- 1). File a petition for the type of restraining order you need: Order of Protection, Injunction Against Harassment or Workplace Injunction. If you are in the process of obtaining a divorce, annulment or legal separation, go to the Superior Court at 201 W. Jefferson Street in Phoenix. For other cases, you may go to the Phoenix Municipal Court at 300 West Washington Street. The Orders Office of the court will provide you with the forms you need.
You are eligible for an Order of Protection if you have been the victim of domestic violence (abuse by a family member); an Injunction Against Harassment if anyone has harassed you; and a Workplace Injunction if you have experienced harassment at work. (Your employer will need to file this for you.)
The petition requires information about your relationship to the respondent (the alleged abuser), previous action or cases involving the respondent and the locations the respondent should stay away from. You will also need to provide details regarding the abuse.
Give the petition to the court clerk, after signing it in front of the clerk or a notary. The clerk will file it with a judge. - 2). Appear before a judge in an ex parte hearing that same day. (This is a hearing at which only one of the parties involved is present.) The judge will review your petition and may ask you questions about your circumstances. He will set a date for a full hearing and decide whether to grant you a temporary order of protection to keep you safe until then.
Take the paperwork back to the Orders Office; they will help you make arrangements to serve the respondent with the order. - 3). Wait for the respondent to be served with the order. You should call the court regularly to find out if it has been served, as the order is not valid until service.
In Arizona, once an order of protection has been served, it becomes valid for one year. When the respondent is served, she will be given the opportunity to request a contested hearing to fight the order or protection. If this occurs, you will have to appear again before the judge at a hearing, at which the respondent will also be present. You will both be given the opportunity to present your case, and the judge will make a ruling.
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