Legal Info FAQs - Domestic Violence Information

A restraining order is simply another term for an Order of Protection or an Injunction Against Harassment, which are both protective orders in Arizona. Other states call them restraining orders, protection from abuse orders, and similar names.

2. What is an Order of Protection?

An Order of Protection is used for protection when there is an intimate partner relationship, a family relationship, or a romantic or sexual relationship between the plaintiff and the defendant. The plaintiff must file a petition describing an act of domestic violence that was threatened or committed against the plaintiff by the defendant within the last year. If the plaintiff does not have an intimate partner, family, or romantic or sexual relationship with the defendant, the plaintiff may file a petition requesting an Injunction Against Harassment if the defendant has committed a series of acts of harassment or one act of sexual violence against the plaintiff. The plaintiff must file a petition and then appear before a judge to explain why an Order of Protection is needed. If the judge finds that the defendant may commit or has committed an act of domestic violence, the judge can issue an Order of Protection that:

Orders the defendant not to commit acts of domestic violence,
Gives the plaintiff exclusive use of a house that both people previously shared,
Prevents the defendant from coming near the plaintiff’s house or apartment, place of employment, or school,
May prohibit the defendant from possessing guns,
Protects any animal that is owned by the plaintiff or the defendant, and
Includes any other relief necessary for the plaintiff’s protection.

The Order of Protection is not in effect until it is personally served on the defendant. Once served, the defendant has a right to a hearing. After a hearing, if the judge keeps the order in place, the judge may order the defendant to complete a domestic violence offender treatment program.

RESOURCES

3. What is a domestic violence crime?

Arizona law currently includes 30 crimes that, when combined with an intimate partner, a family, or a romantic or sexual relationship, equal domestic violence. Domestic violence includes assault and aggravated assault; harassment and aggravated harassment; aggravated domestic violence; child or vulnerable adult abuse; criminal damage; criminal trespass; dangerous crimes against children; custodial interference; disobeying a court order; disorderly conduct; endangerment; kidnapping; stalking; surreptitious photographing; threats and intimidation; unlawful imprisonment; sexual assault; unlawful distribution of images; neglect, abandonment, or cruel mistreatment of animals; preventing or interfering with use of a telephone in an emergency; telephone harassment; and murder, manslaughter, and homicide. ARS § 13-3601

4. What is the relationship test for an Order of Protection?

The plaintiff and the defendant must have one of the following relationships:

married now or in the past
live in the same household now or lived in the same household in the past
parents of a child in common
one party is pregnant by the other
the parties are related by blood or marriage (such as parent, in-law, brother, sister, grandparent, step-parent, step-sibling)
the parties have a current or previous romantic or sexual relationship

BOOKLET

5. How do I ask for an Order of Protection?

You can fill out a petition for an Order of Protection in two ways—either online with AZPOINT or on paper at a courthouse. There is no fee to file a petition for an Order of Protection or to have it served on the person from whom you are seeking protection.

AZPOINT. AZPOINT (https://azpoint.azcourts.gov/) is a free application that’s designed to help you fill out the paperwork for a protective order. There’s NO FEE to use AZPOINT. You can use AZPOINT on a desktop computer, a smartphone, a laptop, or a tablet (an iPad, for example). At AZPOINT, you can set up an account and, through a guided interview, work on your court documents at your own speed. Your draft documents will remain in your AZPOINT account for 90 days while you work on them.

You’ll need a valid email address to set up your AZPOINT account. The website explains how to get a new email address if the person you’re seeking protection from knows how to get into your email account or has access to your passwords or devices. There’s a safety button (an escape button) in AZPOINT, but it doesn’t wipe browser history. You may want to consider doing that if this person has access to your devices.

AZPOINT will create a confirmation number for your petition. Please keep your confirmation number confidential. When you’re ready to proceed with your petition, you must file it with a court. You will need the confirmation number generated by AZPOINT so that court staff can pull up your documents.

To find a nearby court, click Find My Court. You can file with any city court, justice of the peace court, or superior court. But if you have a family court case with the other person, you must file with the superior court that is handling the family court case.

Paper. If you wish to file your documents on paper, the court will provide the forms to you at no cost. You will be asked to fill out the Plaintiff Information Sheet, the petition, and the Service of Process Information Form. Fill out the forms provided by the court and return them to court staff.

Whether you prepare your petition in AZPOINT or on paper, it’s important to know that a copy of the petition will be given to the defendant if an Order of Protection is issued and sent out for service. Although an order may protect more than one person (one plaintiff and other protected persons), it can be issued against only one defendant. A separate petition must be completed for each person against whom you want to be protected.

