Restraining Orders

Restraining orders in California are court orders that prohibit contact or impose restrictions on someone’s behavior, typically issued to protect alleged victims from harassment, abuse, stalking, or threats. California has several types of restraining orders including Domestic Violence Restraining Orders (DVRO) under Family Code 6200, Civil Harassment Restraining Orders under Code of Civil Procedure 527.6, Workplace Violence Restraining Orders, and Elder Abuse Restraining Orders. These orders can prohibit you from contacting someone, require you to stay a certain distance away, force you to move out of your home, restrict custody of your children, require you to surrender firearms, and create a public record that affects employment, housing, and your reputation. Restraining orders operate in civil court with lower evidence standards than criminal cases, but violations are criminal offenses carrying jail time.

These orders are sought because California law encourages protective measures for people who claim to fear violence, harassment, or abuse. Courts routinely issue temporary restraining orders (TROs) based solely on written allegations without hearing your side of the story, and these temporary orders remain in effect until a hearing scheduled 2-3 weeks later. At the permanent hearing, the petitioner (person seeking the order) must prove by a preponderance of the evidence (more likely than not) that you engaged in harassment, abuse, stalking, or made credible threats. The standard is much lower than criminal court, hearsay is admissible, and judges err on the side of granting orders when allegations involve domestic relationships or any suggestion of violence or threats.

Common circumstances leading to restraining order petitions include contentious divorces or custody battles where allegations are weaponized for advantage, breakups where one party files based on unwanted contact or text messages, neighbor disputes over property issues, workplace conflicts where someone claims to feel threatened, false or exaggerated allegations made out of anger or revenge, situations where both parties engaged in mutual conflict but only one files for an order, misunderstandings where behavior was annoying but not harassing, and legitimate situations involving actual stalking, harassment, or domestic violence. We’ve represented clients falsely accused during custody disputes, clients who sent too many texts after breakups without realizing it constituted harassment, clients accused based on misinterpretations, and clients who need protection themselves from false accusers who filed first.

Types of Restraining Orders We Handle

We handle all restraining order matters in San Luis Obispo, Santa Maria, and Lompoc:

Domestic Violence Restraining Orders (DVRO)

• Temporary Domestic Violence Restraining Order (TRO) – Emergency orders issued ex parte (without your presence) based solely on the petitioner’s allegations, taking effect immediately and lasting until the permanent hearing scheduled 15-21 days later, often requiring you to move out of your home, stay away from your children, and surrender firearms.
• Permanent Domestic Violence Restraining Order – Long-term orders issued after a noticed hearing where both sides present evidence, lasting up to 5 years (renewable), prohibiting contact with the protected person, their home, workplace, children’s schools, requiring move-out from shared residences, and surrender of firearms.
• Emergency Protective Orders (EPO) – Orders issued by police officers at domestic violence scenes, lasting 5-7 days until you can request a court hearing, issued without judicial oversight based on officer’s assessment of danger, requiring immediate move-out and no-contact.
• Criminal Protective Orders (CPO) – Orders issued in criminal domestic violence cases as conditions of release or probation, prohibiting contact with alleged victims, lasting through the duration of the criminal case or probation period, with violations constituting new criminal charges.

Civil Harassment Restraining Orders

• Civil Harassment Restraining Order (CRO) – Orders against persons not in domestic relationships, issued for harassment, stalking, threats, or violence between neighbors, roommates, coworkers (not employer-filed), acquaintances, or strangers, lasting up to 5 years, with lower threshold than DVROs for what constitutes harassment.
• Workplace Violence Restraining Order – Orders filed by employers on behalf of employees who claim harassment, threats, or violence from customers, clients, former employees, or others, protecting employees at their workplace and potentially enjoining contact with the business.
• Elder or Dependent Adult Abuse Restraining Order – Orders protecting persons 65 or older, or dependent adults ages 18-64, from abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation, often filed by family members, caregivers, or Adult Protective Services, carrying enhanced penalties for violations.

