A Step-By-Step Guide to Filing An Order of Protection

This post is a follow up to last week’s discussion on orders of protection and domestic violence. If you feel threatened, or you’ve been abused, and you’ve made the difficult decision to file for an order of protection, then this post is for you. Here, you can learn how to file a petition for an order of protection and what to expect after you file. Requesting an order of protection is an important process that can help you protect yourself, your home, your children, and even your pet from an abusive person or someone who is threatening to abuse you and your family.

Step 1: Fill Out the Order of Protection Petition 

The Petition for Order of Protection form will ask you to tell the court why you are requesting an order of protection. On the form, you should provide a fact-based explanation of what the person who abused or threatened you did that made you want to request the order of protection. If you need your children or pets protected too, then be sure to explain how the other person hurt or threatened your child or your pet on the form as well.

While filling out the form, it is important to be very specific about what the other person did. For example, rather than writing a vague description such as “he/she yelled at me and threatened me,” you would benefit from writing a more fact specific statement like, “he/she told me he/she was going to stab me while he/she was holding a knife in his/her hand and then he/she moved toward me.” The more detail you can share with the court, the more likely you are to receive your protective order. Also, at the later hearing, the court will often limit what you’re allowed to discuss to the details you wrote in your initial petition requesting the protective order. So, it’s good to include all the important details that explain why the order is necessary.

Step 2: File Your Order of Protection Petition

For Davidson County, there are two locations in which you can file your order of protection: 

(1) Metro Police Domestic Violence Division ,

 600 Murfreesboro Pike

 Suite 102

Nashville, TN 37219

OR

(2) The General Sessions Night Court

Metropolitan Gov. Criminal Justice Center

 512 1st Avenue North

Nashville, TN 37219

The Night Court is open 24 hours a day. Between the hours of 8:00 A.M. and 10:00 P.M., you can visit the court yourself and file your petition. Or, if you prefer, you can take a police officer or attorney with you. After 10:00 P.M. you will need to call the police department and ask to have a police officer go with you to the court.

After you submit the petition for an order of protection, the court should let you know fairly quickly whether or not your form was approved.

Step 3: The Police Will Inform the Other Person About the Order

If the court approves your petition, you will receive an ex parte order of protection, which is simply a short-term order of protection. The police or sheriff will inform the person abused or threatened you or your family about the ex parte order of protection and tell that person that he or she can no longer contact you in any way.  

The ex parte order of protection will stop the person who hurt or threatened you from coming near you for the time period during in which the order is valid. If the other person violates the order, you can call the police and have that person arrested. 

If you have a child, you may want to consider providing your child’s daycare or school with the order of protection so that the school or daycare knows the other person should not be near your family.

Step 4: Attend a Hearing to Receive a Permanent Order of Protection

When you receive your ex parte order of protection, the court commissioner will set a hearing date to determine whether your ex parte order of protection should be extended into a permanent order of protection (click here to read the difference between an ex parte order of protection and a permanent order of protection).

You must go to the hearing, otherwise, the judge will dismiss your case and your order will no longer be valid.

You can absolutely attend the hearing by yourself, but some people find that an attorney is a very helpful resource before and during the hearing. Likewise, many people feel much more comfortable knowing that an experienced attorney is representing them at the hearing. We care about you and your family, and we would gladly assist you with this process. We are here to help you make sure that you can clearly and competently explain to the judge why this order of protection is so important, if you need our assistance.

What to expect at the hearing:

At the hearing, the judge will ask you some questions about why you’re seeking an order of protection. Be prepared to provide the judge with short, truthful answers that explain what the abuser has done. Be sure to stick to the facts and not to exaggerate. The judge only needs the truth.

Also, you will want to bring to the court any evidence you may have that shows how the abuser threatened or harmed you, your family, pets or property. You can bring witnesses who heard or saw the abuse take place, photos of your injuries, or any other evidence that could be pertinent. Once the judge grants your permanent order of protection, the permanent order will last up to a year, and you can extend the length of time by filing an extension request with the court.

If you’ve chosen to request an order of protection, you’ve made a difficult but brave decision and we respect you. Again, we are here to help if you have any questions or concerns about how this process works, or if you want guidance and assistance going through the process of receiving your protective order. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you need assistance.