To get a restraining order in Maryland, file a petition at a District Court clerk’s office (or Circuit Court, for a Protective Order) during business hours, or go to a District Court Commissioner any hour of the day or night. Filing is free. If a judge or commissioner finds reasonable grounds to believe you were abused or harassed, you can walk out the same day with a temporary order that takes effect the moment law enforcement serves it on the other person. A final hearing follows within about a week.
Maryland does not use the phrase “restraining order” in its statutes. It uses two names, and the one you file for depends on your relationship to the person you need protection from.
Protective Order or Peace Order
A Protective Order is for domestic and intimate situations. You qualify if you and the respondent are or were married, are related by blood, marriage, or adoption, share a child, lived together in a sexual relationship for at least 90 days in the past year, or had any sexual relationship in the past year. Vulnerable adults qualify, and so does anyone alleging the respondent committed rape, a sexual offense, or an attempt at either within the last six months.1Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Family Law 4-5012Maryland Courts. Domestic Violence – Protective Orders
For a Protective Order, you must show the respondent committed at least one qualifying act: assault, an act causing serious bodily harm, an act placing you in fear of imminent serious bodily harm, stalking, false imprisonment, a sexual offense, or sharing intimate images without consent.1Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Family Law 4-501
A Peace Order covers everyone else: neighbors, coworkers, acquaintances, strangers, dating partners who don’t meet the Protective Order criteria. The qualifying conduct list is broader and includes harassment, stalking, trespass, malicious destruction of property, misuse of phone or electronic communications, sharing intimate images without consent, visual surveillance, and abuse.3Maryland Courts. Domestic Violence – Peace Orders
One deadline matters here. A Peace Order petition has to be filed within 30 days of the incident.4Maryland Courts. Family Fact Sheet – Peace Orders Protective Orders have no such window.
What Goes in the Petition
Use the Petition for Protection from Domestic Violence (Form CC-DC-DV-001) for a Protective Order5Maryland Courts. CC-DC-DV-001 – Petition for Protection from Domestic Violence or the Petition for Peace Order (Form DC-PO-001) for a Peace Order.3Maryland Courts. Domestic Violence – Peace Orders Both are on the Maryland Courts website or at any clerk’s office.
The form asks for the respondent’s full name, physical description, and last known address. Law enforcement uses this to serve the order, and the order cannot take effect until service happens. If you don’t have an exact address, give whatever identifying details you can and tell the court.
The written narrative is the part the judge actually decides on. For each incident, put the date, time, location, and precisely what the person did. Specific beats general every time. “He threatened me” carries less weight than “On March 12, he stood at my front door and said he would hurt me if I didn’t let him in.” List multiple incidents in order.
The petition includes a checkbox to withhold your address if disclosing it would put you at risk. Check it if that applies.
Where to File
Peace Orders are filed in District Court. Protective Orders can be filed in either District Court or Circuit Court. Bring your completed petition to the clerk’s office between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.3Maryland Courts. Domestic Violence – Peace Orders
Outside those hours, go to a District Court Commissioner’s office. Commissioners are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and can issue an interim order on the spot. An interim order lasts roughly two days, long enough to get you to a temporary hearing before a judge at the next court session.3Maryland Courts. Domestic Violence – Peace Orders
What It Costs
Nothing. Federal law requires states to waive all filing and service fees for petitioners seeking protection in cases involving domestic violence, stalking, or sexual assault, and Maryland complies. If the court grants a final order, the judge may assess a $165 fee against the respondent. It does not come out of your pocket.
The Temporary Hearing
File during court hours and you’ll see a judge the same day. This is called an ex parte hearing because the respondent isn’t there. The judge reads your petition, listens to you, and decides whether there are reasonable grounds to believe abuse or harassment occurred.
If the judge agrees, a temporary order issues immediately. A law enforcement officer serves it on the respondent, and it takes effect at the moment of service. The temporary order sets the date for the final hearing. For Protective Orders, that final hearing must happen no later than seven days after the respondent is served, unless the court extends the timeline for good cause.6Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Family Law 4-506 – Protective Orders For Peace Orders, the temporary order lasts seven days unless extended.3Maryland Courts. Domestic Violence – Peace Orders
The Final Hearing
Both sides show up. Both can present evidence and testimony. Bring everything you have: photos of injuries or property damage, screenshots of threatening messages, medical records, police reports, and any witnesses. Documentation matters.
The respondent will tell their side and may bring a lawyer. You may bring one too. Neither of you is required to. After hearing both sides, the judge either grants a final order or denies the petition. If the respondent doesn’t appear, the judge can issue the order anyway and notify them by first-class mail.
What a Final Order Can Do
Maryland judges have broad authority to shape the order around your situation. Standard provisions order the respondent to stay away from your home, workplace, and school, and prohibit any contact. In a Protective Order involving a shared household, the judge can grant you temporary use of the home and emergency custody of children.
A Protective Order can also require the respondent to turn over all firearms to law enforcement for the duration of the order.7Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Family Law 4-506 Federal law adds a separate criminal ban on possessing a firearm or ammunition for anyone subject to a qualifying protection order, meaning one issued after a hearing where the respondent had notice and a chance to participate, and containing either a finding of credible threat or an explicit prohibition on the use of physical force.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 922 – Unlawful Acts A temporary ex parte order usually doesn’t trigger the federal ban, since the respondent hasn’t had a hearing yet. A final Protective Order almost always does.
How Long It Lasts
- A final Protective Order lasts up to one year. It can run up to two years if the respondent had a prior Protective Order for the same petitioner and committed another act of abuse within a year after that order expired, or if the respondent consents.6Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Family Law 4-506 – Protective Orders
- A final Peace Order lasts up to six months. Maryland law provides no comparable extension mechanism.
Before a Protective Order expires, you can file a motion to extend it. A judge may grant a six-month extension for good cause, or up to two years from the date of the extension if the respondent committed additional abuse during the order’s term. File before the order expires. The court must hold a hearing within 30 days of the motion, and if that hearing hasn’t happened by the original expiration date, the order stays in effect automatically until the court rules.9Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Family Law 4-507
If the Respondent Violates the Order
Call 911. Do not try to enforce it yourself. Keep a copy of the order with you so responding officers can verify it on the spot.
A respondent who violates any provision of a Protective Order faces criminal prosecution, jail time, and fines, and the order itself warns of these consequences and the possibility of a contempt finding.7Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Family Law 4-506 Peace Order violations carry set statutory penalties: a first offense is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both, and a second or subsequent violation raises the maximum to one year in jail and a $2,500 fine.10Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Courts and Judicial Proceedings 3-1508
Hiding Your Address
If you’re leaving a dangerous situation, Maryland’s Address Confidentiality Program, run by the Secretary of State’s office, assigns you a substitute address that state and local agencies, private companies, and individuals are required by law to accept in place of your real home, work, or school address.11Maryland Secretary of State. Division of Safety and Support Services The program is available to people fleeing domestic violence, stalking, sexual assault, or harassment. Once enrolled, the Secretary of State receives your first-class, certified, and registered mail and forwards it to you free of charge. Subpoenas, custody orders, and other legal documents still reach you through the forwarding service, so the program doesn’t shield you from the legal system. It does keep the respondent from finding your new location through public records.