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Rule 65.Injunctions and restraining orders.

Last verified July 1, 2026

In one sentenceRule 65 governs preliminary injunctions and temporary restraining orders, including when notice is required, what security a movant must post, and how a court enforces an injunction through contempt sanctions.

Full Text of Rule 65

Text sizeJump to: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f)

a Preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order.
1 Notice. Except as provided in Rule 65(b), the court may issue a preliminary injunction or a temporary restraining order only with notice to the adverse party.
2 Consolidating the hearing with the trial on the merits.
A Before or after beginning the hearing on a motion for a preliminary injunction, and with reasonable notice to the parties, the court may advance the trial on the merits and consolidate it with the hearing on the motion.
B If consolidation is ordered after the preliminary injunction hearing begins, the court may continue the matter if necessary to allow adequate time for the parties to complete discovery, and may make other appropriate orders.
C Even if consolidation is not ordered, and subject to any party’s right to a jury trial, evidence that is received on the motion and that would be admissible at trial becomes part of the trial record and need not be repeated at trial.
3 Motion to dissolve or modify. After an answer is filed, a party may file a motion to dissolve or modify a preliminary injunction with notice to the opposing party. Unless the motion is unopposed, the court must hold a hearing and allow the parties to present evidence. If the court determines that there are insufficient grounds for the injunction, or that it is overbroad, the court may dissolve or modify the preliminary injunction.
b Temporary restraining order without notice.
1 Issuing without notice. The court may issue a temporary restraining order without written or oral notice to the adverse party only if:
A specific facts in an affidavit or a verified complaint clearly show that immediate and irreparable injury, loss, or damage will likely result to the movant before the adverse party can be heard in opposition, or that prior notice will likely cause the adverse party to take action resulting in such injury, loss, or damage; and
B the movant’s attorney certifies in writing any efforts made to give notice or the reasons why it should not be required.
2 Contents. Every temporary restraining order issued without notice must:
A state the date and hour it was issued;
B describe the injury and state why it is irreparable;
C state why the order was issued without notice; and
D be promptly filed in the clerk’s office and entered in the record.
3 Expiration. A temporary restraining order issued without notice expires at the time after entry—not to exceed 10 days—that the court sets, unless before that time the court, for good cause, extends it for a like period or the adverse party consents to a longer extension. The reasons for the extension must be entered in the record.
4 Expediting the preliminary injunction hearing. If an order is issued without notice, the motion for a preliminary injunction must be set for hearing at the earliest possible time, taking precedence over all other matters except hearings on older matters of the same character. At the hearing, the party who obtained the order must proceed with the motion. If the party does not, the court must dissolve the order.
5 Motion to dissolve. On two-days’ notice to the party obtaining an order without notice—or on shorter notice set by the court—the adverse party may move to dissolve or modify the order. The court must hear and decide any such motion as promptly as justice requires.
c Security.
1 Generally; on issuance. The court may issue a preliminary injunction or a temporary restraining order only if the movant gives security in such amount as the court considers proper to pay the costs and damages sustained by any party found to have been wrongfully enjoined or restrained. The State of Arizona and its agencies, counties, municipalities, and other governmental entities—and their respective officers—are not required to give security. The provisions of Rule 65.1 apply to a surety on a bond or undertaking under this rule.
2 Injunction restraining collection of money.
A On dissolution pending trial. On dissolution of a preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order restraining the collection of money, if the action is continued over for trial, the court must require the defendant to give security payable to the plaintiff:
i in the amount previously enjoined and any additional amount ordered by the court; and
ii conditioned on refunding to the plaintiff the amount of money, interest and costs that the plaintiff may collect if a permanent injunction is ordered on final hearing.
B Injunction made permanent. If a permanent injunction is ordered on final hearing, on the plaintiff’s motion, the court must enter judgment against the principal and surety giving the security for the amount shown to have been collected and to which the plaintiff appears entitled.
d Contents and scope of injunction or restraining order.
1 Contents. Every order granting an injunction and every restraining order must:
A state the reasons why it issued;
B state its terms specifically; and
C describe in reasonable detail—and not by referring to the complaint or other document—the act or acts restrained or required.
2 Persons bound. An order binds only the following who receive actual notice of it by personal service or otherwise:
A the parties;
B the parties’ officers, agents, servants, employees, and attorneys; and
C other persons who are in active concert or participation with anyone described in Rule 65(d)(2)(A) or (B).
e Venue of a requested injunction or order to stay an action or stay execution of a judgment. A motion or application seeking an injunction or order to stay an action, or to stay execution of judgment, must be filed in the court where the action is pending or the judgment was rendered.
f Procedure for obtaining sanctions; order to show cause.
1 Generally. The court may issue sanctions for civil contempt, or for criminal contempt as allowed by law, against a party or person who violates an injunction.
2 Application; affidavit. A party alleging that any party or person has violated an injunction may file an application for an order to show cause. A supporting affidavit describing the acts that violate the injunction must accompany the application.
3 Order to show cause. The court may issue an order to show cause based on the application and supporting affidavit. The order to show cause:
A may set a date for any written response to the application; and
B before sanctions are ordered, must require the party or person alleged to have violated the injunction to appear and respond at the time and place ordered by the court.
4 Service. No later than 10 days before any hearing, the party or person charged with contempt must be personally served with the order to show cause and a copy of the affidavit in the manner provided for service of a summons or pleading under Rule 4, 4.1, or 4.2, as applicable, or, if the party to whom the order is directed has entered an appearance in the action, in accordance with Rule 5(c).
5 Hearing. At any order to show cause hearing, the court may consider affidavits and other evidence as allowed by Rule 43(f). The court need not hold an evidentiary hearing unless there is a genuine dispute of material fact, but a person or party charged with criminal contempt may be entitled to a jury trial as provided by law.
6 Sanctions — generally. If at the order to show cause hearing, the court finds that a party or person violated the injunction, the court may set a separate hearing to determine appropriate remedies and sanctions under the law of civil and criminal contempt. Sanctions may include imposing a fine or jail. If the court orders a party or person to be fined or jailed for civil contempt and if the contempt can be purged by complying with the court’s orders, the court must give that party or person the opportunity to purge the contempt by complying with the court’s order or as the court otherwise orders.
7 Sanctions for failing to appear. The following additional sanctions may be ordered for a party or person failing to appear at the order to show cause hearing:
A the court may issue a civil arrest warrant and, if the party or person is arrested, the court must set a reasonable bail to secure the party’s or person’s appearance at any future hearing; and
B if the party or person charged with contempt is a corporation, the court may attach and sequester assets of the corporation pending further court order.

