Kayleigh’s Law

Download

Kayleigh’s Law is not a regular restraining order or order of protection. It is a lifetime no-contact injunction tied to a criminal conviction, issued (or available) at the time of sentencing. It does not expire. The victim never has to return to court to renew it.

Myth: Victims already have lasting protection through probation, parole, or sex-offender registration.
Fact: Those conditions can be modified, terminated early, or simply expire. When they end, the no-contact rules that are attached to them often end, too. Kayleigh’s Law creates a separate order that survives the end of supervision of the perpetrator. The conviction itself is the basis, not the temporary status of the offender.

Myth: This is just like any other restraining order—victims still must continue to go back to court to renew it.
Fact: A standard civil or criminal protective order usually has an expiration date (often 1–5 years, sometimes longer) and requires the victim to re-petition and often re-prove a current need or recent contact. Under Kayleigh’s Law, the order does not expire. It lasts for the defendant’s natural lifetime unless the victim asks to lift it, or the conviction is dismissed, expunged, or overturned, or the defendant is pardoned.

Myth: Individuals convicted of sexual crimes are required to register as a sex offender for their entire life.
Fact: Registration requirements vary widely from state to state. Most states sort offenders into tiers or levels, and they use different methods to decide which tier applies. In certain states, offenders convicted of certain offenses and deemed certain tiers or levels can be removed from the registry in as few as 10 years.

Myth: Protective orders are just a piece of paper.
Fact: No court order can physically stop someone by itself. What it can do is turn contact into a clear, enforceable violation, put the prohibition in law-enforcement databases, and give officers authority to act. Temporary orders expire and force victims back to court. Kayleigh’s Law creates a lifetime no-contact injunction that does not expire with the offender’s probation and does not require the survivor to keep re-proving the need for safety.

Myth: The victim has to prove the offender is still a current threat or has recently contacted them.
Fact: For qualifying convictions, the fact of the conviction is enough. No new incident is required.

Myth: This forces victims into more court appearances.
Fact: The opposite is true. The purpose is to end repeated reappearances. Once issued at sentencing (or retroactively in states like Arizona), the victim should not have to keep returning every few years just to maintain basic no-contact protection.

Myth: This is an additional punishment that violates the offender’s rights or is double jeopardy.
Fact: It is a no-contact order grounded in the conviction, not an additional term of punishment. Courts have long issued no-contact conditions; Kayleigh’s Law makes the duration match the lasting nature of the harm instead of the temporary length of supervision/sentencing.

Myth: Existing protective-order systems are already adequate in most states.
Fact: Many states have some form of longer or “permanent” orders, but they are often harder to get, require repeated renewals, are limited in scope, or still depend on the offender’s probation/parole status. Arizona’s version (and the federal proposal modeled on it) is distinctive because it is available at sentencing on the conviction itself and does not expire with sentencing, supervision or registration requirements.

Myth: Once the criminal case is closed, the victim’s legal relationship with the offender is over. 
Fact: For many survivors the case is never fully “over.” Offenders can (and do) petition to modify or terminate their probation or other conditions years later, forcing the victim back into court. Kayleigh’s Law was written precisely because a closed case does not equal a finished story for the victim.

Myth: The order can never be removed. Some believe a lifetime order is permanently locked in and can never end under any circumstances.
Fact: Victims can choose to lift the order. A survivor can ask the court to remove the protection. The order also ends if the original conviction is overturned or if the victim passes away.