Rule 65.Injunctions and Restraining Orders

Last amended December 1, 2009 · Last verified June 30, 2026

In one sentenceRule 65 governs preliminary injunctions and temporary restraining orders: a TRO may issue briefly and, in narrow circumstances, without notice; every injunction must state its terms specifically; and the movant generally must post security.

Full Text of Rule 65

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

(a) Preliminary Injunction.

(1) Notice. The court may issue a preliminary injunction only on notice to the adverse party.

(2) Consolidating the Hearing with the Trial on the Merits. Before or after beginning the hearing on a motion for a preliminary injunction, the court may advance the trial on the merits and consolidate it with the hearing. Even when consolidation is not ordered, 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. But the court must preserve any party's right to a jury trial.

(b) Temporary Restraining Order.

(1) Issuing Without Notice. The court may issue a temporary restraining order without written or oral notice to the adverse party or its attorney only if:

(A) specific facts in an affidavit or a verified complaint clearly show that immediate and irreparable injury, loss, or damage will result to the movant before the adverse party can be heard in opposition; and

(B) the movant's attorney certifies in writing any efforts made to give notice and the reasons why it should not be required.

(2) Contents; Expiration. Every temporary restraining order issued without notice must state the date and hour it was issued; describe the injury and state why it is irreparable; state why the order was issued without notice; and be promptly filed in the clerk's office and entered in the record. The order expires at the time after entry—not to exceed 14 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 an extension must be entered in the record.

(3) Expediting the Preliminary-Injunction Hearing. If the 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.

(4) Motion to Dissolve. On 2 days' notice to the party who obtained the order without notice—or on shorter notice set by the court—the adverse party may appear and move to dissolve or modify the order. The court must then hear and decide the motion as promptly as justice requires.

(c) Security. The court may issue a preliminary injunction or a temporary restraining order only if the movant gives security in an amount that the court considers proper to pay the costs and damages sustained by any party found to have been wrongfully enjoined or restrained. The United States, its officers, and its agencies are not required to give security.

(d) Contents and Scope of Every Injunction and 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. The 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

(e) Other Laws Not Modified. These rules do not modify the following:

(1) any federal statute relating to temporary restraining orders or preliminary injunctions in actions affecting employer and employee;

(2) 28 U.S.C. § 2361, which relates to preliminary injunctions in actions of interpleader or in the nature of interpleader; or

(3) 28 U.S.C. § 2284, which relates to actions that must be heard and decided by a three-judge district court.

(f) Copyright Impoundment. This rule applies to copyright-impoundment proceedings.

End

Amendment History

(Amended December 27, 1946, effective March 19, 1948; December 29, 1948, effective October 20, 1949; February 28, 1966, effective July 1, 1966; March 2, 1987, effective August 1, 1987; April 23, 2001, effective December 1, 2001; April 30, 2007, effective December 1, 2007; March 26, 2009, effective December 1, 2009.)

Plain-English Summary

Rule 65 is the procedure for stopping conduct before a case is decided. A preliminary injunction may be issued only on notice to the adverse party, after the court weighs the familiar factors for emergency relief. A temporary restraining order can come faster: it may issue without notice only if specific facts in an affidavit or verified complaint show immediate and irreparable injury before the other side can be heard, and the movant’s attorney certifies any efforts to give notice or why notice should not be required.

A TRO granted without notice is tightly limited — it expires within 14 days unless the court extends it for good cause or the adverse party consents, and the motion for a preliminary injunction takes priority. The court may also consolidate the injunction hearing with a trial on the merits. The movant generally must give security (a bond) in an amount the court sets to pay costs and damages if the restraint turns out to be wrongful. An injunction must state its reasons and terms specifically and describe the restrained acts, and it binds the parties, their agents, and those acting in concert with them who receive notice.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a temporary restraining order?

A short-term order that preserves the status quo until the court can hear a preliminary-injunction motion; it may issue without notice only on a showing of immediate, irreparable injury (Rule 65(b)).

How long does a TRO last?

A TRO issued without notice expires within 14 days unless the court extends it for good cause or the adverse party consents (Rule 65(b)(2)).

Does a preliminary injunction require a bond?

Generally yes. Rule 65(c) requires the movant to give security in an amount the court sets to cover costs and damages to a party wrongfully restrained.

Source & verification. The rule text and amendment history are reproduced verbatim from the official Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (Fed. R. Civ. P. 65), a public-domain work of the U.S. Government. Prescribed by the United States Supreme Court under the Rules Enabling Act. The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified June 30, 2026. · Official source

Also known as: FRCP 65Fed. R. Civ. P. 65preliminary injunctiontemporary restraining orderTROinjunction bond