Domestic Violence / Restraining Orders
Helpful information about domestic violence & formsfor injunctions for protection, also called restraining orders.
Service Areas
An Injunction for Protection is a Civil Court Order (often referred to as a "restraining order" and herein referred to as "Injunction") that places restrictions on an individual (referred to as the Respondent) who has allegedly committed acts or (in some cases) made threats of violence against another individual (referred to as the Petitioner). An Injunction is requested by the Petitioner who files a "Petition" with the Court asking for protection from the Respondent.
An Injunction may include provisions that: restrain the Respondent from further acts of violence; order the Respondent to leave a shared dwelling; prevent the Respondent from coming to your home, school or place of employment; and/or award temporary custody of minor children.
An Injunction should not be used as a tool to manipulate the Respondent or the Judicial System, gain access to property, or to settle issues of child custody or spousal support, but rather to protect you against a genuine and well-founded fear of continued violence or abuse.
Violence is defined by Florida Statute 784.046(1)(a) as "any assault, aggravated assault, battery, aggravated battery, sexual assault, sexual battery, stalking, aggravated stalking, kidnapping, false imprisonment, or any criminal offense resulting in physical injury or death, by a person against another person."
Violence does not include all offensive behavior. Trespassing, criminal mischief, threats, tampering with a witness and harassing phone calls are all criminal offenses which should be reported to law enforcement, but may not necessarily, alone, qualify for the issuance of an Injunction.
Filing for protection is free. There is no fee to file a Petition and the Sheriff's Office also serves (hand delivers) certified copies of the Judge's order to the Respondent without charge. A petition must be filed in the county where you currently or temporarily reside, where the Respondent resides or where the violence occurred.
Important: Because of the complexities of the forms that are required in order to seek a Restraining Order, it could take up to 45 minutes to complete all requirements. Since all paperwork must be submitted to the Court for review by 4:00 p.m., it is necessary for petitioners to submit completed paperwork to the Clerk's office no later than 3:40 p.m. to ensure same day review by the Court. Paperwork filed on business days after 4:00 p.m. will be provided to the Court for review the following day.
A petition is filed by an individual against an individual. A Petition may not be filed by or against a group of individuals or an entity (such as a business).
If you are a minor (under age 18) one of your parents or your legal guardian must file the Petition on your behalf.
If you are filling against a minor you must provide the first and last name of the minor child against whom you are filing, as well as the first and last name of that minor's parent or legal guardian.
Effective July 1, 2019, all information contained in a petition for injunction against domestic violence, repeat violence, dating violence, sexual violence, stalking, or cyberstalking will be confidential and sealed from public view until the respondent has been served.
If you do not want the respondent to know where you are living: write "Confidential" anywhere your address is requested in the Petition and related forms. You should then fill out a Petitioner's Request for Confidential Filing of Address form. This form will not be subject to public disclosure.
You must provide the respondent's first and last name.
The following is NOT necessary to file an Injunction but will help the Sheriff's Office serve the certified copies of the Judge's order:
If the Respondent lives outside of the State of Florida, you will need to contact the Sheriff of the county that he or she lives in to obtain information about having Court papers "served". Provide this information and any relevant fees to the Clerk's Office where you filed your Petition by completing an Out-of-State Service Information Sheet
A Petition for Injunction for Protection Against Domestic/Stalking/Repeat/Sexual/Dating Violence, as well as all related or post-judgment paperwork, may be filed or additional information obtained, at any of the following locations between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding County holidays.
Please Note: Injunction for Protection Forms need to be filed in person or via the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal.
For more information call (727) 464-7000.
