If you are experiencing a pattern of harassing behavior and you want to ask for a court order to make it stop, you may wish to request a civil harassment restraining order.  Review the California Court’s summary of the steps to follow to Ask for a Civil Harassment Restraining Order (click link to access) before you review the content below.

When is a Civil Harassment Restraining Order (CHRO) Appropriate?

You can request a CHRO when someone is harassing you and you would like a court order to make them stop.  A CHRO is not right in all cases, though.

YOU DO NOT FILE A CHRO AGAINST A:

• Current Romantic Partner
• Former Romantic Partner
• Grandparent
• Parent
• Brother/Sister
• Son/Daughter

If the person you want a restraining order against is a close family relation or a current/former romantic partner, you may need tor request a Domestic Violence Restraining Order.  If you believe a Domestic Violence Restraining Order may be appropriate in your case, you may wish to request information from the Family Law Facilitator’s office at (661) 610-6400, or via email at wmfacil@kern.courts.ca.gov.

For a full list of the types of restraining orders in California, you can review the Judicial Council summary (click link to access)

What do I do to Request a Civil Harassment Restraining Order?

You begin by completing a packet of documents to request your order from the court.

You can visit Kern County Law Library in-person to ask about an automated program which can generate your documents.

You can also fill in the forms by typing or handwriting them directly.  You will need multiple forms to complete your packet if you would rather complete the documents by filling them in directly.  You can always be sure to have the most up to date forms if you visit the link above to download them directly from the Judicial Council web page.  We also provide the list of documents you need below.  These will include:

1. CM – 010 CIVIL CASE COVER SHEET (click link to download)
2. CH – 100 REQUEST FOR CIVIL HARASSMENT RESTRAINING ORDER (click link to download)
3. CH – 109 NOTICE OF HEARING (click link to download)
4. CH – 110 TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER (click link to download)
5. CLETS – 001 CONFIDENTIAL CLETS INFORMATION (click link to download)

   For petitions in the courthouse in Bakersfield, include KERN-0029 Civil Harassment Law Enforcement Information (click link to download) 

   If you need more space for your answers than you can fit on the standard forms, you can expand on your responses with MC-025 – STANDARD ATTACHMENT (click link to download)

Once these documents are filled out, you will need to file them with the Civil Department.  The filing fee is $435.00, or you may also fill out and file:

1. FW – 001 REQUEST TO WAIVE COURT FEES (click link to download), and
2. FW – 003 ORDER ON COURT FEE WAIVER (click link to download)

These documents are used to request that the court waive your filing fee.  If the request is granted, you will not have to pay the $435.00 filing fee for your case.  The court is not guaranteed to grant your fee waiver request.

If your request is denied, you will have ten days to:

1. Pay the amount of the fee the court says you owe,
2. Re-file the fee waiver forms with complete information, if your request was denied for being incomplete, or
3. Ask for a hearing to show the court more information.

In order to get your documents returned to you most conveniently: When you file your paperwork, you should also include a self-addressed, postage-paid envelope so the clerks of the Civil Department can just send your paperwork directly back to you.  Large, 10×13 envelopes can fit your court paperwork most easily.

BE AWARE: it is reasonable to expect a turnaround time of 72 hours to receive your paperwork back from the court and immediate orders are not always granted. Read through the papers you get back from the court carefully to find out whether temporary orders have been issued pending your hearing

What Happens After My Documents Are Filed?

After you get your paperwork back from the Civil department, someone who is not a party in your case and is 18 or older needs to personally deliver (serve) copies of certain documents to the person you are asking the court to restrain.

Completing Personal Service is described in detail on the Judicial Branch’s website (click link to visit the page).

What Does my Server Give the Party I am Asking the Court to Restrain?

Someone other than you that is 18 or older needs to give a copy of some of the paperwork you filed, plus blank documents the party you want restrained can use to file a response.

The server should provide file-stamped copies of the CH-100 – Request for Civil Harassment Restraining Order, CH-109 – Notice of Court Hearing, CH-110 – Temporary Restraining Order, and TOTALLY BLANK copies of the following:

1. CH – 120  RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR CIVIL HARASSMENT RESTRAINING ORDER (click link to access),
2. CH – 120 – INFO – HOW CAN I RESPOND TO A REQUEST FOR CIVIL HARASSMENT RESTRAINING ORDER? (click link to access),
3. EA – 800 RECEIPT FOR FIREARMS AND FIREARM PARTS (click link to access).

My Server has Served the Party to be Restrained, Now What?

CH – 200 PROOF OF PERSONAL SERVICE (click link to access)  should be filled out by your server ASAP.

You can then file this with the Civil department as soon as your server has filled it out – at the latest, it should be turned in at least 5 days before the hearing.

My Hearing is Coming Up and Service Isn’t Complete.

If you need to ask for more time to serve the person you want restrained, you can use forms:

1. CH – 115 REQUEST TO CONTINUE COURT HEARING (click link to access), and
2. CH – 116 ORDER ON REQUEST TO CONTINUE COURT HEARING (click link to access)

I Went to the Hearing and the Judge Granted my Request – Now What?

You can contact the Superior Court’s Self-Help Center for assistance preparing an Order After Hearing.  You can dial them at (661) 610-6518 to ask about how to get your Order prepared.

Your next steps will depend on whether the Respondent attended the hearing. 

The Judicial Council outlines what happens next on their web page (click link to access).