Restraining Orders

Temporary ex parte order
At the time you file your application, the court can give you a temporary ex parte protective order for sexual assault or abuse, stalking, or trafficking that would last until your full court hearing. An ex parte order may be granted if there is a clear and present danger to you of sexual assault, sexual abuse, indecent assault, stalking, trafficking, or other harm. The order can protect you or any other member your family or household.¹ Be sure to ask for an ex parte order if you want this immediate protection.

Protective order after a hearing
The judge will hold a hearing where both you and the abuser have the right to offer evidence, testimony, witnesses, etc. You may choose to be represented by a lawyer, especially if the abuser will have one. At this hearing, the judge will decide whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that you are the victim of any of the qualifying crimes. If the abuser was convicted of, or placed on deferred adjudication community supervision for, one of these crimes, this is enough of a reason for the judge to grant you the protective order.²

If the judge grants a protective order after a hearing, the order can last for as long as the lifetime of the abuser and the victim or for any shorter period specifically stated in the order. If the order does not state the termination date, the order ends two years after the date it was issued.³ For the order to last as long as the lives of the abuse and the victim, both of the following must be true:

1. the abuser was convicted of, or placed on deferred adjudication community supervision for, any of the qualifying crimes; and
2. the abuser is required to register for life as a sex offender.⁴

¹ Tex. C.C.P. Art. 7B.002
² Tex. C.C.P. Art. 7B.002(a), (c)
³ Tex. C.C.P. Art. 7B.007(a)
⁴ Tex. C.C.P. Art. 7B.007(a-1)