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You are here: Protection from Abuse > Domestic Violence > Restraining Orders > Get a Restraining Order > I Filled Out the Forms-What Now?
This section tells you what to do with your forms after you've filled them out. Click on a topic below or click here  to listen to this information::
Take your forms to the court clerk
Find out if the judge made the temporary restraining order
"File" the judge's order
What to do with your copies
Know your hearing date
"Serve" the restrained person
File your Proof of Service
If the restrained person wasn't served...
What do I do next?
Take your forms to the court clerk.
The clerk will give your forms to the judge. The judge will look at them and decide to make the order, or not. Sometimes the judge may want to talk to you. If so, the clerk will tell you.
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Find out if the judge made the temporary restraining order.
Ask the clerk when to come back to see if the judge signed the Temporary Restraining Order (form DV-110). The judge must decide by the next business day. Check to see if the judge made any changes.
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"File" the judge's order.
If the judge signs the order, the court clerk will file it. "File" means that the court clerk will make the order an official part of the court's record of your case.
The clerk will keep the original for the court and give you 5 "filed-stamped" copies. If you need more, make them yourself.
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What to do with your copies:
- Keep 1 copy with you, always. You may need to show it to the police.
- Keep another copy in a safe place.
- Give a copy to anyone else protected by the order.
- Leave copies at the places where the restrained person is ordered not to go (your school, work, etc.).
- Give a copy to the security officers in your apartment and office buildings.
Restraining orders get entered into a special computer system at the California Department of Justice. That way, police officers across the state can find out about your order. The court will send your order to the state computer for you.
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Know your hearing date.
Look at form DV-110 for the date and time of your hearing.
You must go to your hearing to get a permanent order.
The order you have now only lasts for about 3 weeks.
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"Serve" the restrained person.
Ask someone you know, a process server, or law enforcement to personally "serve" (give) the restrained person a copy of the order. You can't send it by mail.
The server must:
- Be 18 or over
- Not be protected by the orders.
Law enforcement will serve the orders for free.*
A "process server" is a business you pay to deliver court forms. Look in the Yellow Pages of your phone book, under "Process Serving."*
*If law enforcement or the process server uses a different Proof of Service form, make sure it lists the forms served.
For more help with service, read What is "Proof of Service"? (form DV-210). Click here to listen to this information.
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File your Proof of Service.
The Proof of Service (In Person) (form DV-200) shows the judge and police that the restrained person got a copy of the order. Make 5 copies of the completed Proof of Service. Take the original and 5 copies to the court clerk before your hearing. The clerk will keep the original and give you back the copies stamped "Filed." Bring a copy to your hearing.
Keep 1 copy with you and another in a safe place in case you need to show it to the police. Give the other copies out like you did in 3.
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If the restrained person wasn't served...
The restrained person must be served before the hearing. If the restrained person wasn't served, fill out a Reissue Temporary Restraining Order (form DV-125) to ask the judge for a new hearing date. Do this before or at your hearing. (If you wait until after the hearing, you have to start from the beginning.)
If the judge signs this order, the restraining order will last until the new hearing date.
After serving the orders, the server fills out and signs the Proof of Service (In Person) (form DV-200) and gives it to you. File your Proof of Service.
For more help, read How to Reissue a Temporary Restraining Order (form DV-126). To listen to this information, click here .
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What do I do next?
Get Ready for Your Hearing.
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Last modified: 03/17/2008
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