How to Get a Restraining Order in New Mexico: Filing and Hearing Steps

To get a restraining order in New Mexico, you file a Petition for Order of Protection at the district court in the county where you or the person you want restrained lives. There is no filing fee under the Family Violence Protection Act. A judge reviews your petition the same day at an ex parte hearing, and if there is probable cause to believe domestic abuse occurred, the court issues a Temporary Order of Protection immediately. A full hearing follows within ten days, and a final order can last anywhere from months to a longer period the judge sets.

Who Can File

New Mexico’s protection orders are governed by the Family Violence Protection Act, NMSA 1978, Sections 40-13-1 through 40-13-8. You qualify if you have experienced “domestic abuse” as the statute defines it.¹

Domestic abuse covers two situations. The first is conduct by a “household member,” which the statute defines broadly to include a spouse or former spouse, a parent, stepparent, or parent-in-law (current or former), a grandparent, a child, stepchild, or grandchild, a co-parent of your child, or someone you have had a continuing personal relationship with. You do not have to live together. The conduct that counts includes physical harm, bodily injury, threats causing fear of injury, severe emotional distress, criminal trespass, property damage, strangulation, suffocation, repeated drive-bys of your home or workplace, telephone harassment, and general harassment.²

The second situation is stalking or sexual assault, which counts as domestic abuse regardless of the relationship. That means you can petition against a stranger, neighbor, coworker, or acquaintance for stalking or sexual assault.²

If someone is harassing you but the conduct doesn’t fit domestic abuse, stalking, or sexual assault, you need a civil restraining order instead. That goes through a separate process with different forms and a $132 filing fee, though you can ask for a fee waiver.³

What to Gather Before You File

The petition is a sworn document. What you write in it is your evidence at the ex parte hearing, so specifics matter.

Bring your full name, address, and contact information. For the respondent, collect everything you can: full name, date of birth, home or work address, and a physical description. Law enforcement uses these details to serve the order, and vague information causes delays.

Write out your account of the abuse before you get to the courthouse. Include dates, times, and locations of each incident. Note exactly what was said or done. List anyone else who was present. Pull together any physical evidence you have: photos of injuries, threatening emails, screenshots of text messages, voicemails, or police reports. Concrete detail matters. “He threatened me several times” carries far less weight than “on March 12 at approximately 9 p.m., he sent this text message.”

Filing the Petition

The form is the Petition for Order of Protection from Domestic Abuse, Form 4-961. You can get it from the district court clerk’s office, from law enforcement, or from the New Mexico Courts website.¹⁴

File the completed petition with the district court clerk in the county where you or the respondent lives. There is no filing fee. The petition must be under oath or accompanied by a sworn affidavit setting out the specific facts of the abuse. If you have another case pending with the same person, such as a divorce or custody matter, note it on the petition. Your protection order case runs independently from those proceedings.¹

The Ex Parte Hearing and Temporary Order

After you file, the court brings you before a judge for an ex parte hearing. Only you attend. The respondent has not been notified, and that is intentional. The judge reviews your petition and hears brief testimony to decide whether there is probable cause to believe domestic abuse occurred.⁵

If the judge finds probable cause, the court issues a Temporary Order of Protection right away, with no bond required. The clerk gives you signed copies and notice of the full hearing date.

If the evidence isn’t enough for an immediate ex parte order, your petition is not dismissed. The court instead schedules a hearing within 72 hours with both parties notified. If notice can’t be served within that window, a temporary order is automatically extended for ten days to give time for service.⁵

Service and the Full Hearing

The temporary order and hearing notice must be delivered to the respondent personally. The county sheriff or another law enforcement agency handles service. Mailing does not count. The order takes effect the moment the judge issues it, not when the respondent receives it, so you are protected immediately.

The full hearing takes place within ten days after the temporary order is granted. Both you and the respondent can attend, testify, present evidence, and call witnesses. You will need to show that domestic abuse occurred. If the judge finds it did, the court enters a final order of protection.⁵⁶

What the Final Order Can Include

A final order of protection does more than tell the respondent to leave you alone. Every order must at least require the restrained party to stop the abusive conduct. Beyond that, the statute gives the court broad authority to add:⁶

A no-contact provision barring the respondent from initiating any contact with you.
Exclusive possession of your shared home, or an order requiring the respondent to provide you with temporary alternative housing.
Temporary custody of children, visitation terms, child support, or temporary spousal support, with your and the children’s safety as the primary consideration.
A bar on transferring, hiding, or disposing of your property or joint property, except for ordinary living expenses.
Reimbursement for costs tied to the abuse, including medical bills, counseling, temporary shelter, property repair, and lost wages.
An order that the respondent attend professional counseling at their own expense.

