Restraining Orders in Texas (2026): Types & How to File

If you are thinking about a protective order, you are probably also thinking about the moment a judge reads your petition and decides whether to believe you. That anxiety is normal, and it is also the reason documentation matters so much: a clear, dated record of what happened does the talking a scared or overwhelmed person in a courtroom sometimes cannot do in the moment. This page explains, in plain terms, what protective orders exist in Texas, how the emergency version works, and what kind of evidence tends to hold up.

Types of protective orders in Texas

Texas law does not actually use the term “restraining order” for domestic situations — people use that phrase informally, but the legal document is called a protective order. The main category for domestic situations is the family violence protective order, authorized under Texas Family Code, Title 4, Subtitle B (Chapters 82–87). It is available to someone who has experienced violence or the threat of violence from a current or former spouse, a person they date or dated, a family or household member, or the other parent of their child. Texas also has separate protective orders for stalking, sexual assault, human trafficking, and burglary victims, authorized under Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 7B, which do not require a domestic relationship with the respondent.

These orders are civil matters heard in a district or county court — you file in the county where you live, where the respondent lives, or where the family violence occurred. In many Texas counties, the county or district attorney’s office will file the application and represent you in court at no cost; if a prosecutor’s office declines, you can file on your own (“pro se”). There is no court fee to apply.

The emergency order: Temporary Ex Parte Protective Order

If a judge finds there is a clear and present danger of family violence, Texas allows a Temporary Ex Parte Protective Order to be issued immediately, without the other person present or notified in advance — this is what most people mean when they say “emergency restraining order.” Under Family Code § 83.002, a temporary ex parte order is effective for the period stated in the order, up to 20 days, and the court can extend it for additional 20-day periods if needed. It bridges the gap between filing and the full hearing, where both sides can appear. A final protective order, once granted after a hearing, is typically effective for up to two years, though certain circumstances allow a longer or shorter duration.

Separately, if police arrest someone for a family violence offense, a magistrate can issue a Magistrate’s Order for Emergency Protection at the time of arrest, independent of whether the victim files anything in civil court.

How to file in Texas

You can start the process in a few ways: through your county or district attorney’s office (many will file and represent you for free), through a local family violence shelter or legal aid office, or on your own using the Office of Court Administration’s Standardized Protective Order Forms, which include a Q&A section, sample forms, and blank forms for both temporary ex parte and final protective orders. TexasLawHelp.org also publishes a free Protective Order Kit, and eFileTexas offers an interactive interview that helps you assemble the paperwork. You file your application in the county where you, the respondent, or the family violence incident is located. If the judge grants a temporary ex parte order, the respondent is served with the papers, and a full hearing is scheduled — both sides can appear, present evidence, and question witnesses, and the judge then decides whether to issue a final order and for how long.

What evidence helps

Judges cannot act on memory alone, and neither can you when you are asked to recall dates and details months later under pressure. A dated journal of incidents — what happened, when, and who was present — is one of the simplest and most persuasive things you can bring. Call logs and text or message threads that show a pattern over time, rather than a single screenshot out of context, carry more weight. If a message, voicemail, or photo has a timestamp, keep the original file rather than a cropped copy. Witnesses who saw or heard something directly, and any police reports or medical records tied to specific incidents, also help corroborate your account. None of this replaces legal advice about your specific situation, but a consistent, dated record is generally far more convincing to a court than an account reconstructed from memory during a hearing.