Written & reviewed by External Legal AI · Updated June 26, 2026
In most everyday situations, 'protective order' and 'restraining order' describe the same thing: a court order telling one person to stay away from and stop contacting another. The name changes with the state — order of protection, injunction against harassment, abuse prevention order — but the machinery is similar everywhere. The distinction that actually matters is civil versus criminal, and temporary versus final.
States pick their own labels. New York issues 'orders of protection,' California issues 'restraining orders,' Texas issues 'protective orders,' Arizona has 'injunctions against harassment' — all civil orders a person can ask a court for. Some states reserve 'restraining order' for general civil disputes and use 'protective order' for abuse cases, which is where the confusion comes from.
A civil protective order is one you petition for yourself, and it exists whether or not anyone is charged with a crime. A criminal no-contact order is different: a judge issues it as a condition of bail or sentencing in a criminal case, the prosecutor's office controls it, and it usually ends when the case does. The two can exist at the same time about the same person.
Courts can issue a temporary order the same day it's requested, without the other person present, when the petition shows immediate danger. These short-term orders typically last one to three weeks — just long enough to hold things in place until a full hearing where both sides can appear.
After a hearing, a judge can enter a final order lasting one to five years in most states (longer or permanent in some), renewable before it expires. Orders commonly require no contact of any kind, set stay-away distances from home, work, and school, award temporary custody, and require the restrained person to surrender firearms — federal law separately bars gun possession while a qualifying order is in effect.
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