms)
- Complete and File Electronically:
Information about e-filing
Instructions to create an e-filing account
How long does an Extreme Risk Protection Order last?
An Emergency ERPO lasts for up to 14 days. An Emergency ERPO can be issued “ex parte,” which means after hearing from only one side. An Emergency ERPO is granted or denied based on documents submitted by the Petitioner, without a hearing.
A long-term ERPO is in effect for at least 6 months and no longer than one year. A long-term ERPO can only be issued after a hearing.
The Petitioner can ask for an Emergency ERPO, a long-term ERPO, or both in the Petition.
Do Extreme Risk Protection Orders improve gun safety?
- After Connecticut increased its enforcement of its Extreme Risk law, one study found the law to be associated with a 14 percent reduction in the state’s firearm suicide rate.
- While it is always hard to measure events that “didn’t happen,” an important study in Connecticut found that one suicide was averted for approximately every 11 gun removals carried out under the law.
- In the 10 years since Indiana passed its Extreme Risk law in 2005, the state’s firearm suicide rate decreased by 7.5 percent.
- Like Connecticut, another study estimated that Indiana’s Extreme Risk law averted one suicide for approximately every 10 gun removals.
- Nearly six out of every 10-gun deaths in the US are suicides, an average of 69 deaths a day.
- Among commonly used methods of self-harm, firearms are by far the most lethal, with a fatality rate of approximately 90 percent, whereas, 4 percent of people who attempt suicide using other methods die.
- Source: Everytown
What happens after filing for an ERPO?
If an Emergency ERPO was granted or a hearing is set for a long-term ERPO, Respondent will be served by law enforcement. This can happen by personal service (handing the documents to Respondent), first class mail, or by publication.
If an Emergency ERPO was granted, Respondent has the right to request a hearing challenging the emergency order by filing a Request for Hearing on Emergency ERPO.
If a hearing has been scheduled and Respondent receives notice less than 5 days before the hearing, Respondent has the right to request a continuance of up to 14 days by using the Request for Continuance.
Source: Minnesota Judicial Branch
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- What happens after a petition for a long-term Extreme Risk Protection Order has been filed?
Once the court receives a petition for a long-term extreme risk protection order, the court will notify the person and schedule a court hearing within 14 days to determine whether the order should be issued. At the hearing, if a court finds that the person poses a significant danger of bodily injury to others or is at significant risk of suicide by possessing a firearm, the judge will issue a court order that requires the person’s firearms to be held by a federally licensed firearms dealer or by law enforcement for as long as the order is in effect. The person will not be able to purchase new firearms while the order is in effect.
- Will an extreme risk protection order go on someone’s criminal record?
No. An extreme risk protection order is a civil court order. Its sole purpose is to remove firearms from a person who is at high risk of causing harm to themselves or to others. The court’s decision to issue the order does not cause the person to have a criminal record.
- What responsibilities do mental health professionals have?
While mental health professionals may not file a petition requesting an extreme risk protection order, in circumstances where they have a statutory duty to warn that a client poses a serious threat of physically violent behavior or when they determine that a client presents a significant risk of suicide by possessing a firearm, a mental health professional is required to communicate that threat or risk to the county sheriff where the client resides and make a recommendation regarding the client’s “fitness to possess firearms.”
Resources
Juvenile & Family Justice Center
25 West 7th Street, Room B122
Saint Paul, MN 55102
Phone: (651) 266-5130
Crisis: Call 911
Suicide Prevention: Call, text or online chat 988