Each petition must have:

The defendant's name.
The defendant’s date of birth (or a reasonable estimate).
A specific statement listing all acts and approximate dates of domestic violence that the defendant has committed against you within the past year. (The one-year requirement may be waived if the defendant is out of state, incarcerated, or good cause is shown.)
Your address and telephone number so the court can contact you if the defendant requests a hearing. (By law, this information is confidential and will be withheld from the defendant.)
An address, if known, at which the defendant can be legally served with the court's order. At minimum, you must provide a city where you think the defendant can be located. If you cannot make your best guess, please provide the name of your own city.

6. How long is the Order of Protection in effect?

If the judge issues the Order of Protection, the court will send it and a copy of the petition to the appropriate law enforcement agency or constable for service on the defendant. The defendant must be served with the order before it will be effective. If it is not served, it will expire one year from the date the judge issued it. Once an order has been served, it will be valid and enforceable for two years from the date it was served (if served on or after September 24, 2022).

The court will assign service based on the type of court that issued the order and the defendant’s location. The order may be served by a city police officer, a sheriff’s deputy, or a constable. There is no fee for serving an Order of Protection.

In most cases, the court will assign service the same day the judge issues the Order of Protection. You may ask the judge to delay assigning service for up to 72 hours, but you must give the judge a good reason to do so.

After a law enforcement agency or a constable receives the service assignment, they will try to find the defendant as quickly as possible. If you’ve signed up for notifications in AZPOINT, you will receive an email telling you which agency or constable received the assignment. If the agency or constable has not been able to serve the defendant within 15 days, you will be contacted in the hope that you can provide more information about the defendant’s possible location. Even if the agency or constable has not been able to find and serve the defendant within 15 days, the law requires them to keep trying as long as the order has not expired or been dismissed.

BOOKLET

7. What if the defendant is in jail?

If you believe the defendant is in jail, the court can assign service to the jail where the defendant is being held. If the defendant is in the process of being released, there may not be enough time to have service completed at the jail. If the jail receives the service assignment after the defendant has been released, the jail will be able to transfer service to the appropriate law enforcement agency.

8. What do I do if the defendant violates the Order of Protection once it is in effect?

Violation of the court order is a criminal charge, and law enforcement must be notified. If you are in immediate danger, call 9-1-1.

SAFETY PLANS

9. What if the other person contests the order?

The defendant may request a hearing on the order one time during the year in which it is in effect. A hearing will be held within 5 days (if exclusive use of the residence has been ordered) or otherwise within 10 business days. You must prove the allegations in the petition by a preponderance of the evidence (more likely than not). At the contested hearing, the judge will hear testimony and consider evidence presented. The judge can affirm the order as issued, modify or change it in some way, or dismiss it.

10. What if the plaintiff and the defendant are in the process of divorce?

If an Order of Protection was issued by a municipal or a justice court and a petition for dissolution (divorce) or legal separation or a maternity or paternity action is later filed in superior court, one of the parties must notify the issuing court immediately. The issuing court will transfer the protective order case to the superior court that is handling the family court case.

11. What is an Injunction Against Harassment?

An Injunction Against Harassment (IAH) is a court order that is issued to prevent one person from harassing another person. For purposes of an IAH, “harassment” means either a series of annoying, alarming, or harassing acts or one or more acts of sexual violence as defined in ARS § 23-371. The plaintiff must file a petition, explaining specifically how the defendant has harassed the plaintiff or committed an act of sexual violence against the person and then appear before a judicial officer to explain the reason for the request. If the judge determines that a series of acts of harassment or an act of sexual violence has been committed by the defendant against the plaintiff over a period of time, the judge can issue the order. The injunction is not in effect until it is served on the defendant. Once served, the defendant has a right to a hearing.

12. What is harassment?

For purposes of a protective order, three types of harassment apply under Arizona law. For an Order of Protection, criminal harassment as defined in ARS §§ 13-2921 and 13-2921.01 applies. For an Injunction Against Harassment, see the definition of harassment at ARS § 12-1809(S). For an Injunction Against Workplace Harassment, see the definition of harassment at ARS § 12-1810(S). Your relationship to the defendant (the person from whom you are seeking protection) determines which type of protective order applies in your situation. The Petition form lists the relationship types. If you choose “Other,” then you will be asking the court for either an Injunction Against Harassment or an Injunction Against Workplace Harassment.

13. How do I file for an Injunction Against Harassment?

You can fill out a petition for an Injunction Against Harassment (IAH) in two ways—either online with AZPOINT or on paper at a courthouse. There is no fee to file a petition for an IAH, but there is a fee to have it served on the defendant (the person from whom you are seeking protection), with two exceptions. If the order is based on a dating relationship or on sexual violence, then there is no fee to have the IAH served on the defendant. You can ask the judicial officer to grant you a fee waiver or deferral if the cost of service is a problem for you.

