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Legal Information: Texas

Restraining Orders

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Updated: 
July 28, 2023

Do I have to register my protective order in Texas in order to get it enforced?

Texas state law says an order does not have to be registered to be enforced, but the protective order must be valid.1

A police officer must treat an order as valid as long as it appears to be valid.2 A order appears valid if it:

  • contains your name and the abuser’s name;
  • is not expired;
  • the court that issued it had the authority (jurisdiction) to issue the order; and
  • the abuser was given notice of the protective order hearing and the opportunity to attend the court hearing before the order was issued or, in the case of an ex parte temporary order, soon after the order was issued.3

1 Tex. Fam. Code § 88.004(e)
2 Tex. Fam. Code § 88.003(e)
3 Tex. Fam. Code § 88.004(d)