School and Gun Violence Restraining Orders

• Gun Violence Restraining Order (GVRO) – Orders allowing law enforcement or family members to petition for temporary seizure of firearms from persons deemed dangerous to themselves or others, issued based on concerns about potential violence rather than actual threats, requiring surrender of all firearms and ammunition.
• School Violence Restraining Order – Orders protecting students and staff from threats or violence on school grounds, filed by school officials, lasting up to 3 years, potentially prohibiting you from being near any school campus in the district.

Restraining Order Violations

• Violation of Restraining Order (PC 273.6) – Intentionally violating any restraining order provision, charged as a misdemeanor (up to 1 year jail) or felony (up to 3 years prison) depending on circumstances, with mandatory minimum jail time for violations involving violence or threats.
• Contempt of Court for Violation – Civil contempt proceedings for violating restraining orders, potentially resulting in additional fines, extended order duration, or custody time, filed separately from or in addition to criminal charges.

Related Restraining Order Services

• Modification of Restraining Orders – Petitioning to modify existing orders to allow limited contact for child custody exchanges, reduce stay-away distances, or remove restrictions that make compliance impossible, requiring showing of changed circumstances.
• Termination of Restraining Orders – Requesting early termination of restraining orders before expiration, demonstrating the order is no longer necessary, you’ve complied with all terms, or circumstances have changed significantly.
• Mutual Restraining Orders – Situations where both parties have restraining orders against each other, often arising from mutual conflict, requiring careful navigation of overlapping restrictions and potential violation accusations.
• Request for Renewal of Restraining Order – Opposing the protected person’s request to renew an expiring restraining order for another 5 years, arguing there’s no reasonable apprehension of future abuse or harassment.

This list represents the most common restraining order matters we handle, but we assist with all protective order issues. If you’re facing a restraining order not listed here, or you’re unsure what type of order has been filed against you, we can help. Restraining order documents can be confusing, and understanding what you’re facing is the first step in protecting your rights.

Call us at (805) 621-7181 to discuss your specific situation and what options are available.

Consequences of Restraining Orders

Having a restraining order issued against you can result in:

• Immediate move-out from your home – Domestic violence restraining orders can force you to leave your own residence immediately, even if you own the home or are the sole leaseholder, losing access to your home, belongings, and familiar surroundings
• Loss of custody and visitation – Restraining orders often include provisions restricting or eliminating contact with your children, requiring supervised visitation only, or granting temporary sole custody to the protected person during the order’s pendency
• Firearm prohibition and seizure – All restraining orders except civil harassment orders require you to surrender all firearms and ammunition within 24 hours, and prohibit firearm possession for the order’s duration, with violations being federal felonies (10+ years prison)
• Employment consequences – Restraining orders appear in background checks, affecting employment in law enforcement, security, military, government positions, and jobs requiring firearms, and may result in termination from current employment
• Professional license impact – Many licensed professions require disclosure of restraining orders, potentially affecting licenses for attorneys, healthcare workers, teachers, real estate agents, and other regulated professions
• Public record and reputation damage – Restraining orders are public records accessible to anyone, appearing in background checks, affecting your reputation in the community, and creating presumptions in custody and other legal proceedings
• Immigration consequences – Domestic violence restraining orders based on credible threats of violence or violations of restraining orders can be deportable offenses, affect naturalization applications, and prevent visa renewals or entry to the United States
• Geographic and contact restrictions – Orders prohibit being within 50-100 yards of the protected person, their home, workplace, vehicle, and children’s schools, severely limiting your freedom of movement, particularly in small towns where avoidance is nearly impossible
• Criminal charges for violations – Any contact or proximity in violation of the order, even accidental encounters or responding to the protected person’s contact, results in criminal charges carrying mandatory jail time and potentially felony convictions
• Effect on other legal proceedings – Restraining orders create unfavorable presumptions in divorce and custody proceedings, civil lawsuits, and criminal cases, with judges viewing you as dangerous or abusive based on the order’s existence
• Financial burden – Moving expenses, rent for separate housing, legal fees, costs of supervised visitation, and potential loss of income from employment disruption create significant financial hardship
• Social and family isolation – Orders often prohibit contact with mutual friends, family members, or social circles, resulting in isolation from support systems and community connections

