What Happens If You Violate a Restraining Order in California?

Violating a restraining order in California is a crime under Penal Code 273.6. A first offense without injury is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in county jail and a $1,000 fine. If the violation causes physical injury, the fine rises to $2,000 and the jail sentence carries a mandatory minimum of 30 days. Repeat violations within a set window, especially those involving violence or injury, can be charged as felonies with sentences of 16 months, two years, or three years. On top of the criminal charge, a violator can face separate firearm offenses, civil contempt in the issuing court, federal prosecution in interstate cases, and lasting harm to custody, immigration, and professional licensing matters.

Criminal Penalties Under Penal Code 273.6

The charge requires that the violation be both intentional and knowing: the person was aware the order existed and chose to break it.¹ From there, the penalty depends on whether anyone was hurt and whether the person has a prior conviction for the same offense.

First Offense Without Injury

A first-time violation that does not cause physical harm is a misdemeanor. The maximum punishment is one year in county jail, a $1,000 fine, or both.¹

First Offense With Physical Injury

When the violation results in physical injury to the protected person, the fine climbs to $2,000 and the sentence carries a mandatory minimum of 30 days in jail, up to one year. A judge can reduce the 30-day minimum to 48 hours only in limited circumstances, weighing the seriousness of the conduct and the safety of the victim.¹ That mandatory floor is unusual for a misdemeanor and is where a first violation hits hardest.

Felony Exposure for Repeat Violations

Two scenarios turn the offense into a wobbler, meaning prosecutors can file it as a misdemeanor or a felony:

A subsequent violation within seven years of a prior conviction under the same statute, combined with an act of violence or a credible threat of violence.¹
A subsequent violation within one year of a prior conviction that causes physical injury, which carries a fine of up to $2,000 and a mandatory minimum of six months in jail.¹

Both felony paths authorize a sentence under subdivision (h) of Section 1170, which means a term of 16 months, two years, or three years.² Under realignment, that time is served in county jail rather than state prison, but three years in custody is three years regardless of the building.

What Behavior Triggers a Charge

The order itself defines what counts as a violation. In domestic violence cases, the court issues Form DV-130, which lists every prohibited behavior and warns that disobeying can result in criminal charges, jail, or prison.³ Common violations include:

Direct contact of any kind: calls, texts, emails, or showing up in person.
Indirect contact through a friend, relative, or anyone else passing messages, and searching for the protected person’s address or location.³
Coming within the stay-away distance the court set from the protected person, their home, workplace, or children’s school.⁴
Harassing, stalking, threatening, following, surveilling, destroying personal property, or impersonating the protected person online.³
Owning, buying, or possessing any firearm or ammunition while the order is in effect.⁵

Social media activity drives a growing share of violations. Posting about the protected person, tagging them, or messaging them on any platform can qualify as prohibited contact. What matters is whether the behavior was meant to reach or harass the protected person, not whether the post was technically public. The penalties above apply regardless of which type of restraining order was issued, as long as the order qualifies as a protective order under Family Code 6218 or was issued under one of the statutes Penal Code 273.6 covers.⁶

Firearm Charges Stack On Top

Gun possession is where cases get worse quickly, because state and federal firearm laws apply on top of the underlying violation.

California

Knowingly possessing a firearm while subject to a qualifying restraining order is a separate offense under Penal Code 29825, punishable by up to one year in county jail, a $1,000 fine, or both.⁷ This charge gets filed in addition to any charge for violating the order itself.

A domestic violence protective order also requires the restrained person to surrender firearms and ammunition. Any officer serving the order can demand them on the spot; otherwise the person has 24 hours to turn them in to law enforcement or sell them to a licensed dealer, and must file a receipt with the court and the serving agency within 48 hours. Missing that filing is itself a violation of the order.⁸

Federal

Federal law prohibits anyone subject to a qualifying domestic violence protective order from possessing any firearm or ammunition under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8).⁹ The ban applies when the order was issued after a hearing with notice and an opportunity to participate, and either finds a credible threat to the partner’s safety or explicitly prohibits the use of physical force. A federal conviction carries up to ten years in federal prison.¹⁰

A single firearm can trigger both charges. Ten years in federal custody versus one year in county jail is a serious gap, and federal prosecutors do take these cases.

Civil Contempt as a Second Track

Criminal charges are not the only consequence. The protected person can file a civil contempt motion in the same court that issued the order, which lets them put evidence of the violation in front of a judge without waiting for prosecutors to act.

Under CCP 1218, a person held in contempt faces up to $1,000 in fines, up to five days in jail per violation, or both, plus the protected person’s attorney’s fees and costs.¹¹ When the order was issued under the Family Code, the penalties step up with each finding:

First finding: up to 120 hours of community service or up to 120 hours of jail per count.
Second finding: up to 120 hours of community service plus up to 120 hours of jail per count.
Third or later finding: up to 240 hours of jail and up to 240 hours of community service per count.¹¹

The judge can also extend the restraining order’s duration. Contempt and criminal prosecution are independent tracks, so facing one does not prevent the other.

Federal Charges for Interstate Violations

Crossing state lines with intent to violate a protective order, then violating it, brings 18 U.S.C. § 2262 into play. The base offense carries up to five years in federal prison. If the violation causes serious bodily injury or involves a dangerous weapon, the sentence rises to up to ten years. Permanent disfigurement or life-threatening injury pushes it to up to twenty years, and if the victim dies, the sentence can be life.¹² Federal prosecution happens less often than state charges, but the exposure is in a different league when it does.

The Contact Trap

The protected person’s consent does not cancel the order. A restraining order binds only the restrained person. If the protected person sends a text, picks up the phone, or invites the restrained person over, the order is still in full effect, and the restrained person can be arrested and charged for responding.

Only a judge can modify or terminate a restraining order. Until that happens, any contact from the restrained side is a violation. If both people want to resume communication, the right move is to go back to court and request a modification. “They reached out first” is not a defense, and people who take the bait end up with criminal charges that no explanation will undo.

Damage Beyond the Criminal Case

The fallout from a violation does not stop at the sentence.

Custody. In family court, a judge weighing custody considers the best interest of the child, and a parent who violates a court order signals how willing they are to follow rules. A violation can mean loss of physical or legal custody, a switch to supervised visitation, or new restrictions on overnight stays.

Immigration. A conviction for violating a restraining order, especially a felony, can be treated as a crime involving moral turpitude or as a deportable domestic violence offense depending on the facts of the case.

Professional licensing. Boards governing fields like law, medicine, and education may open disciplinary action against a licensee convicted of violating a protective order.

Each of these can outlast the jail sentence by years. Someone deciding whether a single text is worth it is usually not weighing the full picture.

1
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 273.6
2
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1170
3
Judicial Council of California. Restraining Order After Hearing (Order of Protection)
4
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 527.6
5
California Courts Self-Help Guide. Domestic Violence Restraining Orders in California
6
California Legislative Information. California Family Code 6218
7
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 29825
8
California Legislative Information. California Family Code FAM 6389
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
10
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Protection Orders and Federal Firearms Prohibitions
11
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 1218
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2262 – Interstate Violation of Protection Order