Restraining Orders

An emergency ex parte order of protection, which can be issued at the request of law enforcement, can do any of the following:

• forbid the abuser from engaging in further acts of abuse, or from threatening to commit acts of abuse, against you or any of your household members;
• forbid the abuser from contacting you in any way; and
• grant you temporary custody your children.¹

A temporary protection order can:

1. forbid the abuser from contacting you in any way, except through your lawyer if you have one;
2. forbid the abuser from abusing you or your household members;
3. forbid the abuser from asking or causing anyone else to abuse you or your household members;
4. order the abuser to stay away from you, your home, school and work;
5. grant you temporary custody your children and order the abuser to have no contact with them, or arrange for a way for the children to be in contact with the abuser;
6. order both you and the petitioner to not remove your children from the state or disenroll them from school while the temporary order is in effect;
7. award child support and temporary support for you when appropriate;
8. order the abuser to leave the home and surrender keys to the home to law enforcement, or allow law enforcement to accompany you to get your belongings if you are leaving the home;
9. forbid the abuser from posting or causing anyone else to post anything about you, your children, or your family members on social media;
10. forbid the abuser from disconnecting the utilities at your house; and
11. forbid the abuser from selling or disposing of money or property (assets) owned either by you or jointly, other than for necessities or in the normal course of business.²

A permanent protection order can grant you the protections in numbers one through five, seven through nine, and 11 above, and it can also do the following:

• order the abuser to pay for any expenses related to the domestic abuse, including medical bills, counseling, replacement or repair of your damaged property, lost wages, and the cost of temporary shelter;
• order the abuser to attend counseling sessions; Note: The court may also order you to attend counseling for victims;
• order the abuser to provide a temporary home for you if the judge is not giving you sole possession of the shared home; and
• order the abuser to hand over any firearms in his/her possession to the authorities and forbid him/her from buying firearms.³

Whether a judge orders any or all of the above depends on the facts of your case.

If you fled from the home you share with the abuser, you can ask a local law enforcement officer to help put you back into the home if the order removes the abuser from that home.  Police can also help carry out any other item granted in your protection order.⁴

¹ N.M. Stat. § 40-13-3.2(C)​
² See New Mexico Courts website, temporary order of protection form
³ N.M. Stat. § ​40-13-5(A); see also New Mexico Courts website, order of protection form
⁴ N.M. Stat. § 40-13-7