To get a Mississippi domestic abuse protection order, you fill out the state’s Uniform Petition for Domestic Abuse Protection Order, file it with the right court for free, and go to a hearing the court schedules within 10 days. No filing fee, no service fee, no attorney required. If you’re in immediate danger, the same filing can get you an emergency order from a judge the same day.
Who Qualifies to File
Mississippi’s Protection from Domestic Abuse Act only covers abuse by someone in a specific relationship with you.1Justia. Mississippi Code 93-21-3 – Definitions You can file if the person is your current or former spouse, someone you live with or used to live with as a spouse, someone you share a child with, a blood relative or in-law who lives or lived in your household, or someone you have or had a dating relationship with. For dating relationships, the court weighs the length of the relationship, its nature, and how often you interacted.
The statute defines abuse as attempting or intentionally causing bodily injury (with or without a weapon), placing you in fear of serious bodily injury through physical threats, stalking or cyberstalking under Mississippi criminal law, or sexual assault or criminal sexual conduct, including offenses against a minor. Acts of self-defense are not abuse.
If the person who hurt you doesn’t fit one of those relationships — a stranger, a coworker you’ve never dated — this petition won’t apply, and you’d need to look at other options such as a criminal complaint.
Getting the Petition
The Uniform Petition for Domestic Abuse Protection Order is published as a downloadable PDF by the Mississippi Attorney General’s office. You can also pick up a blank copy at any municipal, justice, county, or chancery court clerk’s office. The form is standardized statewide, so the same document works in every court. Domestic violence shelters and advocates usually keep copies and can help you fill it out.
You pay nothing to file. Mississippi law bars charging the petitioner for filing fees, hearing costs, service of process on the respondent, or issuance of the order. If the court grants the order, it can order the respondent to pay all costs, including attorney’s fees if you hired one. The only situation where costs can fall on you is if the judge finds your allegations were completely without merit.
Filling Out the Petition
Gather your information before you start writing. Blank sections cause delays.2Justia. Mississippi Code 93-21-9 – Contents of Petition
Your Information and the Respondent’s
You’ll give your full name, address, and county, and the same for the respondent (the person you’re seeking protection from). If putting your address on the record would let the respondent find you, or would reveal a domestic violence shelter’s location, check the confidentiality box on the form. You then provide your address on a separate supplemental form that the court seals rather than filing publicly.
The Relationship
The form lists qualifying relationship types as checkboxes. Check every one that applies: current or former spouse, currently or formerly living as spouses, parent of a shared child, current or former dating partner, or blood/marital relative who lives or lived in your household. At least one box must be checked — without a qualifying relationship, the court can’t issue an order under this chapter.
Describing the Abuse
This is the most important part of the petition. Write a factual description with specific dates, locations, and what happened. “On March 15, 2026, at our apartment on Elm Street, the respondent grabbed me by the arm and slammed me against the wall” tells a judge far more than “the respondent has been physically abusive.” Name witnesses. Describe injuries. If you called the police, note the date and the department that responded.
If you need emergency relief — an order issued before the respondent is even notified — explain why you’re in immediate and present danger right now, not just that something happened months ago. That present danger is what the judge is looking for.
Documents You May Need to Attach
If the respondent is a former spouse, attach a copy of your divorce decree. If you can’t get the decree before filing, the petition lets you note that and promise to file it before the hearing. If any children in the petition are already under the jurisdiction of a youth, family, or chancery court, attach the existing custody or guardianship orders, or note that you’ll file them before the hearing.
What to Ask For
Check every box for relief that fits your situation. Mississippi courts can order:
- No contact in person, by phone, or electronically, and stay-away provisions covering your home, workplace, and school.
- Exclusive possession of a shared residence, even if the respondent owns or leases it, as long as the respondent has a legal duty to support you or your children.
- Temporary custody of minor children and set visitation terms for the respondent.
- Temporary support, if the respondent is legally obligated to support you or the children.
- Monetary compensation for medical bills, lost wages, moving costs, and similar expenses tied to the abuse.
- Prohibiting the respondent from selling, transferring, or destroying jointly owned property.
- Ordering the respondent into counseling or professional treatment.