The Restraining Order Process

Understanding the timeline and procedures:

Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) Issued

Someone files a petition alleging harassment, abuse, stalking, or threats. Based solely on these written allegations, a judge issues a temporary restraining order without hearing your side. You’re served with papers that include the TRO (already in effect) and a notice of hearing scheduled 15-21 days later. The TRO is immediately enforceable—violating it results in arrest even though you haven’t had your day in court.

Service of Process

You must be personally served with the restraining order documents by a process server or law enforcement. The hearing cannot proceed until you’re properly served, which gives you notice of the allegations and hearing date. Service must occur with enough time before the hearing for you to prepare a response (usually 5 days minimum).

Filing Your Response

You have the right to file a written response to the allegations before the hearing, presenting your version of events, denying false allegations, and providing context. While not required, filing a response helps frame the issues and shows the judge you’re taking the matter seriously. We prepare detailed responses that present your side effectively.

The Permanent Hearing

At the noticed hearing, both parties present evidence, call witnesses, and testify. The judge determines whether to issue a permanent restraining order lasting up to 5 years, deny the petition and dismiss the case, or issue a modified order with different restrictions. You have the right to cross-examine the petitioner, present witnesses, and introduce evidence. This is your opportunity to defend yourself.

Burden of Proof and Evidence

The petitioner must prove their allegations by a preponderance of the evidence (more likely than not—just 51% probability). Hearsay is admissible, text messages and social media are heavily relied upon, and the judge’s perception of credibility is critical. Evidence includes testimony, text messages, emails, photos, videos, police reports, witness statements, and medical records.

Possible Outcomes

The judge can grant the permanent restraining order for up to 5 years (renewable), deny the petition entirely and dismiss the case, issue a modified order with less restrictive terms, or continue the hearing to allow more time for evidence or settlement negotiations. Once issued, permanent restraining orders remain in effect until they expire or are terminated by court order.

Why You Need an Attorney for Restraining Orders

False Allegations Are Common

Restraining orders are frequently weaponized in divorce and custody battles, filed by vengeful ex-partners, or based on exaggerated or misinterpreted behavior. Many petitions contain outright lies, half-truths, or omit critical context that explains your actions. Without an attorney who knows how to cross-examine the petitioner effectively, challenge their credibility, and present your side with supporting evidence, judges often default to granting orders because they’d rather err on the side of caution. We’ve successfully defended clients against fabricated allegations by exposing inconsistencies, presenting contrary evidence, and demonstrating the petitioner’s ulterior motives.

The Consequences Are Too Severe to Handle Alone

Losing your home, your children, your firearms, your job, and your reputation based on unchallenged allegations is devastating. Restraining order hearings often determine temporary custody arrangements that become permanent, affect property division in divorces, and create records that follow you for life. These proceedings move quickly—one hearing that lasts 30 minutes to 2 hours can determine outcomes affecting you for 5 years or more. Having an attorney who knows what evidence to present, which witnesses to call, and how to frame your defense can be the difference between the order being granted or denied.

Cross-Examination Makes the Difference

Most people seeking restraining orders testify first and are never effectively challenged. Their allegations go unchallenged, their credibility unquestioned, and their motives unexplored. Skilled cross-examination exposes inconsistencies in their testimony, reveals they’ve exaggerated or lied about events, demonstrates ulterior motives like gaining advantage in custody or divorce, and establishes that their fear isn’t reasonable or credible. We’ve won restraining order hearings primarily through devastating cross-examination that revealed the petitioner’s true motivations.

