Rule 3.1160.Requests for protective orders to prevent civil harassment, workplace violence, private postsecondary school violence, retail crime, and elder or dependent adult abuse

Rule 3.1160 is the procedural rulebook for California’s family of civil protective-order statutes — civil harassment and workplace-violence orders under Code of Civil Procedure sections 527.6 and 527.8, private postsecondary school violence orders under section 527.85, retail crime orders under Penal Code section 490.8, and elder or dependent adult abuse orders under Welfare and Institutions Code section 15657.03. Unlike most law-and-motion matters, these requests do not need a supporting memorandum unless the court orders one — the standard Judicial Council forms are built to carry the request on their own, consistent with Rule 3.1114’s broader list of memorandum-free filings.

Service has to be personal, using the same method as service of a summons in a civil action, and it has to happen at least five days before the hearing unless the court shortens that time for good cause. The person the request is directed at can respond in writing, orally, or both; a written response served on the petitioner (or the petitioner’s attorney) at least two days before the hearing forecloses a continuance based on that response — except in retail crime cases under Penal Code section 490.8, where that limit does not apply. Beyond that, a respondent can still ask for a continuance on a separate showing of good cause, and if the court grants one, any temporary restraining order already in place stays in effect through the continued hearing unless the court orders otherwise.