Don’t skip boxes because you’re uncertain the court will grant everything. The judge sorts out what’s appropriate; your job is to say what you need.
Signing Under Oath
Every petition must be signed under oath, swearing the facts are true to the best of your knowledge and belief. The court clerk handles this when you file, at no cost.
Which Court to File In
Mississippi has three tiers of protection orders, and different courts handle them.3Justia. Mississippi Code 93-21-5 – Jurisdiction and Venue
- Emergency orders: municipal, justice, or county court. Issued the same day without notifying the respondent if the judge finds immediate danger.
- Temporary orders: municipal or justice court. The respondent is notified and a hearing is scheduled.
- Final orders: only chancery and county courts can issue these, and only after a full hearing.
Venue is proper in the county or municipality where the respondent lives or where the abuse occurred. If you need emergency protection, file in a municipal, justice, or county court. That court is required to handle your emergency request promptly and cannot send you elsewhere.
What Happens After You File
The Emergency Order
If you asked for emergency relief, a judge reviews your petition right away.4Justia. Mississippi Code 93-21-13 – Emergency Domestic Abuse Protection Orders The judge can issue an ex parte emergency order without the respondent being present or knowing about the case. You have to show immediate and present danger of abuse. The order takes effect immediately and lasts up to 10 days, or until the court holds a hearing, whichever comes first. If the hearing has to be postponed, the judge can extend the emergency order for up to 20 additional days.
Service on the Respondent
Once the court issues an emergency order or schedules a hearing, the clerk sends the paperwork to law enforcement or another process server for personal delivery to the respondent. The respondent must be personally served with the petition, any emergency order, and a summons stating the date, time, and place of the hearing. You don’t arrange or pay for service.
The Hearing
The court must hold a hearing within 10 days of your filing date.5Justia. Mississippi Code 93-21-11 – Notice and Hearing You must prove the abuse by a preponderance of the evidence — that it’s more likely than not the abuse occurred. Bring whatever you have: photographs of injuries, text messages, voicemails, police reports, medical records, witnesses willing to testify. The respondent has the right to attend and present their side.
You have to show up. If you don’t, the court will almost certainly dismiss the petition and dissolve any emergency order. If the judge confirms the respondent was properly notified, the hearing can go forward without them.
How Long the Order Lasts
Each tier has a different time limit. An emergency order lasts up to 10 days (plus a possible 20-day extension) to bridge the gap to the hearing. A temporary order from a municipal or justice court lasts up to 30 days if you and the respondent share minor children, or up to one year if you don’t.6Justia. Mississippi Code 93-21-15 – Temporary Domestic Abuse Protection Orders A final order from a chancery or county court lasts as long as the judge decides is necessary, with no statutory cap.
One deadline matters for parents: if a final protection order includes temporary custody, visitation, or support for minor children, those provisions automatically expire after 180 days. Before that date, you need to file a separate custody action in chancery court. If neither party files, custody reverts to whatever chancery court order was in place before the protection order was granted.
Enforcement, Violations, and Firearms
A knowing violation of a Mississippi protection order is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.7Justia. Mississippi Code 93-21-21 – Knowing Violation of Protection Order The court can instead hold the violator in contempt, which carries its own penalties. The law does not allow both a misdemeanor conviction and a contempt finding for the same violation. These penalties apply to violations of valid protection orders issued by courts in other states as well. If the respondent violates the order, call law enforcement immediately.
A final protection order can also trigger a federal firearm ban. Under federal law, it’s a felony for someone to possess a gun or ammunition while subject to a qualifying protection order.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts The order qualifies if it was issued after a hearing where the respondent had notice and a chance to participate, restrains the respondent from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or child, and either includes a finding that the respondent is a credible threat or expressly prohibits the use of physical force. An ex parte emergency order doesn’t trigger the ban because the respondent hasn’t had a hearing yet; a final order typically does.
Your Mississippi order is enforceable across state lines. Federal law requires every state, territory, and tribal jurisdiction to give full faith and credit to a valid out-of-state protection order, so long as the issuing court had jurisdiction and the respondent received notice and an opportunity to be heard.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2265 – Full Faith and Credit Given to Protection Orders