Pennsylvania Restraining Order: Filing a PFA, Hearing, and Enforcement

To get a Pennsylvania restraining order, you file a Protection From Abuse (PFA) petition at the prothonotary’s office in the county courthouse where the abuse occurred or where the person who harmed you lives. Filing costs you nothing. If the judge finds immediate danger, you can walk out with a temporary order the same day, and a full hearing is scheduled within ten business days. A final PFA can last up to three years.

Can You Get a PFA

Pennsylvania limits PFA orders to people who have a specific relationship with the person who harmed them. You qualify if that person is or was your spouse, your sexual or intimate partner (including a dating partner), the other parent of your child, a family member related by blood or marriage, or someone you lived with as a spouse.¹

You also need to show abuse as the statute defines it: bodily injury or an attempt to cause it, a sexual offense, being placed in reasonable fear of imminent serious bodily injury, false imprisonment, physical or sexual abuse of a minor child, or a pattern of stalking or harassment that put you in reasonable fear of bodily injury.²

If the person who harmed you is outside those relationship categories (an acquaintance, a stranger, a coworker), a PFA is not available to you. Pennsylvania has a separate Sexual Violence Protection Order under Title 42, Chapter 62A for victims of sexual offenses or stalking by someone who is not a family member, household member, or intimate partner.³ The filing process is similar; a county victim services office or domestic violence agency can confirm which order applies.

What to Gather Before You Go

You can file without any documents at all. But the stronger your paperwork, the stronger your case at the hearing. Pull together:

The full name and address of the person you want protection from.
Your own contact information, and a safe address if you need one kept confidential.
A written timeline of specific incidents: date, location, and what happened each time.
Names and dates of birth for any children who should be covered.
Police reports, medical records, photos of injuries, screenshots of threatening messages, and names of witnesses.

Vague allegations are not enough. The petition has to describe specific incidents in enough detail that a judge can understand what happened.

Blank petition forms are available at the prothonotary’s office and online through the Pennsylvania Protection From Abuse Database.⁴ Your county’s domestic violence organization can help you complete them.

Where and How to File

Take your completed petition to the prothonotary’s office in the Court of Common Pleas for the county where the abuse happened or where the defendant lives. There is no filing fee. Pennsylvania law prohibits charging you anything to file, serve, copy, modify, or appeal a PFA petition; if the court grants the order, those costs are assessed against the defendant.¹

If the Courthouse Is Closed

When you need protection outside normal court hours, go to a Magisterial District Judge for an Emergency PFA. An emergency order is in effect only until the next business day, when the Court of Common Pleas reopens and you file your regular petition.⁵ A local domestic violence agency can walk you through finding the on-call magistrate.

The Same-Day Temporary Order

After you file, the judge holds an ex parte hearing. That means only you appear; the defendant is not there and has not yet been notified. If you show immediate and present danger of abuse, the judge can sign a Temporary PFA Order on the spot.⁶

A temporary order can bar contact, give you exclusive possession of a shared home, and in some cases require the defendant to surrender firearms. In weighing firearm surrender at this early stage, the judge considers whether a weapon was involved in the abuse, whether there have been prior PFA violations, whether the abuse caused injury, and whether the defendant has threatened violence or suicide.⁶

Law enforcement then serves the temporary order on the defendant along with notice of your hearing date.

The Full Hearing

A full hearing is held within ten business days of filing. Both sides can testify, call witnesses, and introduce evidence. You carry the burden of proof, and the standard is preponderance of the evidence: more likely than not that the abuse occurred. That is lower than the criminal “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard, but you still need to come in with concrete testimony and documents.⁶

You can bring a lawyer, a domestic violence advocate, or both. Free representation may be available through county legal aid or your local domestic violence agency. You are not required to have an attorney, but representation helps, particularly if the defendant has hired one.⁷

At the end of the hearing, the judge either dismisses the petition or issues a Final PFA Order for a fixed period of up to three years.⁸

What the Final Order Can Do

A final PFA can be tailored to your situation. The court has broad authority and can combine any of the following:

Prohibit the defendant from contacting you or coming near your home, workplace, or school, and from harassing your relatives.
Grant you exclusive possession of a shared residence, even if the defendant co-owns or co-leases it.
Set temporary custody and visitation, factoring in any risk the defendant poses to the children.
Order temporary spousal or child support, require the defendant to maintain health insurance, cover unreimbursed medical bills, and keep paying rent or mortgage.
Prohibit the defendant from possessing firearms, other weapons, or ammunition for the duration of the order, and require surrender to the county sheriff, a licensed dealer, or an approved third party.⁸

One deadline inside the order trips people up. Any financial support ordered through the PFA is temporary. If you want support to continue, you must file a separate complaint for support within two weeks of the PFA being issued. Miss that two-week window and the support piece disappears.⁸

A final order also typically triggers a federal firearm prohibition under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8), separate from any state surrender requirement. A state judge cannot waive the federal ban.⁹

If the Defendant Violates the Order

Call the police. Officers can arrest the defendant for any violation of the order’s terms. A violation is prosecuted as indirect criminal contempt; the defendant has a right to an attorney but no jury trial.¹⁰

Penalties run from $300 to $1,000 in fines plus up to six months in jail, or the same fine plus supervised probation of up to six months. If the defendant is convicted of contempt, you can ask the court to extend your PFA for an additional term.¹⁰

Extending the Order Before It Expires

PFA orders end on a fixed date, but either party can petition to amend the order at any time while it is in effect.⁸ To extend yours beyond its original term, you generally have to show that the defendant committed further abuse after the order was entered or engaged in a pattern of conduct indicating continued risk.

There is one exception worth knowing: if the defendant is being released from incarceration within the next 90 days, or was released within the past 90 days, you can seek an extension without showing new abuse. File the extension petition while the current order is still in effect. Pennsylvania places no cap on the number of extensions a court can grant.⁸

1
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 23 – Section 6106 Commencement of Proceedings
2
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 23 – Section 6102 Definitions
3
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 42 – Section 62A03 Definitions
4
Protection From Abuse System. Forms – Protection From Abuse System
5
Pennsylvania. Request a Protection Order for Crime Victims
6
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 23 – Section 6107 Hearings
7
Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. Protection Orders
8
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 23 – Section 6108 Relief
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
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Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 23 – Chapter 61 Protection From Abuse