Civil Court Records 315 Court Street, Room 170 Clearwater, FL 33756 Pinellas County Justice Center 14250 49th Street North Clearwater, FL 33762 St. Petersburg Branch 545 First Avenue North, Room 154 St. Petersburg, FL 33701
Civil Court Records 315 Court Street, Room 170 Clearwater, FL 33756
Pinellas County Justice Center 14250 49th Street North Clearwater, FL 33762
St. Petersburg Branch 545 First Avenue North, Room 154 St. Petersburg, FL 33701
It will be taken to a judge for review. The Judge may make one of three decisions:
In the first two instances, a hearing will be scheduled (within seven (7) to fifteen (15) calendar days of your Petition filing date) that you will be required to attend. The Respondent will be served (hand delivered) notice of the hearing and certified copies of both the Judge's order and your Petition.
You will need to return to the Clerk's Office where you file your Petition, on the day that you file your Petition, between 4:00 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. to receive paperwork explaining the Judge's decision.
If a hearing is scheduled, the Judge at the hearing will determine whether or not to grant you a Final Judgment based on testimony from you, the Respondent and any eye-witnesses. If the Judge grants you a Final Judgment, it may be in effect for an indefinite period of time or may expire on a specific date.
If your petition is denied but new information about additional acts of violence or stalking arises, you may ask the Judge to review your original Petition and these new acts by filing a Supplemental Affidavit in Support of Petition for Injunction for Protection (F.L. Form 12.980(g)).
Evidence: If you opt to appear via Zoom, you must submit any evidence you intend to present at the return hearing, such as emails, texting correspondence, photographs, police reports, etc., to the same email address, DVEVIDENCE@jud6.org. Evidence must be emailed to our DV office at least two days prior to the hearing.
Witnesses: Any witnesses you plan to call at your hearing may also appear via Zoom using the same Zoom conference number and password. They must also identify themselves in the Zoom platform using their name and the identifier “Witness for [party name]” (example: John Doe, Witness for Jane Smith)
When you file any motions with the clerk please send a copy to the Court at: DVMotions@jud6.org. Examples of these are a Motion to Continue your hearing to a later date, Motion to Dismiss Injunction, Motion to Modify Injunction, Motion to Extend Injunction, or Motion to Establish Timesharing.
So that the Court can hear the motions on an expedited basis, please include:
IMPORTANT: If you elect to appear in person, please wear a protective mask for your own and other's safety.
Notice of the Right of Any Affected Party to Request the Addition of Information to a Publicly Available Internet Website
Any affected person has a right to request that a county recorder or clerk of the court add information to a publicly available Internet website if that information involves the identity of a respondent against whom a final judgment for an injunction for the protection of a minor under s. 741.30, s. 784.046, or s. 784.0485 is entered, unless the respondent is a minor.
The request must be in writing and contain the case number. To make a request contact the clerk’s office by mail or in person at Civil Court Records, 315 Court Street, Rm 170, Clearwater, Florida or by email at DomViol-Clw@co.pinellas.fl.us . Note: Your request may also be dropped off at the Clerk’s St. Petersburg Branch office 545 First Ave North St. Petersburg or the Clerk’s North County Branch office 29582 U.S. 19 North Clearwater, Fl 33761 and your request will be forwarded Civil Court Records in Clearwater for processing.
It typically takes 45 minutes to an hour to complete the petition, plus an additional 10-15 minutes for the clerk to process the paperwork.
A valid ID is helpful but not required. You must provide the first and last name of the respondent and bring copies of any photos, text messages, emails, etc. that you want to attach to the petition.
Our office closes to the public at 4:30 p.m. but the cutoff time to get the paperwork to the judge for review and decision the same day is 4:00 p.m. We highly recommend that you come in no later than 3:00 p.m. to complete the paperwork, give the clerk time to review and process the paperwork and then get it to the judge in a timely manner.
After the clerk processes your petition, the petition is then taken to the judge for review. The judge will make his or her decision based upon your petition and written narrative of the events that have transpired.
You will receive a decision from the judge the same day that you file your petition. However, the decision most likely will not be made immediately and you may have to return to the office to pick up your paperwork later that day.
Yes, if the injunction is granted copies are sent to the Sheriff to serve on the respondent that day.
