Restraining Orders

In the First Judicial District Court of New Mexico, which covers the counties of Santa Fe, Rio Arriba, and Los Alamos, you can apply for a civil restraining order against someone who has caused you harm that is likely to continue and be permanent (irreparable) if the court doesn’t order the person to stop. As of 2018, the filing fee for this type of order is $132. If you cannot afford the fee, you can fill out this form that asks the court to waive it.¹

You can only apply for an order against someone if all of the following are true:

• you are not the defendant’s spouse or ex-spouse;
• you are not the defendant’s parent, child, grandparent, or grandchild;
• you are not the defendant’s household member and you never have been; and
• you do not have a child with the defendant.¹

If you are granted a temporary restraining order, which can later become a preliminary injunction and then a permanent injunction after a hearing, the defendant can be ordered to:

• not threaten, harm, alarm or annoy you or your family and household members;
• stay at least a certain number of yards away from you, your residence, your workplace and your child(ren)’s school;
• not call you, text you, email you, or contact you in any way, including contacting you or posting about you on Facebook or any other social media;
• not block you or follow you in public places or roads;
• pay you back for the costs and expenses you had by bringing the court case;
• pay you back money that you spent on any of the following:
  • medical expenses that you had from an injury s/he caused to you;
  • damage to your property caused by the defendant;
  • replacement of property destroyed or taken by the defendant;
  • something else that you can convince the judge the defendant should pay you for; and
• return specific personal property that s/he took from you; and
• do anything else that the judge believes is appropriate.¹

For legal referrals, go to our NM Finding a Lawyer page.

¹ See Petition for Order of Protection from Domestic Abuse