(a) When relevant information is presented to the court at any noticed hearing that a restrained person has a firearm, the court shall consider that information to determine, by a preponderance of the evidence, whether the person subject to an order defined in Section 527.6, 527.8, or 527.85 or Section 15657.03 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, has a firearm in or subject to their immediate possession or control in violation of the order.
§ 527.11.Determination that Restrained Person Has a Firearm In Violation of Order
Title 7. Other Provisional Remedies In Civil Actions · Chapter 3. Injunction · Enacted 2024 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 527.11 requires a court, when told at a hearing on a civil harassment, workplace violence, or related restraining order that the restrained person has a firearm, to decide by a preponderance of the evidence whether that person possesses or controls a firearm in violation of the order.
Full Text of § 527.11
(1) In making a determination under this section, the court may consider whether the restrained person filed a firearm relinquishment, storage, or sales receipt or if an exemption from the firearm prohibition was granted.
(2) The court may make the determination at any noticed hearing where a restraining order is issued, at a subsequent review hearing, or at any subsequent hearing while the order remains in effect.
(3) If the court makes a determination that the restrained person has a firearm in violation of the order, the court must make a written record of the determination and provide a copy to any party who is present at the hearing and, upon request, to any party not present at the hearing.
(1) When presented with information under subdivision (a), the court may set a review hearing to determine whether a violation of the order has taken place.
(2) The review hearing should be held within 10 court days after the noticed hearing at which the information was presented. If the restrained person is not present when the court sets the review hearing, the protected person must provide notice of the review hearing to the restrained person at least two court days before the review hearing, in accordance with Section 414.10, by personal service or by mail to the restrained person's last known address.
(3) The court may for good cause extend the date of the review hearing for a reasonable period or remove it from the calendar.
(4) The court shall order the restrained person to appear at the review hearing.
(5) The court may conduct the review hearing in the absence of the protected person.
(6) This section does not prohibit the court from permitting a party or witness to appear through technology that enables remote appearances, as determined by the court.
(e) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2026.
Plain-English Summary
Section 527.11 addresses what happens when a court learns, during a noticed hearing on a restraining order, that the restrained person may be holding onto a firearm despite an order that bars it. It applies across several related protective-order statutes — civil harassment orders under § 527.6, workplace violence orders under § 527.8, orders under § 527.85, and elder or dependent adult abuse orders under Welfare and Institutions Code § 15657.03.
When that kind of information comes up, the court must weigh it and decide, by a preponderance of the evidence, whether the restrained person has a firearm in or subject to their immediate possession or control in violation of the order. The court can consider things like whether the person filed a firearm relinquishment, storage, or sale receipt, or received an exemption from the firearm prohibition. That determination doesn't have to happen at the original hearing — it can come up at a review hearing the court sets specifically to look into it, or at any later hearing while the order remains active.
If the court sets a dedicated review hearing, it should generally happen within 10 court days, the restrained person must be ordered to appear, and the court can hold the hearing even if the protected person isn't present. A finding that the restrained person has an illegal firearm gets documented in writing and can feed into a contempt proceeding or a request for monetary sanctions elsewhere in the Code.
Frequently Asked Questions
What kinds of restraining orders does § 527.11 apply to?
What standard does the court use to decide if someone has an illegal firearm?
A preponderance of the evidence — the ordinary civil standard, not the higher clear-and-convincing standard used to issue the underlying restraining order.
Does the court have to rule on this at the original hearing?
No. The court can make the determination at the original noticed hearing, at a review hearing it sets for that purpose, or at any later hearing while the order is still in effect.
What happens if the court finds a violation?
The court must make a written record of the finding, and that finding can support a later contempt proceeding or a request for monetary sanctions.
Amendment History
Added by Stats 2024 ch 544 (SB 899),s 4, eff. 1/1/2025.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 28, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: firearm violation restraining order californiarestrained person has gun california