If you share a home or children with the respondent, one protection order proceeding can address those practical questions instead of forcing you into separate family court motions.

How Long the Order Lasts

Duration depends on the provision. Custody and support terms last up to six months, and you can move to extend them for another six months on a showing of good cause. The injunctive parts of the order, such as no-contact and stay-away provisions, last for whatever period the court sets and can also be extended for good cause after a motion and hearing.⁶

File any extension motion before the order expires. Once it lapses, the protections are gone and you would have to start a new petition.

Firearms Consequences

If the court determines at the full hearing that the respondent poses a credible threat to the physical safety of a household member, the order requires the respondent to turn over any firearms to law enforcement or a licensed firearms dealer and to refrain from buying or possessing firearms while the order is in effect.⁶

Federal law adds a separate prohibition. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8), it is a federal crime to possess a firearm or ammunition while subject to a qualifying protection order: one issued after a hearing with notice, restraining the person from threatening or harassing an intimate partner or child, and either containing a credible-threat finding or expressly prohibiting the use of force. The federal ban applies whether or not the state order mentions firearms.⁷

Enforcing the Order

Violating a protection order issued under the Family Violence Protection Act is a misdemeanor. A first conviction is sentenced under New Mexico’s general misdemeanor sentencing rules. A second or later conviction carries a mandatory minimum of 72 consecutive hours in jail, which the court cannot suspend or defer. The court will also order full restitution to you and require the convicted person to complete professional counseling at their own expense.⁸

If the respondent contacts you, comes to your home, or crosses any distance the order sets, call 911. Officers can arrest on the spot. Keep a certified copy of the order with you so responding officers can confirm the terms immediately. Document every violation as it happens: save voicemails, screenshot messages, keep emails, and note dates and times of any in-person contact. That record helps both a criminal case and any later motion to extend the order.

If You Travel or Move Out of State

Your New Mexico order stays enforceable elsewhere. Federal law requires every state, territory, and tribal jurisdiction to give full faith and credit to protection orders from other jurisdictions and to enforce them as if they were local.⁹

You do not need to register the order in the new state for it to be valid. Failure to register does not affect enforceability. Even so, giving a copy to local law enforcement in your new area can speed up their response if you have to call for help.⁹

Address Confidentiality and Safety Planning

New Mexico runs a statewide Address Confidentiality Program, Safe at Home, through the Secretary of State’s office. If you are a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking and have relocated to a location unknown to your abuser, the program gives you a substitute mailing address to use with state and local government agencies. The Secretary of State’s office collects your mail from an undisclosed P.O. box and forwards it to your real address, keeping your location out of public records.¹⁰

Safe at Home does not remove information already in public records, and private companies aren’t required to accept the substitute address. Enrolling before your new address enters any system gives the program the best chance to work. To check eligibility, contact the Secretary of State’s office at 1-800-477-3632.

Practical safety steps go alongside the order: keep identification, financial records, and medications in a bag you can grab quickly; share your plan with a trusted friend or family member; and save the National Domestic Violence Hotline number, 1-800-799-7233, in your phone.

1
Justia Law. New Mexico Statutes Section 40-13-3 – Petition for Order of Protection; Contents; Standard Forms
2
Justia Law. New Mexico Statutes Section 40-13-2 – Definitions
3
First Judicial District Court. Fees, Costs and Filing
4
New Mexico Courts. 4-961 Petition for Order of Protection From Domestic Abuse
5
Justia Law. New Mexico Statutes Section 40-13-4 – Temporary Order of Protection; Hearing
6
Justia Law. New Mexico Statutes Section 40-13-5 – Order of Protection
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
8
Justia Law. New Mexico Statutes Section 40-13-6 – Service of Order; Violation; Penalty
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 2265 – Full Faith and Credit Given to Protection Orders
10
New Mexico Secretary of State. Safe at Home