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.  We provide some general information below, but we recommend checking out the California Court’s summary of the steps to follow to Ask for a Civil Harassment Restraining Order 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 to 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) 610-6000, or via email at wmfacil@kern.courts.ca.gov.

If the harassment or abuse you are trying to prevent involves elder abuse, or someone harassing you or your employees in a place of business, you should visit this page to gather information.

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 USE A PROGRAM CALLED LAWHELP INTERACTIVE TO GENERATE YOUR PAPERWORK.  CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE PAGE – it will not file your paperwork for you, but it can making completing your paperwork easier.

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. CIVIL CASE COVER SHEET
2. REQUEST FOR CIVIL HARASSMENT RESTRAINING ORDER
3. NOTICE OF HEARING
4. TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER
5. CONFIDENTIAL CLETS INFORMATION
   FOR BAKERSFIELD FILINGS ONLY, Local Form
   KERN-0029 Civil Harassment Law Enforcement Information, and if you need more space for your answers than you can fit on the standard forms,
6. MC-025 – STANDARD ATTACHMENT

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. REQUEST TO WAIVE COURT FEES, and
2. ORDER ON COURT FEE WAIVER

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 usually takes several days 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.

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. RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR CIVIL HARASSMENT RESTRAINING ORDER ,
2. “HOW CAN I RESPOND TO A REQUEST FOR CIVIL HARASSMENT RESTRAINING ORDER?” INFO GUIDE,
3. RECEIPT FOR FIREARMS AND FIREARM PARTS.

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

PROOF OF PERSONAL SERVICE  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. REQUEST TO CONTINUE COURT HEARING, and
2. ORDER ON REQUEST TO CONTINUE COURT HEARING

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

The specific steps you take next will depend on a few factors, some of which are 1) whether the person you want to be restrained actually attended the hearing, and 2) whether the judge who heard your case granted the exact order you requested, or something else.

You should read the information on the Judicial Branch’s page on the last step in this process, the Order After Hearing by following this link to see all of the possibilities.

Whatever happened at the hearing, if the judge in your case granted a restraining order, you may need assistance preparing the Order After Hearing.  You can do it yourself, or contact the Self-Help Center at wmselfhelp@kern.courts.ca.gov or (661) 610-6000 if you want to ask a member of their staff to help prepare your Order After Hearing.