Tennessee Order of Protection Statute: Filing, Hearing, and Penalties

A Tennessee Order of Protection is a civil court order that restricts an abuser, stalker, or sexual assault offender from contacting or coming near the person they harmed. You can file one at no cost in General Sessions, Circuit, or Chancery Court, and a judge can put temporary protection in place the same day if you face immediate danger. A full hearing follows within 15 days, and if the judge grants the order, it typically lasts up to one year with the possibility of extension.

Who Can File

Three groups can petition: victims of domestic abuse, stalking, and sexual assault.¹ Each category has different eligibility rules.

Domestic abuse petitioners must have a qualifying relationship with the respondent. That includes a current or former spouse, someone you live with or used to live with, a current or former dating or sexual partner, a blood relative, or a relative by marriage.¹ Domestic abuse under the statute means physical harm, attempted physical harm, or being placed in fear of imminent physical harm. Threats can qualify if they create a reasonable fear of bodily injury. Purely emotional mistreatment without that fear component does not meet the definition.

Stalking and sexual assault victims do not need any prior relationship with the respondent.¹ Stalking is defined as a pattern of repeated, unwanted contact that would cause a reasonable person to feel frightened or suffer substantial emotional distress.² Sexual assault victims can seek an order whether or not they reported the crime and whether or not criminal charges exist. Victims of sexual exploitation of a minor also qualify.³

A minor can receive an order, but a parent or legal guardian has to file for them.¹ Because this is a civil proceeding rather than a criminal case, non-citizens are eligible to petition.

How to File the Petition

File at the General Sessions, Circuit, or Chancery Court in either the county where you live or the county where the respondent lives.⁴ There is no filing fee.⁵ Standardized forms are available through the Tennessee Courts Self-Help Center. Clerks can point you to the correct paperwork but cannot give legal advice.

Your petition needs specific facts: what happened, when, where, and what makes you fear for your safety. Vague or thin petitions get dismissed. Bring copies of anything that supports the account — police reports, medical records, threatening messages, screenshots, photos of injuries. Concrete detail is what gives a judge grounds to act quickly.

Same-Day Temporary Protection

After you file, a judge reviews the petition and decides whether you face an immediate risk of harm. If so, the judge can issue a Temporary Ex Parte Order of Protection right then, without notifying the respondent or holding a hearing.³ Ex parte means only your side has been heard at this stage.

Law enforcement then serves the respondent with the temporary order and a notice of the hearing date. That hearing must happen within 15 days of service.³ If the judge declines to issue temporary protection, your case is not over. You still get a full hearing where both sides can present evidence.

Sometimes service stalls because officers cannot locate the respondent. When that happens, the temporary order stays in place and the hearing is delayed until service is completed.

The Full Hearing

At the hearing, both sides can introduce evidence, call witnesses, and cross-examine the other party. The burden of proof is a preponderance of the evidence: you have to show it is more likely than not that the abuse, stalking, or sexual assault occurred. Judges weigh sworn statements, witness testimony, medical records, police reports, text messages, and other documentation. Prior incidents count even if they never led to criminal charges.

If the judge finds sufficient grounds, a full Order of Protection is issued. If not, any temporary order in place is dissolved. When both parties accuse each other, Tennessee courts evaluate each claim independently rather than issuing mutual orders automatically. A judge should only grant an order to a party who independently meets the legal standard.

You can represent yourself, and many petitioners do. But if the respondent has a lawyer and you don’t, cross-examination becomes a real disadvantage. Legal aid organizations across Tennessee provide free representation to qualifying survivors, and getting that help lined up before the hearing tends to matter more than after.

What the Order Can Include

Tennessee judges have wide flexibility to tailor an order to the situation.⁶ Common provisions include:

No contact by any means, including phone, text, email, social media, or messages passed through a third party.
A stay-away distance from the petitioner’s home, workplace, school, or other regular locations.
An order requiring the respondent to immediately leave a shared residence, regardless of who owns or leases it.⁶
Payment of any costs the petitioner incurs from breaking a rental lease when safety requires moving.⁶
Placement of household pets or animals in the petitioner’s care or with a foster arrangement. The statute prohibits placing the animal with the respondent.⁶
Temporary spousal or child support.

Any provision the order contains has to be followed exactly. A single text message, a social media message request, or a message relayed through a mutual friend all violate a no-contact order.

Firearms

Tennessee courts can order a respondent to surrender firearms as part of an Order of Protection.⁶ Separately, federal law makes it a crime under 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(8) for a person subject to a qualifying protective order to possess any firearm or ammunition. To qualify, the order must have been issued after a hearing with notice and an opportunity to participate, must restrain the person from threatening or harassing an intimate partner or child, and must either include a finding that the person poses a credible threat to physical safety or explicitly prohibit the use of physical force.⁷

In 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld that federal firearms ban in United States v. Rahimi, holding that when a court has found an individual poses a credible threat to another person’s physical safety, temporarily disarming that individual is consistent with the Second Amendment.⁸

The federal prohibition applies to orders issued after the respondent has been given notice and an opportunity to be heard. A temporary ex parte order typically does not trigger the federal ban on its own, though a Tennessee court can still order firearm surrender under state law as part of the temporary order.

