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Restraining & Protective Orders in Connecticut

Most restraining orders do exactly what they are meant to do — protect people from real danger. This page is not about those. It is for the narrower, harder situation where the protective-order process is being used as leverage in a family-court fight.

Footing is not a law firm and this is not legal advice. Restraining-order and criminal matters move quickly and can carry serious, sometimes lifelong consequences. If you have been served, arrested, or charged, talk to a licensed Connecticut attorney or a public defender right away. Do not rely on this page in place of a lawyer.

When a protective order is used as a weapon

The vast majority of restraining orders are sought by people who genuinely need protection, and they save lives. But in a contested divorce or custody case, the same tools can be used for advantage — to remove someone from the family home, to gain an early edge on custody, or to build a one-sided record before the other parent has said a word. It does not happen in most cases. When it does, the person on the receiving end is often blindsided, unrepresented, and one accusation away from a criminal charge. If that is your situation, you need to understand the machinery before it moves.

Two different orders, in two different courts

Connecticut has more than one kind of order, and people constantly confuse them. The difference matters enormously.

The civil restraining order (often called a “TRO”)

This is a family-court order under Connecticut General Statutes §46b-15. A person can apply for it based on a sworn application alleging a continuous threat of present physical pain or injury, stalking, or a pattern of threatening. A judge can grant an immediate ex parte order — meaning before you have any chance to respond — and then a hearing is held, generally within about two weeks, where both sides appear. A full order can last up to a year and can be extended.

The criminal protective order (often called a “CPO”)

This is a criminal-court order, issued in a criminal case — for example, after a family-violence arrest — under statutes such as §46b-38c and §54-1k. Its conditions are set by the criminal court and can range from “do not assault or harass” all the way to full no-contact and stay-away orders that bar you from your own home and your children.

How a family-court order can become a criminal case

Here is the trap that catches unrepresented people. Violating a §46b-15 restraining order is itself a crime. Under §53a-223b it is a Class D felony, punishable by one to five years — and a Class C felony (up to ten years) if the violation involves restraint, a threat, an assault, or similar conduct.

The order’s terms are often broad: no contact of any kind, stay a set distance away, no third-party messages. Against that backdrop, a single alleged contact — even a text message, even one the other person started and you simply answered — can become an arrest. The civil family case generates the order; an accusation that you broke it generates the criminal charge. A dispute you were handling without a lawyer can turn, overnight, into a felony.

Your most important right: the Fernando A. hearing — ask for it at your arraignment

If you are arrested and brought to court, the judge will usually consider a criminal protective order at your arraignment, after hearing argument and a report from the court’s Family Services unit. What many people do not know — and what can quietly decide where you live and whether you see your children — is that you do not have to accept that order on the spot without a real hearing.

In State v. Fernando A., 294 Conn. 1, 981 A.2d 427 (2009), the Connecticut Supreme Court held that a defendant has the right to request a full evidentiary hearing on a criminal protective order — but you must request it at the hearing where the order is first imposed — typically your arraignment. At that later hearing, held within a reasonable time, the State — not you — must prove that the order is still necessary, by a fair preponderance of the evidence.

What this means in plain terms: at your arraignment, on the record, you can ask for a “Fernando A. hearing.” Say it plainly. It is your first real chance to make the State put its evidence on the table instead of relying on one untested accusation. Many Connecticut defense attorneys treat requesting this hearing as standard practice. If you stay silent at arraignment, you can lose or delay that chance.

The full arsenal

Get a lawyer or public defender on the criminal side immediately. A protective-order violation is a felony; this is not a do-it-yourself situation.
Request the Fernando A. hearing at arraignment — out loud, on the record.
Never violate an order, even one you believe is unjust. Violating it is the trap that turns a civil dispute into a criminal conviction. If the other person contacts you, do not respond — save it and document it.
Learn the exact terms. Is it full no-contact or limited? What is the stay-away distance? Does it allow any contact about the children? Read the order itself; do not guess.
On the family-court side, show up and participate. At the §46b-15 hearing you can appear, present evidence and witnesses, cross-examine, and ask the court to deny, narrow, or terminate the order. You can also move to modify it later as circumstances change.
Preserve everything. Texts, emails, call logs, a written timeline, names of witnesses. The record you keep is often the only counterweight to a one-sided application.
Understand the asymmetry. Family court is civil, and it does not give you a free lawyer — yet what happens there can feed directly into criminal exposure where the stakes are your liberty and your relationship with your kids.

Know who is on the other side

How a firm litigates is part of the public record. If a restraining order is being used tactically against you, it helps to know whether the firm across the table tends to lean on emergency orders and how it handles contested family cases. You can study that pattern from the public docket in our Firm Finder.

This page explains, in general terms, how Connecticut’s restraining-order and protective-order processes work and what rights the law provides. It is information, not legal advice, and every case is different. If you are facing any of this, get a licensed Connecticut attorney or a public defender involved as early as you can. Need help finding one? AVOWAL works with independent licensed attorneys. If you are in immediate danger, call 911.