Pennsylvania doesn’t actually use the term “restraining order.” What people mean when they search for restraining orders in PA are the state’s three civil protection orders: the Protection From Abuse (PFA) order, the Sexual Violence Protection Order (SVPO), and the Protection From Intimidation (PFI) order. All three are free to file, a judge can put temporary protections in place the same day you file, and final orders can last up to three years.1Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 23 Chapter 61 – Protection From Abuse
Which Order Fits Your Situation
The right order depends on your relationship to the person you’re afraid of.
A PFA covers abuse by someone you have a domestic or intimate connection to: a current or former spouse, someone you live with or lived with as a spouse, a co-parent, a blood relative, or a current or former sexual or intimate partner.2Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 23 6102 – Definitions This is the order most people are looking for.
An SVPO protects victims of sexual violence when there’s no domestic or family relationship with the perpetrator. No prior connection is required, and the order can last up to 36 months.3Casemine. Pennsylvania Code 42 62A07 – Relief
A PFI protects a minor from an adult who is stalking or harassing them. The perpetrator must be 18 or older, the victim under 18, and the two cannot be family or household members. Those situations fall under the PFA instead.4Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 42 62A03 – Definitions
What Counts as Abuse for a PFA
You don’t need a police report or a criminal charge, but you do need to describe specific acts rather than a general sense of being unsafe. The statute recognizes five categories:
- Causing or attempting to cause bodily injury, or committing rape, sexual assault, or incest.
- Putting you in reasonable fear of imminent serious bodily injury through physical or verbal threats.
- Holding you somewhere against your will by force or threat of force (false imprisonment).
- Physical or sexual abuse of a minor child in the household.
- Repeatedly following or threatening you in a way that puts you in reasonable fear of bodily injury (stalking).
Each category stands on its own. A single episode of physical violence qualifies, and so does a pattern of stalking even if no individual incident caused injury.2Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 23 6102 – Definitions
How to File
Filing costs you nothing. The statute explicitly bars any fee for filing, serving, modifying, withdrawing, or certifying copies of documents in a PFA case, including court surcharges.1Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 23 Chapter 61 – Protection From Abuse
You can file in the county where you live, where you work, where the abuse happened, or any county where the defendant can be served.5PA Safe Law. Protection Orders Forms are available in multiple languages from the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania, or at the Prothonotary’s office in your county courthouse.6Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. Protection Orders
Any adult or emancipated minor can file on their own behalf. A parent, adult household member, or guardian ad litem can file for a minor child, and a legal guardian can file for an adult who has been declared incompetent.1Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 23 Chapter 61 – Protection From Abuse
When you fill out the petition, describe the most recent incidents in detail: dates, what happened, injuries. The more specific you are, the stronger your petition looks to the judge reviewing it. Bring whatever evidence you have, such as photos of injuries, screenshots of threats, or medical records. If you know the defendant’s address, workplace, vehicle, or Social Security number, include that too, because courts and law enforcement need it to locate and serve them.
One warning: knowingly filing a false PFA is prosecutable as a false report to law enforcement. The system is accessible and free, but fabricated claims carry real consequences.
Emergency Protection at Night or on Weekends
If you need protection when the courthouse is closed, you can request an Emergency PFA from an on-call Magisterial District Judge. Your local police department can tell you which judge is on call. An emergency order lasts until the close of the next business day, at which point you need to go to the courthouse and file a regular petition to continue the process.7Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Request a Protection Order for Crime Victims
From Filing to Final Hearing
When you file during regular hours, a judge reviews your petition that same day without the defendant present. If the judge finds an immediate risk of harm, a temporary order takes effect right away, and the sheriff’s office serves the defendant with the order and notice of the hearing.