Custody, Support, and Divorce

When children are involved, the order can include temporary custody and visitation. A judge can suspend the respondent’s parenting time entirely or allow only supervised visitation with a neutral third-party monitor, depending on the danger. Temporary child support can also be part of the order.⁶

Whatever the judge orders on custody stays in place for the life of the order unless it is later modified. If you file for divorce while an Order of Protection is active, the order remains in effect until the divorce judge changes or ends it. Once the divorce case is pending, the divorce court generally handles further hearings on custody, support, and the protective order itself. Getting written confirmation that the protective order survives the divorce filing helps avoid confusion with law enforcement.

Temporary custody provisions in a protective order often set the status quo a divorce court starts from. That makes the full protective-order hearing worth treating as seriously as any custody hearing.

Penalties for Violating the Order

Violating any term of a Tennessee Order of Protection is a criminal offense. Under Tennessee Code 36-3-610, a first violation is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to 11 months and 29 days in jail and fines up to $2,500.⁹ Judges have sentencing discretion based on the seriousness of the violation and the respondent’s history. The court must also require the respondent to post a bond after any finding of a violation.

Repeat violations or violations involving new acts of violence can bring enhanced penalties. If the respondent commits a new assault, stalking, or related offense while the order is active, prosecutors can add those criminal charges to the contempt charge. A pattern of violations also strengthens a petition to extend the order.

If a respondent violates your order, call law enforcement right away. Save texts, take screenshots, note dates and times, and preserve witness information. That documentation matters for the contempt case and for any future extension hearing.

Federal Penalties for Crossing State Lines

A respondent who crosses state lines with the intent to violate a protective order faces federal prosecution under 18 U.S.C. 2262. This covers anyone who travels in interstate commerce and then engages in conduct violating the order’s provisions against violence, threats, harassment, or unauthorized contact.¹⁰ Federal penalties are substantially harsher than the state misdemeanor:

Up to 5 years in prison for violations without serious bodily injury.
Up to 10 years if the victim suffers serious bodily injury or the offender uses a dangerous weapon.
Up to 20 years if permanent disfigurement or life-threatening injury results.
Life imprisonment if the victim dies.

These penalties also apply when the violation targets the petitioner’s pet, service animal, or emotional support animal.¹⁰

If You Travel to Another State

A Tennessee Order of Protection does not lose its force when you cross into another state. Under the federal Violence Against Women Act, every state, tribe, and territory must give full faith and credit to a protective order issued elsewhere, enforcing it as if it were their own.¹¹ The order must have been issued by a court with jurisdiction, and the respondent must have received notice and an opportunity to be heard. For ex parte orders, notice and a hearing must happen within the time required by the issuing state.

You do not have to register the order in the other state for it to be enforceable. The federal statute expressly says failure to register does not prevent enforcement.¹¹ Still, carrying a certified copy makes it easier for local officers to verify and act.

Duration, Extension, and Ending the Order

A full Order of Protection in Tennessee typically lasts up to one year. If you still need protection as the expiration nears, file a motion to extend before the order expires. The court will look at ongoing threats, new incidents, and any prior violations to decide whether to continue protection.³ In extreme cases, a judge can issue an order for an indefinite period.

Either party can ask to change the terms before the order expires. A respondent can file a motion to dissolve the order if circumstances have materially changed, and the court will evaluate whether the petitioner still faces a real risk. If the petitioner wants to end the order voluntarily, the judge still has the final say and may refuse if there are signs of coercion behind the request.

Missing the expiration date is one of the more common mistakes. Once the order lapses, the restrictions end and you would have to file a brand-new petition to get protection again. Mark the date and file the extension motion with time to spare.

Getting Legal Help

You do not need a lawyer to file, and the Tennessee Courts Self-Help Center offers standardized forms and instructions.⁵ Representation still improves your chances at a contested hearing, especially when the respondent has counsel.

Several Tennessee legal aid organizations provide free representation to domestic violence survivors who cannot afford an attorney. The Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts keeps a list that includes Legal Aid of East Tennessee, the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands, Memphis Area Legal Services, and West Tennessee Legal Services.¹² Each serves a different part of the state. Contact the one that covers your county as early in the process as you can, because caseloads fill up and getting representation before the hearing date matters more than getting it after.

1
Justia. Tennessee Code 36-3-601 – Part Definitions
2
Justia. Tennessee Code 39-17-315 – Stalking
3
Justia. Tennessee Code 36-3-605 – Ex Parte Protection Orders
4
Justia. Tennessee Code 36-3-602 – Petition and Venue
5
Tennessee Courts. Order of Protection Forms
6
Justia. Tennessee Code 36-3-606 – Scope of Protection Order
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
8
Supreme Court of the United States. United States v. Rahimi, No. 22-915
9
Justia. Tennessee Code 36-3-610 – Civil or Criminal Contempt
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2262 – Interstate Violation of Protection Order
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2265 – Full Faith and Credit Given to Protection Orders
12
Tennessee Courts. If You Cannot Afford a Lawyer