Served With a Restraining Order in Atlanta? How TPOs Work and How to Respond

Reviewed by Manny Arora, Arora Law, Atlanta, GA. Last reviewed: June 2026.

Summary: A restraining order in Atlanta, formally a Temporary Protective Order or TPO, is a civil order a Fulton County judge can sign before you ever speak. In other words, the complainant gets to speak to the judge alone and can get a TPO issued. The sheriff will then serve you with the TPO and provide a hearing date. The TPO limits your contact with the complaining party. What you do between now and that hearing affects your record, your home, and your rights.

Key Takeaways:

• A hearing is already coming: Once you’re served, the court must hold a full hearing within 30 days, and that hearing decides everything.
• Civil order, criminal teeth: Breaking a protective order is a misdemeanor in Georgia, with jail time and a fine on the table.
• A judge can restrict you before your side is heard: The first order is granted ex parte, meaning you weren’t in the room.
• The stakes reach your home and your guns: A final order can remove you from a shared home, affect custody, and require you to surrender firearms.
• Your first move matters: Contacting the person who filed can turn a civil case into a new criminal charge.

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The papers arrive in the worst way. A deputy hands them to you at your door, or you find them waiting after a shift. The order says no contact, stay away, and a Fulton County court date is set for next week. You weren’t in the room when a judge signed it, and your home, your kids, and your firearms suddenly feel like they’re on the line.

You are not the only person in Atlanta holding one of these orders this week. Georgia law enforcement agencies reported 42,184 family violence incidents in 2024, according to the Georgia Commission on Family Violence, and many of those cases run straight through the protective order system. A restraining order in Atlanta can reshape your daily life fast, which is why the next few days matter.

What a Restraining Order in Atlanta Actually Means for You

A restraining order in Atlanta, or Georgia, formally a Temporary Protective Order (TPO), is a civil court order that limits your contact and movement. A Fulton County judge can bar you from calling, texting, or going near the person who filed, their home, or their job, often before you’ve said a word in your defense.

Civil means it sits on the family-law side of the court, not the criminal side. You don’t have to be charged with or convicted of anything for one to issue. That said, once an order is in place, breaking it becomes a criminal matter. So a civil order can pull you straight into criminal court.

TPO, Restraining Order, Protective Order: What’s the Difference?

People say “restraining order.” Georgia courts say “protective order.” A TPO, or Temporary Protective Order, is the version that starts the case and holds until your hearing. The words point at the same thing: a judge ordering you to stay away from someone.

In Fulton County, the distinction is more than wording. The Family Division handles protective orders, not the civil “restraining orders” people often picture from other contexts. Here’s how the terms sort out:

Term	What it really means	When it applies
Restraining order	The everyday phrase people use	Any order telling someone to stop
Protective order (TPO)	The safety order under the Family Violence Act	Family violence, stalking, or threats
Divorce standing order	Locks the financial status quo during a divorce	Pending divorce cases only

The order against you is almost certainly a TPO under the Family Violence Act.

The Three Types of Protective Orders in Georgia

Georgia recognizes three protective orders: family violence, stalking, and employer. Which one you’re facing depends entirely on your relationship to the person who filed. Knowing which applies tells you what they have to prove against you.

Family Violence Protective Orders

This order covers people with a close relationship. Georgia’s definition of family violence reaches current and former spouses, parents of the same child, parents and children, stepparents and stepchildren, foster parents and foster children, and people who live or used to live in the same household. Most TPOs in Atlanta fall here.

Stalking Protective Orders

No close relationship? The petitioner has to use the stalking law instead. It applies to following, watching, or contacting someone without consent in a way meant to harass or frighten. Contact counts by phone, text, email, social media, or showing up in person.

Employer Protective Orders

This one is narrow. Only an employer can file it, and only to protect an employee from violence at work. For most people served with an order, it won’t apply, but the category exists.

How the Order Against You Was Issued

The person who filed went to court, described what they say happened, and asked a judge for protection. Georgia law lets the judge sign an ex parte order the same day, without you present. “Ex parte” means one side. That temporary order holds until your hearing.

The County Sheriff’s office then serves you, which is how you got the papers. Service also sets the clock: the court must hold your full hearing within about ten days, and no later than 30 days after filing, or the petition is dismissed. So your hearing date is the most important line on the page.

If your case is in Fulton County: The Family Division handles these as protective orders, and your hearing is set within 30 days. The court’s Safe Families Office gives the person who filed a free lawyer through the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation, which is one reason to line up your own.

What Happens at Your Hearing, and How to Prepare

At the hearing, both you and the petitioner appear before the judge. They carry the burden: they must prove the family violence or stalking by a preponderance of the evidence, which means more likely than not. You can present your own evidence, question theirs, and tell your side.

The hearing decides whether a longer order issues and what it contains. Walking in without preparation is the most common mistake we see. A clear, organized response changes how the day goes.

Evidence That Helps Your Side

Bring proof that gives the full picture, organized and ready:

• Your own texts, emails, or call logs that add context to theirs
• Names and contact details for witnesses who saw what happened
• Records showing where you were, if the timeline is wrong
• Documents, photos, or receipts that contradict specific claims
• Any prior court paperwork between you and the petitioner

Under Georgia’s protective order law, a judge who grants a final order can do more than say “no contact.” The order can remove you from a shared home, set temporary custody and support, and require the surrender of your firearms.

How Long the Order Lasts, and What Happens If You Violate It

An ex parte order holds until your hearing, up to 30 days. A final family violence protective order can last up to one year. On a later motion and a second hearing, the court can extend it up to three years or make it permanent. So the temporary order is the start, not the ceiling.

Breaking the order is a crime, not a paperwork slip. Under Georgia law, violating a family violence protective order is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to 12 months in jail and a $1,000 fine, and police can arrest you on probable cause alone.

Repeat or aggravated violations can be charged as a felony. The order also enters Georgia’s statewide registry, so any officer can see it.

Feature	Ex Parte (Temporary)	Final (After Hearing)
How it’s granted	Judge signs based on the petition alone	Judge rules after both sides are heard
How long it lasts	Up to 30 days, until the hearing	Up to one year, extendable to three or permanent
Were you heard first?	No	Yes
In the statewide registry?	Yes, once entered	Yes

Read the table as two stages of one case: the emergency order first, the lasting order second.

What to Do Right Now If You’ve Been Served

Do not contact the petitioner. Not to explain, not to apologize, not through a friend. As an Atlanta criminal defense firm, Arora Law sees the same mistake over and over: people who reach out to smooth things over and hand the other side fresh evidence, or a new criminal charge.

Read the order line by line and note exactly what it bars. If it orders you out of a shared home, do not go back. Write down your hearing date, start gathering your evidence, and talk to a defense lawyer quickly. The hearing can affect your home, your children, and your right to own a firearm, and you only get one shot at it.

Talk to an Atlanta Restraining Order Defense Attorney at Arora Law

The papers came without warning, and the hearing is days away. A protective order can turn into criminal exposure fast: a violation charge, a firearms surrender, an arrest. That is the side of these cases Arora Law knows well.

Arora Law is an Atlanta criminal defense firm that defends people served with a restraining order and anyone facing the criminal fallout of a TPO. Reach out to talk through your situation and how to respond before your hearing.