Current through June 1, 2026 · Last verified July 10, 2026
In one sentenceRule 65 sets the procedure for temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions in Colorado, spelling out when courts can act without notice, how long such orders last, and what security and specificity they require before a party's conduct can be restrained.
(1)Notice. No preliminary injunction shall be issued without notice to the adverse party.
(2)Consolidation of Hearing with Trial on Merits. Before or after the commencement of the hearing on an application for a preliminary injunction, the court may order the trial of the action on the merits to be advanced and consolidated with the hearing of the application. Even when this consolidation is not ordered, any evidence received upon an application for a preliminary injunction which would be admissible upon a trial on the merits becomes part of the record on the trial and need not be repeated upon the trial, this subsection (a)(2) shall be so construed and applied as to save the parties any rights they may have to trial by jury.
(b)Temporary Restraining Order; Notice; Hearing; Duration. A temporary restraining order may be granted without written or oral notice to the adverse party or his attorney only if: (1) It clearly appears from specific facts shown by affidavit or by the verified complaint or by testimony that immediate and irreparable injury, loss, or damage will result to the applicant before the adverse party or his attorney can be heard in opposition, and (2) the applicant's attorney certifies to the court in writing or on the record the efforts, if any, which have been made to give the notice and the reasons supporting his claim that notice should not be required. Every temporary restraining order granted without notice shall be endorsed with the date and hour of issuance; shall be filed forthwith in the clerk's office and entered of record; shall define the injury and state why it is irreparable and why the order was granted without notice; and shall expire by its terms within such time after entry not to exceed 14 days, as the court fixes, unless within the time so fixed, the order, for good cause shown, is extended for a like period or unless the party against whom the order is directed consents that it may be extended for a longer period. The reasons for the extension shall be entered of record. In case a temporary restraining order is granted without notice, the motion for a preliminary injunction shall be set down for hearing at the earliest possible time and take precedence of all matters except older matters of the same character; and when the motion comes on for hearing the party who obtained the temporary restraining order shall proceed with the application for a preliminary injunction and, if he does not do so, the court shall dissolve the temporary restraining order. On two (2) business days' notice to the party who obtained the temporary restraining order without notice or on such shorter notice to that party as the court may prescribe, the adverse party may appear and move its dissolution or modification and in that event the court shall proceed to hear and determine such motion as expeditiously as the ends of justice require.
(c)Security. No restraining order or preliminary injunction shall issue except upon the giving of security by the applicant, in such sum as the court deems proper, for the payment of such costs and damages as may be incurred or suffered by any party who is found to have been wrongfully enjoined or restrained. No such security shall be required of the state or of any county or municipal corporation of this state or of any officer or agency thereof acting in official capacity. If at any time it shall appear to the court that security given under this Rule has become impaired or is insufficient, the court may vacate the restraining order or preliminary injunction unless within such time as the court may fix the security be made sufficient.
(d)Form and Scope of Injunction or Restraining Order. Every order granting an injunction and every restraining order shall set forth the reasons for its issuance; shall be specific in terms; shall describe in reasonable detail, and not by reference to the complaint or other document, the act or acts sought to be restrained; and is binding only upon the parties to the action, their officers, agents, servants, employees, and attorneys, and upon those persons in active concert or participation with them who receive actual notice of the order by personal service or otherwise.
(f)Mandatory. If merely restraining the doing of an act or acts will not effectuate the relief to which the moving party is entitled, an injunction may be made mandatory. Such relief may include an injunction restoring to any person any property from which he may have been ousted or deprived of possession by fraud, force, or violence, or from which he may have been kept out of possession by threats or words or actions which have a natural tendency to excite fear or apprehension of danger.
(g)When Relief Granted. Relief under this Rule may also be granted on the motion of any party at any time after an action is commenced and before or in connection with final judgment.
(h)When Inapplicable. This Rule shall not apply to suits for dissolution of marriage, legal separation, maintenance, child support, or custody of minors. In such suits, the court may make prohibitive or mandatory orders, without notice or bond, as may be just.
(i)State Court's Jurisdiction When Suit Commenced in Federal Court; Stay of Proceedings; Notice; Appeal. Whenever a suit praying for an interlocutory injunction shall have been begun in a federal district court to restrain any official or officials of this state from enforcing or administering any statute or administrative order of this state, or to set aside such statute or administrative order, any defendant in such suit or the attorney general of the state may bring a suit to enforce such statute or order in the district court of the state at any time before the hearing on the application for an interlocutory injunction in the suit in the federal court; and the district courts of this state may entertain such suits and the state appellate courts may entertain appeals from judgments therein. When such suit is brought, the district court shall grant a stay of proceedings by any state officer or officers under such statute or order pending the determination of such suit in the courts of this state. Upon the bringing of such suit, the district court shall at once cause a notice thereof together with a copy of the stay order by it granted, to be sent to the federal district court in which the action was originally begun. An appeal may be taken within 14 days after the termination of the suit in the state district court to the appropriate state appellate court and such appeal shall be in every way expedited and set for an early hearing.
Amendment History
Amended effective June 28, 2007; January 1, 2012.
Plain-English Summary
Rule 65 governs the two forms of emergency injunctive relief in Colorado: a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction. A preliminary injunction can issue only after notice to the other side. A temporary restraining order can issue without notice, but only when the moving party shows specific facts proving immediate and irreparable harm and the attorney certifies what notice efforts were made. A restraining order granted without notice expires within 14 days unless extended for a like period for good cause, or longer if the restrained party agrees, and the hearing on the preliminary injunction must be set at the earliest possible time.
Before any restraining order or preliminary injunction takes effect, the applicant must post security to cover the costs and damages of a party later found to have been wrongfully restrained, unless the applicant is the state or a local government acting in its official capacity. Every order must state why it issued, describe the restrained conduct in specific terms rather than by pointing to the complaint, and bind only the named parties, their agents and employees, and others who act in concert with them and receive actual notice.
Relief under Rule 65 is not limited to the start of a case; a party may ask for it at any point before or alongside final judgment. Where restraint alone will not fix the harm, courts can order affirmative action, such as returning property to someone who was forced out of it. The rule does not apply in dissolution, support, or custody proceedings, where a court may still issue restraining orders on whatever terms are just.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction under Rule 65?
A temporary restraining order can be issued without notice to the other side when immediate and irreparable harm is shown, but it expires within 14 days unless extended. A preliminary injunction requires notice and a hearing, and it stays in effect until the case is decided or the court modifies it.
Does a party seeking an injunction have to post a bond?
Yes. Rule 65(c) requires security before a restraining order or preliminary injunction can issue, set in whatever amount the court considers proper to cover costs and damages if the restrained party turns out to have been wrongfully enjoined. The state and local governments acting officially are exempt from this requirement.
Can a Colorado court order someone to do something, rather than just stop doing something, under Rule 65?
Yes. Rule 65(f) allows a mandatory injunction when merely stopping an act will not provide adequate relief, including an order restoring property to someone who was forced out of possession by fraud, force, or threats.
Does Rule 65 apply in divorce or child custody cases?
No. Rule 65(h) excludes suits for dissolution of marriage, legal separation, maintenance, child support, and custody of minors. In those cases, a court may still issue prohibitive or mandatory orders without notice or bond, whenever doing so is just.
Source & verification. The rule text is reproduced verbatim from the
official Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure (Colo. R. Civ. P. 65). Prescribed by the Supreme Court of Colorado (C.R.S. § 13-2-108; Colo. Const. art. VI). The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified July 10, 2026. ·
Official source
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