Restraining Orders

You can register your out-of-state protective order by bringing a certified copy of your order to the clerk of court at any district or superior court in New Hampshire.¹ (To find courthouse locations, please see our NH Courthouse Locations page). If you do not have a certified copy of your protective order, bring the telephone number of the court that gave you your protective order. The New Hampshire court can call that court & ask them to fax over a certified copy for you.² You’ll find listings of courthouses throughout the US on this site – select your state from the drop-down menu on the top left of this page, then click on the link marked “Courthouse Locations and Info”.

Once the clerk gets a copy of your order, s/he will ask you to sign a Foreign Protection Order Affidavit. That is a piece of paper that you sign under oath that says, to the best of your knowledge, the copy of the order you have is right and your order hasn’t been changed or canceled.¹ Don’t sign this affidavit until the clerk tells you to. You may need to sign it in front of a notary.

Once the clerk receives all of this information, s/he will forward it to the Administrative Office of the Courts, who will enter your protective order into the New Hampshire State Protective Order Registry. The clerk should give you back the certified copy of your protective order, as well as a copy of the Foreign Protection Order Affidavit.² You should not be asked to pay a fee or cost for filing an out of state order, according to NH state law.

If you need help registering your protective order, you can contact a local domestic violence organization in New Hampshire for assistance. You can find contact information for organizations in your area here on our NH Advocates and Shelters page under the Where to Find Tab on the top of this page.

¹ N.H. Rev. Stat § 173-B:13
²Chapter 15 of the New Hampshire Judiciary Domestic Violence Protocol