For purposes of an IAH, “harassment” means either a series of acts over any period of time that is directed at a specific person and that would cause a reasonable person to be seriously alarmed, annoyed, or harassed, and the conduct in fact seriously alarms, annoys, or harasses the person and serves no legitimate purpose, or one or more acts of sexual violence as defined in ARS § 23-371. A single incident of conduct that is alarming or annoying, no matter how bothersome, does not constitute harassment for purposes of an IAH. But a person can apply for an IAH based on one act of sexual violence as defined in ARS § 23-371.

AZPOINT. AZPOINT (https://azpoint.azcourts.gov/) is a free application that’s designed to help you fill out the paperwork for a protective order. There’s NO FEE to use AZPOINT. You can use AZPOINT on a desktop computer, a smartphone, a laptop, or a tablet (an iPad, for example). At AZPOINT, you can set up an account and, through a guided interview, work on your court documents at your own speed. Your draft documents will remain in your AZPOINT account for 90 days while you work on them.

You’ll need a valid email address to set up your AZPOINT account. The website explains how to get a new email address if the person you’re seeking protection from knows how to get into your email account or has access to your passwords or devices. There’s a safety button (an escape button) in AZPOINT, but it doesn’t wipe browser history. You may want to consider doing that if this person has access to your devices.

AZPOINT will create a confirmation number for your petition. Please keep your confirmation number confidential. When you’re ready to proceed with your petition, you must file it with a court. You will need to know the confirmation number generated by AZPOINT so court staff can pull up your documents. To find a nearby court, click Find My Court. You can file with any city court, justice of the peace court, or superior court.

Paper. If you wish to file your documents on paper, the court will provide the forms to you at no cost. You will be asked to fill out the Plaintiff Information Sheet, the petition, and the Service of Process Information Form. Fill out the forms provided by the court and return them to court staff.

Whether you prepare your petition in AZPOINT or on paper, it’s important to know that a copy of the petition will be given to the defendant if an IAH is issued. Although an order may protect more than one person (one plaintiff and other protected persons), it can be issued against only one defendant. A separate petition must be completed for each person against whom you want to be protected.

Each petition must have:

The defendant's name.
The defendant’s date of birth (or a reasonable estimate).
A specific statement listing all acts and approximate dates of harassment or sexual violence that the defendant has committed against you within the past year.
Your address and telephone number so the court can contact you if the defendant requests a hearing. (By law, this information is confidential and will be withheld from the defendant.)
An address, if known, at which the defendant can be legally served with the court's order. At minimum, you must provide a city where you think the defendant can be located.

14. What if I don’t know where the person I am filing against lives?

If you do not know the defendant’s address, you should keep a copy of the injunction. As soon as you find out the address, you can contact a private process server, a constable, or a law enforcement agency so they can try to serve the defendant.

15. How long is the Injunction Against Harassment in effect?

If the judge issues the Injunction Against Harassment, the defendant must be served with the order before it will be effective. If it is not served, it will expire one year from the date the judge issued it. Once the injunction has been served, it will be in effect for one year from the date it was served. A private process server, a constable, or a local law enforcement agency may serve the order. The plaintiff is responsible for delivering the defendant's copy of the order and the petition to the process server, constable, or law enforcement agency for service. Unless the relationship between the plaintiff and the defendant is a dating relationship or the IAH is based on sexual violence, a law enforcement agency, a constable, or a process server may charge a fee for service of an Injunction Against Harassment.

16. What do I do if the defendant violates the injunction once it is in effect?

Violation of the court order is a criminal charge, and law enforcement must be notified. If you are in immediate danger, call 9-1-1.

17. What if the other person objects to the injunction?

The defendant may request a hearing on the injunction one time during the year in which it is in effect. A hearing will usually be held within 10 business days from the date requested. The plaintiff must prove the allegations in the petition by a preponderance of the evidence (more likely than not). At the contested hearing, the judge will hear testimony and consider evidence presented. The judge can affirm the order as issued, modify or change it in some way, or dismiss it.

18. What do I do if my child is being harassed by a bully at school?

Arizona law requires schools to have policies and procedures to prevent students from bullying, harassing, or intimidating other students in schools, on school grounds, on school buses, at school bus stops, and at school-sponsored activities and events. This includes harassment by electronic means on school networks and forums. Each school is required to have a procedure for students, parents, and teachers to report, in confidence, bullying behavior to school officials. If the bullying acts threaten or actually cause injury to a person or property, then more severe penalties are called for and can be carried out under Arizona’s criminal laws. (ARS § 15-341(A)(37) and ARS § 13-2911)

19. What is an Injunction Against Workplace Harassment?

An Injunction Against Workplace Harassment (IAWH) (ARS § 12-1810) is an injunction filed by an employer or the owner of a business or operation. It is similar to an Injunction Against Harassment, except that it protects the employer, employees, people coming into the place of business, or employees who are performing official work duties elsewhere. For purposes of an IAWH, harassment means a single threat or act of physical harm or damage or a series of acts over any period of time that would cause a reasonable person to be seriously alarmed or annoyed.