Protective Orders

There is no fee to file a petition for any of these protective orders or for the defendant to ask for a hearing to challenge the order.

Injunctions against Harassment and Orders of Protection can be issued by any court in Arizona regardless of the location of the plaintiff (the one seeking the order) or defendant (the one to be protected from). These orders are not in effect until the defendant receives a copy of the order.

They can be issued based on the plaintiff's word only. This is called ex-parte. If this happens, the defendant has the right to request a hearing after being served with the order. A judge will then listen to both sides and decide whether to keep the order in place or quash it. 

Alternately, the judge may decide a hearing is warranted before issuing the order. The court will schedule a hearing for the judge to hear from both sides and then either issue or dismiss the petition.

Injunctions are valid for one year after service upon the defendant. An Order of Protection is valid for two years. 

A plaintiff may request that these orders be quashed, but only the judge may terminate or change them.

The purpose of an Order of Protection is to restrain another person from committing an act of domestic violence, as defined in (ARS 13-3601A). To be granted an order, you must meet at least one of following qualifying conditions:

• The relationship is one of marriage or former marriage or of persons residing or having resided in the same household.
• A parent of a child of the defendant
• Pregnant by the defendant.
• Related to the defendant or the defendant's spouse by blood or court order as a parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother or sister or by marriage as a parent-in-law, grandparent-in-law, stepparent, step-grandparent, stepchild, step-grandchild, brother- in-law or sister-in-law.
• A child who resides or has resided in the same household as the defendant and is related by blood to a former spouse of the defendant or to a person of the opposite sex who resides or who has resided in the same household as the defendant.
• The relationship is currently or was previously a romantic or sexual relationship. The following factors may be considered in determining whether the relationship between the victim and the defendant is currently or was previously a romantic or sexual relationship:
  1. The type of relationship.
  2. The length of the relationship.
  3. The frequency of the interaction between the victim and the defendant.
  4. If the relationship has terminated, the length of time since the termination.

The purpose of an Injunction Against Harassment is to restrain a person from committing acts of harassment. Harassment, as defined by (ARS 12-1809R), is a series of acts over any period of time directed at a specific person that would cause, or has caused, a reasonable person to be seriously alarmed, annoyed or harassed and that serves no legitimate purpose.

Justices of the Peace will hear requests for such orders at any time during normal business hours. You do not need an appointment or prescheduled time, though you should call the court in advance to confirm that the judge will be available when you wish to appear.

The Injunction Against Workplace Harassment is very similar to an "Injunction Against Harassment."

There are two basic differences between the regular injunction against harassment and the workplace injunction:

• A person petitions for a regular injunction, while a business or employer petitions for a workplace injunction.
• A regular injunction protects and follows a person, whereas a workplace injunction protects a location and protects the business or employer, employees and any other person who enters the protected property.

Anyone may walk into any court in Arizona to apply for a protective order. You may also retrieve forms online here to fill out in advance, although the court will also have the forms onsite.

There is a better alternative because we recognize that not everyone needing a protective order will be able to make it into a courthouse to file the petition: 

Use AZPOINT, the Arizona Protective Order Initiation and Notification Tool. Through the online portal, you can quickly and accurately fill out the forms that are needed to request an Order of Protection at an Arizona court.

An Order of Protection is a court order that is issued to stop a person from committing domestic violence or from contacting other people protected by the order. The portal will also help you figure out whether you (the plaintiff) and the person from whom you are seeking protection (the defendant) have a qualifying relationship for an Order of Protection.

Your information will be saved in AZPOINT for up to 90 days. At any time during this 90-day period, you may take the next step of filing your petition at an Arizona court. Until you file your petition at a court, you will be able to return to AZPOINT to update your information if necessary. You are encouraged to speak to a victim advocate before you file your petition. An advocate can help you make a safety plan and give you more information about how an Order of Protection works and how it will be served on the defendant.

There is no fee to file for any protective order. For more information, to go to AZPOINT: