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Legal Information: Nevada

Restraining Orders

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Updated: 
January 9, 2024

How will a judge make a decision about whether to grant the order?

A judge will issue an emergency order for protection against high-risk behavior and later, an extended order, if s/he finds that:

  • the respondent poses an immediate risk of causing a self-inflicted injury or a personal injury to another person by possessing, controlling, or purchasing a firearm;
  • the respondent’s behavior is high-risk; and
  • less restrictive options have been tried and did not work.1

The respondent’s behavior is considered “high-risk” when s/he:

  • uses, attempts to use, or threatens to use physical force against another person;
  • communicates a threat of immediate violence or commits an act of violence against himself/herself or another person;
  • engages in a pattern of threats of violence or acts of violence against himself/herself or another person. This includes, but is not limited to, threats of violence or acts of violence that have caused another person to be in reasonable fear of physical harm;
  • shows behavior that presents as dangerous to himself/herself or another person while:
    • in possession, custody, or control of a firearm; or
    • buying or otherwise getting a firearm;
  • abuses a controlled substance or alcohol while doing any of the above actions; or
  • gets a firearm or other deadly weapon within the previous six months before acting in any ways described above.2

A respondent is also considered to have engaged in “high-risk behavior” if s/he has previously been convicted of:

  • violating a temporary or extend order for protection against domestic violence or sexual assault; or
  • a crime of violence that was punishable as a felony.3

1 N.R.S. §§ 33.570(1); 33.580(1)
2 N.R.S. § 33.550(1)
3 N.R.S. § 33.550(2)