Restraining Orders

The abuser must be served, or given papers that tell him/her about the hearing date and your temporary order of protection (if the judge gave you one).  Service must be completed at least 5 days before the scheduled date of the hearing.¹

The clerk will either send the order to the police or have you bring it to the police yourself.  The police will then find the abuser and serve him/her notice of the temporary order (if the judge gave you one) as well as the scheduled hearing date.  Please visit our AR Sheriff Departments page for more information on serving court papers.  Do not attempt to serve the papers to the abuser yourself.

Note: If you were unable to have the abuser served before the court date, you can ask the judge for a new hearing date and another temporary order of protection.

¹ Ark. Code § 9-15-2014(b)(1)(A) 

You can find more information about service of process in our Preparing for Court – By Yourself section, in the question called What is service of process and how do I accomplish it?