The final hearing must happen within 10 business days. You carry the burden of proving abuse by a preponderance of the evidence, meaning the judge must find it more likely than not that the abuse occurred. Both sides can testify, call witnesses, and present evidence. The defendant is notified of the right to an attorney and to compel witnesses to appear.1Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 23 Chapter 61 – Protection From Abuse
If the defendant was properly served and doesn’t appear, the judge can enter a default final order for up to three years. If both parties appear and agree, the judge can enter a consent order for the same duration. If the case is contested, the judge hears both sides and decides.8Fifth Judicial District of Pennsylvania. Protection From Abuse – General Information
Here is what catches people off guard: if you don’t appear at the final hearing, your petition and any temporary order are dismissed. Even if the defendant hasn’t been served yet, show up and ask the judge for more time or alternative service.
What a Final Order Can Do
Under 23 Pa. C.S. § 6108, a final PFA order can combine any of the following protections for up to three years:
- No contact with you, your children, your home, your workplace, or your school, direct or indirect.
- Exclusive possession of the shared residence, even if the defendant also lives there.
- Temporary custody of minor children.
- Temporary financial support for you or the children.
- Surrender of all firearms, ammunition, and any firearm license to the sheriff or appropriate law enforcement agency within 24 hours.
The firearm provision is not optional. The statute says any final order must include the relinquishment requirement, and it triggers both state and federal firearms disabilities. The defendant can face separate federal charges under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8) for possessing a firearm while subject to the order.9Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 23 6108 – Relief
SVPO and PFI orders carry similar no-contact protections and can also run up to 36 months, but they do not include the custody and support provisions unique to PFA cases.3Casemine. Pennsylvania Code 42 62A07 – Relief
If the Other Person Violates the Order
A PFA violation is charged as indirect criminal contempt. The penalties: a fine of $300 to $1,000 plus up to six months in jail, or the same fine with up to six months of supervised probation.10Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 23 6114 – Contempt for Violation of Order or Agreement
Because contempt is treated as a criminal proceeding, the burden at the contempt hearing is beyond a reasonable doubt, which is a higher standard than the one that applied at your original PFA hearing. If the District Attorney declines to prosecute, you can still pursue the case through a private attorney or on your own.11Fifth Judicial District of Pennsylvania. PFA Violations – Indirect Criminal Contempt Hearings The court can also extend or modify the protection order as part of the contempt proceeding.
Extending or Changing an Order
A final PFA can be extended before it expires. A judge may grant an extension if the defendant abused you after the final order was entered, continues behavior that could harm you or your children, or if a contempt petition has been filed. Each extension can add up to three more years, and there is no cap on how many extensions you can request.12Philadelphia Courts. Petition to Extend Protection From Abuse Order Instruction Sheet
The deadline that matters: you must file for the extension while the current order is still in effect. Once it expires, you have to start over with a new petition. Extensions are free, like the original filing.
Either party can also ask the court to modify an existing order at any time. The process varies by county. Some will give you a hearing the same day you file the motion; others schedule it for a later date.9Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 23 6108 – Relief
Keeping Your Address Off the Record
Pennsylvania court rules prohibit putting an abuse victim’s address, contact information, or employer in any publicly filed document. That information goes on a separate Confidential Information Form or Abuse Victim Addendum that only the parties, their attorneys, the court, and the custodian of records can see.13Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. Confidential Information Form Social Security and account numbers appear in other filings as coded placeholders like “SSN 1.”
If you need a stronger layer, Pennsylvania’s Address Confidentiality Program (ACP) gives you a substitute mailing address to use on court filings, your driver’s license, voter registration, school records, and other official documents. Victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking, or child abduction are eligible. You enroll through a local victim service agency or directly with the Office of Victim Advocate. Enrollment lasts three years and can be renewed.14Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Address Confidentiality Program
Getting Legal Help
PFA cases are civil, so defendants do not get a court-appointed attorney the way they would in a criminal case. Petitioners, though, often have access to free legal representation through legal aid organizations, and some programs serve PFA petitioners regardless of income. Many counties run domestic violence legal clinics or partner with organizations that provide attorneys at no cost for PFA hearings.
You do not need a lawyer to file. The forms are designed to be completed without one, and court staff can direct you to the right paperwork, though they cannot give legal advice. If you want representation, start with your county’s legal aid office or a statewide legal services hotline.