As Clerk’s employees, we cannot give legal advice. All we can do is help explain what the forms are asking of you. You can ask a friend or family member to assist you. Also, if you need assistance filling out the forms or you need someone to translate them, there are advocates at The Haven who can help but you must make an appointment. The outreach number is 727-441-2029.
Florida law separates injunctions for protection into five categories: Domestic, Stalking, Repeat, Sexual and Dating. When determining the type of Injunction for which you need to file it is very important that you read over all of the requirements for each type before selecting one; choosing the incorrect type may cause your Petition to be denied by the Judge.
Review our Injunction Filing Checklist to know which forms are needed for each injunction type.
Want to save time and get automated filing assistance? The Pinellas County Clerk is pleased to offer a new service, TurboCourt, which makes the task of filling out forms easier to understand and offers a convenient method to prepare forms, petitions and other court documents for the following case types: Domestic Violence Injunctions, Dissolutions of Marriage with Children, Dissolutions of Marriage without Children and Delinquent Tenants/Evictions. Read more on this new service.
Dating Violence is violence or stalking that has occurred, or that the Petitioner has reasonable cause to believe they are in imminent danger of becoming a victim of, between individuals who (1) have been in a dating relationship within the past 6 months (2) have had an expectation of affection or sexual involvement and (3) have been involved over time and on a continuous basis, excluding individuals who have only engaged in ordinary fraternization in a business or social context.
Domestic Violence is defined as violence or stalking that has occurred, or that the Petitioner has reasonable cause to believe they are in imminent danger of becoming the victim of, between individuals who are spouses, former spouses, or persons related by blood or marriage who are residing or have resided together as a family, or individuals who are residing together or have resided together as if family, or individuals who have a child in common.
Repeat Violence is two acts of violence or stalking on two separate occasions, one of which must have been within the past 6 months committed by a person against another person. These types of Injunctions are usually appropriate for neighbor-against-neighbor, coworker-against-coworker, or other types of relationships that are of a non-domestic or non-dating nature.
Any one of the following criteria must be met: (1) You must have reported the incident to law enforcement and be cooperating in any criminal proceedings or (2) The Respondent must have been sentenced to prison and the term expired or is due to expire within 90 days, and any one incident of the following: (1) sexual battery (2) a lewd or lascivious act, committed upon or in the presence of a person younger than 16 (3) luring or enticing a child (4) sexual performance by a child or (5) any other forcible felony wherein a sexual act is committed or attempted.
Stalking Violence is defined by someone who is purposely following or harassing you repeatedly over a period of time for no legitimate purpose, causing you emotional stress. If in doing so, he/she threatens your life or threatens to harm you, with the intent to cause you reasonable fear for your safety, then the act becomes aggravated.
Additional forms are available at one of the Pinellas County Clerk's Office locations, Monday through Friday between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., excluding County holidays. You may get the forms in person when you go to file a petition, or you may print them out from this page.
Call 911 if you are in immediate danger
Your abuser may monitor your internet use. If you have reason to believe your computer is not secure, you may wish to use a computer your abuser does not access. If your abuser has access to your computer, follow steps to delete your browsing history.
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Courts are undertaking very significant measures to ensure for the health of everyone involved in the court system. Although you may personally appear for your scheduled hearing and bring any witnesses and evidence with you, you also have the option to appear telephonically. IMPORTANT: If you elect to appear in person, please wear a protective mask for your own and other's safety. Learn more about your Option to Appear Telephonically.
Local Shelters, available 24/7:
CASA (St. Petersburg) (727) 895-4912 / TTY (727) 828-1269 The Haven of RCS (Clearwater) (727) 442-4128 / TTY (727) 223-4946
Important Telephone Numbers:
Statewide Domestic Violence Hotline (Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence, FCADV) (800) 799-SAFE (7233) / TTY (800) 787-3224 National Domestic Violence Hotline (800) 500-1119 / TTY 800-621-4202 Clerk’s Abuse Hotline (727) 464-4933
Helpful Resources:
