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Legal Information: Louisiana

Restraining Orders

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Updated: 
November 21, 2023

Step 2: A judge will review your petition and may issue a TRO.

After you finish filing your paperwork, the clerk will forward it to a judge. The judge may wish to ask you questions as s/he reviews your petition. The judge will decide whether or not to issue the temporary restraining order (TRO) and will set a court date for a full hearing for a protective order. The court may issue you a TRO during an ex parte hearing without the abuser present if there is an “immediate and present danger of abuse.” The judge must consider any and all past history of abuse, or threats of abuse, in determining whether or not there is an immediate and present danger of abuse. (There is no requirement that the abuse itself be recent, immediate, or present.)1 You will be given a copy of your petition, along with papers that state the time and date of your hearing for a long-term protective order.

By the end of the next business day, the clerk will get the order entered into the Louisiana Protective Order Registry and send a copy of it to the chief law enforcement officer of the parish where you live.2

1 LA R.S. 46:2135(A)
2 LA R.S. 46:2135(H)