Experience Matters

We’ve handled hundreds of restraining order hearings in San Luis Obispo, Santa Maria, and Lompoc courts. We know which judges are skeptical of weak allegations and which ones grant orders routinely. We know how to present cases effectively in the short time allowed, what evidence judges find most persuasive, and which arguments resonate. We understand local family dynamics, how restraining orders intersect with divorce and custody cases, and how to protect your interests across multiple proceedings. That experience means we know what will work in front of the specific judge hearing your case.

How Central Coast Criminal Defense Can Help

Helping clients in San Luis Obispo, Santa Maria, and Lompoc fight restraining orders since 2010, we provide:

• Immediate Response to TROs – We review temporary restraining order allegations immediately, prepare comprehensive written responses that present your version of events, gather evidence and witness statements before the permanent hearing, and advise you on compliance with temporary orders to avoid violation charges while fighting the permanent order.
• Comprehensive Hearing Preparation – We interview witnesses who can rebut allegations or provide context, gather text messages, emails, and social media evidence supporting your case, obtain police reports, medical records, or other documentary evidence, prepare you to testify credibly and sympathetically, and develop cross-examination strategies to expose weaknesses in the petitioner’s case.
• Aggressive Hearing Representation – We present opening statements framing the case favorably, call witnesses who support your version of events, cross-examine the petitioner to expose lies, exaggerations, or ulterior motives, introduce evidence contradicting their allegations, and present closing arguments persuading the judge to deny the petition.
• Strategic Case Approach – We evaluate whether fighting or negotiating modified terms is strategically better, identify settlement opportunities that protect your interests while avoiding full orders, coordinate restraining order defense with related divorce, custody, or criminal cases, and advise on long-term implications of different outcomes.
• Personal Guidance Through Difficult Times – You work directly with attorneys who understand the emotional toll of false accusations and the stress of losing your home, children, and rights, and we’re available to answer questions, explain the process, and support you through hearings where your life is being judged based on one-sided allegations.

We understand that people facing restraining orders are often dealing with their worst nightmare—being portrayed as dangerous or abusive, losing their homes and children, having their reputations destroyed by false allegations, and navigating a system that seems stacked against them. We’ve represented clients falsely accused during bitter divorces, people who sent too many texts but never threatened violence, individuals caught in mutual conflicts where only one party filed, and people whose actions were misinterpreted or exaggerated beyond recognition.

Our approach focuses on truth, context, and credibility. What actually happened versus what’s alleged? What’s the petitioner’s real motivation? What evidence exists to support your version? How do we present you as a credible, sympathetic person rather than the monster the petition portrays? We prepare meticulously, challenge aggressively, and fight to prevent orders based on falsehoods or exaggerations.

Restraining orders can be defeated. We’ve won complete denials of petitions, negotiated modified orders that protect both parties’ interests, and exposed false allegations that judges recognized as litigation tactics. Whether you’re accused of domestic violence, stalking, harassment, or threats, whether the allegations are completely false or grossly exaggerated, we’re here to fight for your rights, your home, your children, and your reputation.

For Those Seeking Restraining Orders

We also represent petitioners who need protection from harassment, stalking, or abuse. If you’re experiencing unwanted contact, threats, or fear for your safety, we can help you obtain restraining orders that provide legal protection. We prepare comprehensive petitions documenting the pattern of conduct, gather supporting evidence, and represent you at hearings to ensure the order is granted.

Our approach emphasizes thorough documentation, credible presentation, and realistic expectations about what restraining orders can and cannot accomplish. While we primarily defend against restraining orders, we recognize that sometimes people genuinely need protection, and we provide skilled representation for legitimate petitioners who need court intervention to ensure their safety.

Don’t Wait—Call Us Today

Restraining order hearings are typically scheduled within 15-21 days of the temporary order being issued, giving limited time to prepare your defense. Acting immediately ensures we have time to gather evidence, interview witnesses, and prepare a comprehensive defense strategy.

You deserve to tell your side of the story. Let’s make sure the judge hears the truth.