Restraining Orders

You can file for an order if you are the victim of domestic abuse, as defined below, or if you have reasonable cause to believe that you are in immediate danger of becoming the victim of any act of abuse.¹ Alabama law defines “domestic abuse” for the purpose of getting a protection from abuse order as the occurrence (actual or attempted) of one or more of the following acts between a current or former intimate partner/household member:

• assault (1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd degrees);
• arson;
• rape/sodomy/sexual abuse (see here, scroll to “Article 4. Sexual Offenses” to read all of the crimes included);
• criminal coercion;
• harassment;
• reckless endangerment;
• child abuse, torture or willful abuse of a child, aggravated child abuse, or chemical endangerment of a child;
• kidnapping (1^st and 2^nd degrees);
• menacing;
• theft (includes taking unauthorized control or getting control through deception over property owned fully or jointly by you);
• stalking (1^st, 2^nd degrees; aggravated stalking);
• unlawful imprisonment - restraining you against your will (1^st and 2^nd degrees);
• criminal trespass (1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd degrees);¹ or
• any other crime against you.²

You will notice that the petition for a PFA doesn’t include “harassment” as a box to check off - however, if you read the legal definition of harassment, you can see how else you may be able to indicate harassment in one of the available check boxes on the petition.

¹ Ala. Code § 30-5-5(a)(1)
² Ala. Code § 30-5-2(1)(a)-(i), (1)(k)-(o)
³ Ala. Code § 30-5-2(1)(j)

In an emergency (ex parte) protection from abuse order, a judge can:

• Order the abuser to:
  • Stop committing (or threatening to commit) acts of abuse against you, your children and anyone else included in the order;
  • Stop harassing, annoying, and stalking you and your children;
  • Stop calling or contacting you and your children directly or indirectly (through a third party, for example);
  • Stop any conduct (or threatening any conduct) that puts you or your children in reasonably fear or physical injury;
  • Not have physical or violent contact with you or your property and stay at least 300 feet away from your home (even if you share the home with the abuser), from your work, from your children’s school and any other specific place that you go to often (assuming the defendant has no good reason to be there);
  • Be removed from your home, regardless of who owns the home;
  • Not interfere with the custody of your children and not remove the children from the state; and
  • Not destroy, sell, or conceal joint property;¹
• Grant you:
  • Temporary custody of the children;
  • Give you possession of a car and/or other personal items, regardless of ownership; (Note: You can ask for a police escort to go with you to the home to remove your children or belongings from the home); and
  • Any other relief that is necessary to provide for the safety and protection of the victim, victim’s minor children and other designated family or household members.¹

In a permanent protection from abuse order, a judge may order all of the protections of the emergency (ex parte) order listed above. In addition, a judge can order the abuser to:

• Give you possession (not ownership) of the family home and have the abuser evicted from the home – or, if both parties consent, the abuser can provide “suitable alternate housing.” (This protection is only available if the abuser has a duty to support you or your children - i.e., if you are married or have children together)
• Pay child support and/or spousal support
• Pay your attorney’s fees and court costs
• Have supervised or unsupervised visitation with the child(ren), if appropriate (or s/he can get no visitation)
• Provide temporary possession of the car to you if
  • you have no other transportation of your own; and
  • the abuser has more than one car or has alternate transportation.²

Under federal law, the abuser likely cannot have or buy a gun while a permanent PFA order is in place against him/her. To read more, please see our Federal Gun Laws page.

¹ Ala. Code § 30-5-7(b)
² Ala. Code § 30-5-7(c)

When you and the abuser live in different states, the judge may not have “personal jurisdiction” (power) over an out-of-state abuser. This means that the court may not be able to grant an order against him/her.

There are a few ways that a court can have personal jurisdiction over an out-of-state abuser:

1. The abuser has a substantial connection to your state. Perhaps the abuser regularly travels to your state to visit you, for business, to see extended family, or the abuser lived in your state and recently fled.
2. One of the acts of abuse “happened” in your state. Perhaps the abuser sends you threatening texts or harassing phone calls from another state but you read the messages or answer the calls while you are in your state. The judge could decide that the abuse “happened” to you while you were in your state. It may also be possible that the abuser was in your state when s/he abused you s/he but has since left the state.
3. If you file your petition and the abuser gets served with the court petition while s/he is in your state, this is another way for the court to get jurisdiction.

However, even if none of the above apply to your situation, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t get an order. If you file, you may be granted an order on consent or the judge may find other circumstances that allow the order to be granted.

You can read more about personal jurisdiction in our Court System Basics - Personal Jurisdiction section.

Note: If the judge in your state refuses to issue an order, you can file for an order in the courthouse in the state where the abuser lives. However, remember that you will likely need to file the petition in person and attend various court dates, which could be difficult if the abuser’s state is far away.