Domestic Assault Defense
If you are afraid of a spouse, partner, family member, or someone you live with, Tennessee law gives you a way to put the court between you and that person. An order of protection is a civil court order that can require the other person to stay away from you, your home, your workplace, and your children — and violating it is a crime with immediate arrest consequences. Brooks Law Firm helps petitioners in Memphis and Shelby County prepare, file, and present orders of protection so the hearing goes right the first time. Call (901) 324-5000 for a confidential consultation.
Who Can File for an Order of Protection in Tennessee
Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-3-601, you may petition for an order of protection if the person you fear is a current or former spouse, someone you live with or lived with, someone you are dating or dated, a relative by blood, marriage, or adoption, or the other parent of your child. Victims of stalking or sexual assault may petition regardless of any relationship. You do not need a police report, a pending criminal charge, or a conviction to file — the civil petition stands on its own.
How Filing Works in Shelby County
Petitions in Shelby County are filed with the General Sessions Civil Court clerk, and there is no filing fee charged to a domestic abuse, stalking, or sexual assault victim to file. A judge or judicial commissioner reviews the petition the same day, and if the allegations show an immediate danger, the court can issue an ex parte order of protection — temporary protection that takes effect as soon as the respondent is served, before any hearing is held. A full hearing is then set, generally within fifteen days, where both sides may testify and present evidence. If the court finds the allegations proven, it can extend the order for up to one year, and longer on violation.
What an Order of Protection Can Do
A Tennessee order of protection is flexible. Depending on the facts, the court can order the respondent to stop all contact — in person, by phone, by text, through social media, or through third parties — stay away from your home, workplace, school, and children’s daycare, move out of a shared residence, surrender firearms as required by state and federal law, pay temporary support, and stay away from pets. Once the order is in place, a violation is enforceable by immediate arrest, and violation of an order of protection is itself a criminal offense.
Why the Hearing Matters — and Why Preparation Wins It
The full hearing is a real court proceeding. The respondent may hire a lawyer, cross-examine you, and put on proof. Petitions fail not because the danger was not real, but because the petition was vague, the timeline was unclear, or the supporting evidence — messages, photographs, medical records, witness testimony — was never organized and presented. We prepare your petition so the specific incidents, dates, and facts the statute requires are in front of the judge, and we stand with you at the hearing so you are never questioned by the other side without counsel at your table.
Orders of Protection and Related Cases
An order of protection often runs alongside other proceedings — a domestic assault criminal case, a divorce, or a custody dispute. The findings made at a protection hearing can echo through all of them, which is another reason to get the hearing right. Because Brooks Law Firm also defends respondents in protection proceedings, we know exactly how the other side will attack a petition — and we build yours so it holds.
If you need protection now: in an emergency call 911. When you are safe, call Brooks Law Firm at (901) 324-5000. We handle these matters with discretion and care, and consultations are confidential. Se habla Español. If you have been served with an order of protection and need to respond, see our order of protection defense page.