Amendment History

Promulgated by R-16-0010, effective January 1, 2017.

Plain-English Summary

A court generally may not issue a preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order without giving the adverse party notice, though it can consolidate the preliminary injunction hearing with a full trial on the merits if it gives the parties reasonable notice first. A temporary restraining order without any notice is available only in narrow circumstances: the movant must show through affidavit or verified complaint that immediate, irreparable harm will occur before the adverse party can be heard, or that advance notice would itself trigger that harm, and the movant's attorney must certify what efforts were made to give notice. An order issued without notice must state when it issued, describe the irreparable injury, explain why notice wasn't given, and expires within 10 days unless extended for good cause or by the adverse party's consent — and any party who obtained the order must move promptly for a preliminary injunction hearing or the court will dissolve it.

Before issuing any injunction or restraining order, the court must require the movant to post security to cover costs and damages if the order turns out to have been wrongful, though the state and its subdivisions are exempt from that requirement. Every injunction must state its reasons, describe the restrained or required conduct in specific detail rather than by cross-reference, and binds only the parties, their agents and employees, and others acting in concert with them once they receive actual notice. If someone violates an injunction, the aggrieved party can apply for an order to show cause, supported by an affidavit describing the violation; the court then holds a hearing and, if it finds a violation, can impose civil or criminal contempt sanctions, including a fine, jail, or — for someone who fails to appear at the show-cause hearing — a civil arrest warrant.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a court issue a restraining order without notifying the other side first?

Only in limited circumstances: the movant must show specific facts establishing immediate, irreparable harm before the adverse party can be heard, or that notice itself would cause that harm, and the movant's attorney must certify the efforts made to give notice.

How long does a temporary restraining order issued without notice last?

No more than 10 days after entry, unless the court extends it for good cause or the adverse party consents to a longer extension.

Do I have to post a bond to get a preliminary injunction?

Generally yes, in an amount the court sets to cover costs and damages if a party is later found to have been wrongfully enjoined, though the state and its subdivisions don't have to post security.

What happens if someone violates an injunction?

The aggrieved party can apply for an order to show cause, and if the court finds a violation after a hearing, it may impose civil or criminal contempt sanctions, including a fine or jail time.

Source & verification. The rule text and History are reproduced verbatim from the official Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure (Ariz. R. Civ. P. 65). Prescribed by the Supreme Court of Arizona (Ariz. Const. art. 6, § 5). The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified July 1, 2026. · Official source
Also known as: injunction ruleTRO rulerestraining order rule