How to Fill Out and File Louisiana Protective Order Forms (LPOR)

To fill out and file Louisiana protective order forms, pick the Louisiana Uniform Abuse Prevention Order (LUAPO) petition that matches your relationship to the person and what they did, write a dated, specific account of the abuse, and take the completed petition to the Clerk of Court in the parish where you live or where the abuse happened. The clerk cannot charge you anything to file, a judge usually reviews the petition the same day, and if your facts show immediate danger the court can issue a temporary restraining order before the other person is notified.

Pick the Right Petition

Louisiana has four protective order categories, and the one you choose determines which statute the court acts under. Start with two questions: who is this person to you, and what did they do?

Domestic abuse under La. R.S. 46:2131 et seq. covers family and household members — spouses and former spouses, parents, children, stepparents, stepchildren, foster parents, foster children, and grandparents or grandchildren. It also covers someone you live with or have lived with in a romantic relationship.¹
Dating violence under La. R.S. 46:2151 covers anyone in a sexual or intimate relationship with the offender, whether or not you ever lived together. Casual acquaintances and ordinary business contacts do not qualify.²
Stalking under La. R.S. 46:2171 is for victims of stalking by someone with no required domestic or dating connection, such as a stranger, coworker, or former friend.
Sexual assault under La. R.S. 46:2181 is available to any victim of sexual assault, with no required relationship to the offender.

A former spouse who hit you is domestic abuse. Someone you dated but never lived with who is now threatening you is dating violence. Someone following you with no romantic connection is stalking. If you are not sure, the Clerk of Court’s office can point you to the correct packet, but staff cannot give legal advice about your situation.

Get the Official LUAPO Forms

Every Louisiana petition and order must be on a Louisiana Uniform Abuse Prevention Order form.³ Pick up blank copies at any parish Clerk of Court’s office, or download the full set from the Louisiana Protective Order Registry website. A non-standard form will slow your case, because the courts cannot enter non-LUAPO documents into the statewide registry.

Gather Your Information First

The petition goes faster when you have the details in front of you. The form asks for what the sheriff needs to serve the other person and what the judge needs to decide whether to grant immediate protection.

The defendant’s full legal name, current home address, parish, date of birth, and physical description (height, weight, hair color, distinguishing marks).
Your relationship to the defendant: spouse, former spouse, parent of your child, dating partner, household member, or no relationship (for stalking and sexual assault petitions).
A factual account of the abuse with dates, locations, and what happened. “He hit me in the face with a closed fist on March 12 at our home” is far more useful than “He has been violent.” Include the most recent incident and any pattern of prior conduct.
Supporting records if you have them: police reports, medical records, photos of injuries, threatening text messages or voicemails, and screenshots of harassing social media posts. These are not required to file, but they help at the hearing.
Each child’s full name, date of birth, and school or daycare name and address, if you share minor children with the defendant and want temporary custody.
Whether the defendant owns or has access to firearms. The form has a section for this, and it matters under both state and federal law.

Fill Out the Petition

The petition is the core document. Louisiana law requires it to include your name and the name of anyone you are filing on behalf of, the defendant’s name, address, and parish if known, the facts of the abuse, your relationship to the defendant, and a request for specific protective orders.⁴ Your own address can be kept confidential with the court if you do not want the defendant to learn where you live.

If you are asking for an emergency temporary restraining order (most petitioners do), the petition must include a signed, dated affirmation that everything in it is true to the best of your knowledge, under penalty of perjury. A witness must also sign and print their name on that affirmation.⁴ If you arrive at the clerk’s office alone, staff can usually witness the affirmation.

One procedural note on venue. If a divorce case is already pending between you and the defendant, the protective order petition must be filed in that existing case, not as a new matter.⁴

Write the Narrative

The narrative section is where most petitions succeed or fail. Judges read a lot of these, and vague language gives them nothing to act on. Write in chronological order if there have been multiple incidents. For each event, state the date, what the defendant did, and how it affected you. If the defendant made specific threats, quote the exact words. If you called the police or went to a hospital, say so, because that tells the judge that outside parties documented the event.

