Civil Restraining Order - New Hampshire Superior Court printable pdf download

Court Service Center

New Hampshire Superior Court

CIVIL RESTRAINING ORDERS

What is a restraining order?

A Civil Restraining Order is a Court Order telling someone to stay away from you or to stop

doing something that affects you, such as phoning you when you’ve asked them to stop

calling. It can also be an order to a person to stop doing something involving your property,

like parking their car on your land.

Police departments often recommend people get civil restraining orders when no criminal laws

have been broken or when you do not want to “press charges”.

You may qualify to request another type of restraining order which gives you more protections.

If so, you would file a different form. Click here for more information on Domestic Violence

Petitions. Click here for more information on Stalking Petitions.

What will I need to file and what will it cost?

You will need to fill out a Complaint

(NHJB-2960-S)

You will need the address of the person you are filing against.

This must be filed in Superior Court in the county where you or the other person lives.

A filing fee will be required at the time of filing. You will also need to pay the Sheriff to serve

the paperwork on the other person.

How do I complete the complaint form?

For the Court Name, put the name of the Superior Court where you are filing.

For the Case Name, put your name v. the name of the other person.

The court will complete the Case Number section.

Complete the address sections for yourself and the other person.

In Section 3 you should explain why you want the restraining order. Tell the judge in detail

what happened and when it happened.

Section 5A – This is the section to write what you want the order to say at the end of the case.

You must sign and date the form in front of a notary. You can find your own notary or you can

have a member of court staff notarize the form. Photo identification is required if you want

court staff to take your oath.

What happens next?

If you did not request an emergency order, you can mail or bring your paperwork and your fee

to the court. Staff will schedule a hearing and notify you by mail.

If you asked for an emergency order, bring your paperwork and fee to the court. Court staff

will take your papers to a judge for immediate review and a decision about whether to make an

emergency order. You will have to wait until a judge is free to look at your paperwork.

You will receive the paperwork you need to bring to the sheriff to have the other side served.

You take this paperwork to the Sheriff’s Department for “Service”. Service is when the Sheriff

gives the papers to the other person. You need to pay the sheriff a fee for this.

(03/14/2016)

Civil Restraining Order - New Hampshire Superior Court