To file a motion for protective order in Texas, you submit a sworn application to the clerk of a county or district court, have the respondent served with notice of the hearing, and then prove your case to a judge. In family violence situations, the application is free, the court can issue an emergency order the same day, and the final hearing requires you to show that family violence occurred and is likely to occur again. In a civil lawsuit, the motion is filed inside the pending case under Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 192.6 to limit discovery that is burdensome, harassing, or invasive. The two paths share a name and little else, so the right starting point is figuring out which one applies to you.
Who Can File a Family Violence Application
The Texas Family Code lets an adult family or household member file an application to protect themselves or other members of the family or household. A person in a dating relationship can file on their own behalf. Any adult can apply on behalf of a child, and a prosecutor or the Department of Family and Protective Services can file on behalf of any victim.1State of Texas. Texas Family Code FC 82.002 – Who May File Application
Who counts as a household member is broader than it sounds. Former spouses, parents who share a child, current roommates, and people who used to live together all qualify. A dating relationship means a continuing romantic or intimate relationship, judged by how long it lasted, its nature, and how often the two of you interacted. Casual acquaintances and ordinary business or social contacts do not qualify.
Family violence itself is defined as an act by a family or household member intended to cause physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or sexual assault, or a threat that reasonably puts someone in fear of that kind of harm.2State of Texas. Texas Family Code FC 71.004 – Family Violence Self-defense is excluded, so defensive measures taken against you do not count as family violence against the respondent.
What Goes in the Application
The application is a sworn statement. Identify everyone involved by full name and address, state your relationship to the respondent, and describe each violent incident with specific facts. Dates, times, and locations matter, because the judge needs a concrete basis for believing violence happened and is likely to happen again.
Supporting evidence makes the application far stronger. Useful items include:
- Police report numbers from any incidents reported to law enforcement
- Medical records documenting injuries
- Photographs of injuries or property damage
- Copies of threatening texts, emails, voicemails, or social media messages
- Names and contact information for anyone who saw the violence or its aftermath
None of this is strictly required, but the more documentation you bring, the easier the judge’s findings become.
Where to File and What Happens Next
You file the completed application with the clerk of a county or district court. Filing fees are waived for victims seeking family violence protective orders, so cost should not keep the application off the docket.
Once the application is on file, the respondent has to be formally served with it and with notice of the hearing. If your sworn facts show a clear and present danger of family violence, the judge can sign a temporary ex parte protective order immediately, without the respondent being present or even notified yet. That emergency order lasts up to 20 days and can be extended in additional 20-day increments.3State of Texas. Texas Family Code FC 83.002 – Duration of Order; Extension The extension exists because service sometimes takes time, and the court will not leave you unprotected while the sheriff is still trying to locate the respondent.
Proving Your Case at the Hearing
At the final hearing you have to prove two things: that family violence occurred, and that it is likely to occur in the future.4State of Texas. Texas Family Code FC 85.001 – Required Findings and Orders You carry that burden through your own testimony, any witnesses, and the documents you gathered when preparing the application.
The respondent has the right to show up and present a defense. If they were properly served and simply fail to appear, the judge can issue a default protective order that binds them anyway.
What You Can Ask the Judge to Order
Protective orders in Texas go well beyond “stay away.” A judge can prohibit further violence, bar the respondent from going near your home or workplace, and keep them away from any school or daycare a protected child attends.5State of Texas. Texas Family Code FC 85.022 – Requirements of Order Applying to Person Who Committed Family Violence On a showing of good cause, the court can forbid all communication except through attorneys.
Other available relief includes giving you exclusive possession of a shared home even if the respondent’s name is on the lease or deed, setting temporary custody and supervised visitation, prohibiting firearm possession, protecting pets and assistance animals, and ordering the respondent into a battering intervention and prevention program or counseling. Ask for what you actually need at the hearing; the judge cannot grant relief you did not request.
How Long the Order Lasts
A final protective order lasts for the period the judge specifies, up to two years. If the order is silent on duration, it expires on the second anniversary of the date it was issued.6State of Texas. Texas Family Code FC 85.025 – Duration of Protective Order
A longer order is available when the respondent committed a felony-level act of family violence, caused serious bodily injury, or was already the subject of two or more previous protective orders involving the same victim.6State of Texas. Texas Family Code FC 85.025 – Duration of Protective Order If your situation involves repeated violence or escalating severity, raise this at the hearing rather than letting a two-year order expire and starting the process over.
What Happens If the Respondent Violates the Order
Violating a Texas protective order is a criminal offense, not just contempt of court. Knowingly committing further violence, contacting you in a threatening or harassing way, going to a place the order specifically prohibits, possessing a firearm, or harming a protected pet is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in county jail and a fine of up to $4,000.7State of Texas. Texas Penal Code PC 25.07 – Violation of Certain Court Orders or Conditions of Bond in a Family Violence, Child Abuse or Neglect, Sexual Assault or Abuse, Indecent Assault, Stalking, or Trafficking Case The charge escalates to a felony for repeat violations or when the underlying conduct is itself a more serious offense.
The statute reaches modern conduct too. Tracking your location through a phone app, planting a GPS device on your car, or tampering with a court-ordered monitoring system all count. Intent to harm is not required; knowingly going to a prohibited place is enough.
A qualifying protective order also triggers a federal ban on possessing firearms or ammunition under 18 U.S.C. ยง 922(g)(8), with penalties of up to ten years in federal prison on top of the state charge.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts And if you leave Texas, federal law requires every other state, tribal government, and U.S. territory to enforce the order as if it were their own, so keep a certified copy with you when you travel.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2265 – Full Faith and Credit Given to Protection Orders
Filing a Motion for Protective Order in a Civil Lawsuit
If you are in a civil case and need to limit a discovery request, the motion lives inside that pending case rather than being opened as a new matter. Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 192.6 lets any person targeted by discovery ask the court for protection from requests that are unduly burdensome, unnecessarily expensive, harassing, or invasive of personal or property rights.
This motion is not a substitute for objecting to a specific question. Use an objection when one request is improper; use a protective order when the discovery effort as a whole needs boundaries. If your issue is only the time or place of a deposition, the rule requires you to propose a reasonable alternative instead of asking the court to shut the deposition down.
Judges have wide latitude in what they order. Common relief includes blocking a category of discovery entirely, narrowing the subject matter or volume, moving a deposition to a different time or location, and sealing sensitive material such as trade secrets or financial data so it stays off the public record.
Specificity wins these motions. A judge will deny a request that boils down to “this discovery is annoying.” Explain the exact burden or harm, why the information sought is not reasonably calculated to lead to admissible evidence, or what privacy or proprietary interest is at stake, and back it up with facts. Vague complaints about cost without documentation rarely succeed.