If someone will not stop calling, texting, messaging, showing up, following you, or contacting you through other people, you may be wondering what you can legally do to make the contact stop. In Tennessee, repeated unwanted contact can potentially amount to stalking, and stalking victims may be able to seek an order of protection.
You do not have to be married to, dating, or related to someone to seek an order of protection based on stalking. Tennessee law allows a stalking victim to petition for an order of protection regardless of the victim’s relationship with the other person.
What Counts as Unconsented Contact Under Tennessee Stalking Law?
Tennessee's stalking law uses the term “unconsented contact.” This generally means contact that is initiated or continued without your consent or despite your expressed desire that the contact be avoided or stopped.
Contact is also broader than phone calls or text messages. Depending on the circumstances, unconsented contact can include:
- Following you or appearing where you can see the person
- Approaching or confronting you in public or on private property
- Appearing at your home or workplace
- Entering or remaining on property you own, lease, or occupy
- Calling you by telephone
- Sending mail, emails, text messages, social media messages, or other electronic communications
- Leaving or delivering an object at your home or other property
Tennessee's definition of a “course of conduct” is also broad. It can include conduct carried out directly, indirectly, or through third parties and can include following, monitoring, observing, surveilling, threatening, communicating with someone, or interfering with that person's property.
Does Repeated Unwanted Contact Automatically Count as Stalking in Tennessee?
Not every unwanted message or uncomfortable interaction legally constitutes stalking. Tennessee defines stalking as a willful course of conduct involving repeated or continuing harassment that would cause a reasonable person to feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated, threatened, harassed, or molested and that actually causes the victim to experience those feelings.
Generally, a course of conduct involves two or more separate, noncontinuous acts showing a continuity of purpose. There are some specific exceptions, including certain conduct involving an electronic tracking device.
This is why the pattern of conduct matters. Twenty unwanted messages, repeated appearances at someone's workplace, following someone home, or continuing to make contact after being explicitly told to stop may present a very different situation from a single unwanted communication.
Should I Tell Someone in Writing to Stop Contacting Me?
When appropriate and safe, clearly documenting that you do not consent to further contact may help establish that the other person knows you want the communication to stop. Tennessee's definition of unconsented contact specifically includes contact continued in disregard of a person's expressed desire that the contact be avoided or discontinued.
A written notice can make that position unmistakable. Depending on the situation, a notice may state that the person has no consent or permission to communicate directly or indirectly with you or your family and that future necessary communications should instead go through your attorney.
The notice can also specifically address conduct beyond messages and phone calls, such as following you, appearing at your home or workplace, monitoring you, using third parties to contact you, or interfering with your property. The wording should fit the circumstances rather than simply sending the same form letter in every situation.
What If Someone Keeps Contacting Me After I Told Them to Stop?
Continued contact after an explicit request to stop can be important because the stalking statute specifically addresses conduct occurring without consent or despite an expressed desire for the contact to end. However, telling someone to stop does not itself create an order of protection, and it does not mean that every later communication automatically constitutes criminal stalking.
What happens next depends on the pattern and nature of the conduct. Saving texts, emails, social media messages, voicemails, screenshots, photographs, security-camera footage, and other records can help document what occurred and when.
It can also be useful to keep track of in-person incidents, including appearances at your home or workplace and attempts to contact you through friends or family members. A clear timeline can be particularly helpful when repeated incidents occurred over several weeks or months.
Can I File an Order of Protection for Stalking in Tennessee?
Yes. Tennessee law allows someone who has been subjected to, threatened with, or placed in fear of stalking to file a sworn petition seeking an order of protection. A stalking victim does not need to have a domestic or romantic relationship with the person against whom the order is sought.
Depending on the circumstances, a court can issue an order restricting the respondent from contacting the petitioner directly or indirectly. An order can also address stalking and other prohibited conduct. Tennessee appellate courts have recognized that orders of protection are not necessarily limited to conduct occurring at one particular location.
An order of protection is different from simply asking someone to stop. Once a court enters an order, violating its terms can create additional legal consequences.
What Evidence Can Help When Seeking an Order of Protection for Stalking?
An order-of-protection hearing requires more than telling the court that another person is making you uncomfortable. The court needs facts showing why the conduct meets the applicable legal standard.
Depending on what has happened, useful evidence may include:
- Text messages, emails and social media messages
- Phone records and voicemails
- Screenshots showing repeated attempts to communicate
- Security-camera or doorbell-camera footage
- Photographs or videos
- Witnesses who observed the conduct
- Police reports
- Records of unwanted visits to your home or workplace
- A copy of a written request directing the person to stop contacting you
- A timeline documenting repeated incidents
The details matter because Tennessee courts look for evidence of a course of conduct that meets the legal definition of stalking. A recent Tennessee Court of Appeals decision, for example, reversed an order of protection where the evidence involved an inappropriate message but did not establish the repeated or continuing harassment required to prove stalking.
Can the Law Offices of Amanda J. Gentry Help Me File an Order of Protection to Stop Unwanted Contact?
If someone continues contacting, following, monitoring, or showing up around you and you want the conduct to stop, the Law Offices of Amanda J. Gentry can review what has been happening and determine whether seeking an order of protection is appropriate.
Our office can also help you document that further contact is not welcome, evaluate the communications and other evidence you already have, prepare an order-of-protection petition, and represent you at the hearing. If you are dealing with repeated unwanted contact in Tennessee and are concerned that the behavior has crossed into stalking, contact the Law Offices of Amanda J. Gentry to discuss what has happened and the options available to you.
