Protective Orders

What is a Protective Order?

Temporary Protective Orders can provide relief for you in several different ways. A TPO may:

Order the party to have no contact with you in person or by phone, at work, or anywhere (children may be included as protected parties);
Evict the other party from the family home;
Award temporary custody of minor children;
Order law enforcement to assist when the other party retrieves belongings from the home; and/or
Remove firearms from other party.

Filing Procedures

Protective orders are free to file and can be filed online at any time. Please see the website for DeKalb County Clerk of Superior Court, under Protective Orders, for instructions on how to file. The Clerk’s website also contains the necessary forms to fill out.

For assistance with filing online and safety planning, please contact the Women’s Resource Center (WRC) at 404-370-7670. Their services are free and open to anyone seeking to file for a TPO.

You can also contact Shombraya Goodman, Domestic Violence Coordinator (Temporary Protective Orders and Domestic Violence Warrant Application Calendars) at segoodman@dekalbcountyga.gov.

The following criteria are necessary for a Family Violence TPO:

The other party must live in DeKalb County in order to file the TPO in DeKalb County. If the other party lives in another county, you must contact the appropriate agency and Court where the other party resides. You must have the other party’s complete address.
You must be a past spouse, present spouses, parents of the same child (unmarried parents), parent and child, stepparent and stepchild, foster parent and foster child, persons living in the same household, or persons formerly living in the same household.
There must have been an incident of violence, threats against your life, criminal damage to your property, unlawful restraint, criminal trespass or incidents of stalking.
You must be 18 years of age or have someone who is 18 years of age or older to file the petition on your behalf.
The person you are filing against must be 18 years of age or older.

The following criteria are necessary for a Stalking TPO:

The other party must live in DeKalb County in order to file the TPO in DeKalb County. If the other party lives in another county, you must contact the appropriate agency and Court where the other party resides. You must have the other party’s complete address.
There must have been incidents of stalking. Stalking occurs when a person follows, places under surveillance, or contacts another person without that person’s consent for purposes of harassment and intimidation. One act alone generally does not constitute stalking.
You must be 18 years of age or have someone who is 18 to file the petition on your behalf.
The person you are filing against must be 18 years of age or older.

The following criteria are necessary for a Dating Violence TPO:

The other party must live in DeKalb County in order to file the TPO in DeKalb County. If the other party lives in another county, you must contact the appropriate agency and Court where the other party resides. You must have the other party’s complete address.
There must have been incidents of violence during a committed romantic relationship between the parties that is more intimate than friendship. This relationship must have occurred within the last 12 months. Dating violence constitutes simple battery, battery, simple assault, stalking, or any felony. A committed romantic relationship occurs when the parties developed interpersonal bonding above a mere casual fraternization; the length of the relationship is indicative of dating; the nature and frequency of the parties’ interactions indicate a dating relationship; the parties demonstrate an affirmation of their relationship; the parties acknowledge the dating relationship; or a party is currently pregnant with the other party’s child.
You must be 18 years of age or have someone who is 18 to file the petition on your behalf.
The person you are filing against must be 18 years of age or older.