The court looks at your entire history with the defendant, not only the most recent event. Louisiana law does not require the abuse to be recent for you to show immediate danger.⁵ A pattern of escalation from verbal threats to physical violence six months ago can still support a TRO today.

Check the Right Relief Boxes

The form uses checkboxes and blanks for the protections you want. Under a TRO, the court can order:

Stay-away provisions directing the defendant to keep away from your home, workplace, school, or any other location you list. The form uses a distance of 100 yards from the protected location.
Exclusive possession of a shared residence. The court can remove the defendant from a home you own jointly, a home you own alone, or a home the defendant leases if the defendant has a duty to support you.⁵
Temporary custody of minor children you share with the defendant.
Return of your personal property — phones, medications, IDs, car keys, clothing, financial documents — and an order preventing the defendant from hiding or disposing of it.⁵
Exclusive care, possession, and control of pets belonging to you, your children, or the household.
A property freeze preventing either party from selling, encumbering, or disposing of jointly owned property outside the ordinary course of business.

Check every box that fits. An order that only says “stay away from my home” does nothing to protect you at work or your children at school. Walk through every place you could reasonably encounter the defendant and list each one.

File with the Clerk of Court

Take the completed petition to the Clerk of Court in the parish where the abuse happened or where the defendant lives. The clerk cannot require you to prepay court costs, service fees, or subpoena costs.⁴ The clerk must file and process your petition regardless of ability to pay. If the court ultimately issues a protective order, the defendant can be ordered to pay all costs.

After the clerk accepts the filing, a judge reviews the petition, often the same day. The judge reads your narrative and decides whether you have shown “good cause,” which Louisiana law defines as immediate and present danger of abuse.⁵ If the judge finds good cause, the court issues a temporary restraining order without the defendant present. No bond is required.

What Happens After You File

Once the judge signs the TRO, the clerk sends the documents to the sheriff for service on the defendant. The defendant must be personally served with both the petition and the temporary order before the restrictions take effect.⁶ The clerk also transmits the order to the Louisiana Protective Order Registry no later than the end of the next calendar day, which makes it visible to law enforcement statewide.⁷

The court sets a full hearing within 21 days of issuing the TRO.⁵ If the judge does not issue a TRO because the written petition alone did not show immediate danger, the court still schedules a hearing, and does so on a faster track: within 10 days of the defendant being served. If a hearing is continued, the court can extend the TRO, and no single continuance can exceed 15 days without good cause.

Keep a certified copy of the signed TRO with you at all times. If the defendant approaches you, show the order to responding officers. The order is in the statewide registry, but carrying the physical document avoids any delay in verification.

Flag Firearms at the Hearing

Whether firearms restrictions attach to a final order depends on findings the court makes, so it matters that you raise the issue when you file and again at the hearing. Under state law, the defendant is barred from possessing a firearm or carrying a concealed weapon for the duration of a protective order only if the order includes a finding that the defendant represents a credible threat to the physical safety of a family member, household member, or dating partner, and the order informs the defendant that possession is prohibited.⁸

Federal law under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8) adds a separate prohibition. The order qualifies if it was issued after a hearing where the defendant received actual notice and an opportunity to participate, it restrains the defendant from threatening or harassing an intimate partner or child, and it either includes a credible-threat finding or explicitly prohibits the use of physical force.⁹ An ex parte TRO generally does not trigger the federal prohibition because the defendant has not yet had a chance to participate, but a final order issued after the full hearing usually does. If the defendant owns guns, note that on the petition and ask the court to make a credible-threat finding on the record at the hearing.

1
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 46:2121.1 – Definitions
2
Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes 46:2151 – Dating Violence
3
Louisiana Supreme Court. LPOR Forms
4
Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes 46:2134 – Petition
5
Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes 46:2135 – Temporary Restraining Order
6
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Childrens Code Art 1569 – Temporary Restraining Order
7
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 46:2136.2
8
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 46:2136.3
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts