Kentucky restraining orders: no ten-day clock, but three events that end them

Almost every state caps a restraining order granted without notice at ten, fourteen or fifteen days. Kentucky does not. It ends the order by event instead of by calendar, which means the date to watch is not on the order at all.

Three events, whichever comes first

Rule 65.03(5):

Unless it provides an earlier termination date, a restraining order shall remain in force until, and not after, (a) the time set for a hearing on a motion to dissolve the restraining order unless there is then pending a motion for a temporary injunction, or (b) the entry of an order on a motion for a temporary injunction, or (c) the entry of a final judgment, whichever is earlier.

Read the exception inside (a). A restraining order does not expire at the dissolution hearing if a motion for a temporary injunction is then pending — in that case it runs on to (b), the order on that motion.

So the practical sequence for an applicant is: get the restraining order, then file the motion for a temporary injunction promptly, because that filing is what keeps the order alive past the first hearing.

For the restrained party, the same sequence read backwards is the argument: if no temporary injunction motion is pending when the dissolution hearing is set, the order ends there by its own terms.

The opening words matter too — "unless it provides an earlier termination date." A court can put a date on the order, and often will. Read the order before relying on the rule.

Binding when served, or when you are told

Rule 65.03(5) also fixes the moment the order bites:

A restraining order becomes effective and binding on the party to be restrained at the time of service or when he is informed of the order, whichever is earlier.

"Whichever is earlier." A party who learns of the order by telephone is bound from that moment, before any paper arrives. That cuts against the instinct to keep acting until formally served.

Service itself runs through the summons machinery. Rule 65.03(4) requires that a copy "be delivered to a person authorized to serve a summons," who "shall forthwith serve the order as provided by Rule 4.04, and forthwith make return thereof on the order." If the order issues at the commencement of the action, a copy is served with the summons.

Four officers, in order

Rule 65.03(2) is the most unusual provision in the rule. A restraining order may be granted:

(a) by a judge of the circuit court in which the action is pending, (b) by a district judge of that judicial district if no judge of that circuit court is present in the county, (c) by a district trial commissioner of that county if he is an attorney and if neither a judge of the circuit court in which the action is pending nor a district judge of that judicial district is present in the county, or (d) by any circuit judge if no judge of the circuit court in which the action is pending is present in his judicial circuit.

A four-step ladder, each rung conditioned on the one above being unavailable — and note the qualification on the third: a district trial commissioner may act only if he is an attorney.

Two more provisions make the ladder workable. Disqualification counts as absence:

For the purposes of this paragraph a disqualification or disability preventing a judge from acting shall be considered as tantamount to an absence from his judicial circuit.

And the applicant has to prove the rung:

Before a restraining order may be granted or dissolved by one other than a judge of the circuit court in which the action is pending, the party applying for such relief shall show by his affidavit the absence, disqualification, or disability of the circuit judge or judges and the fact that no judge has refused such relief.

That last clause is the anti-shopping provision. The affidavit must state not only who was unavailable but that no judge has refused the relief. An applicant turned down by one judge cannot climb the ladder to find another.

District court cannot grant injunctive relief

Rule 65.01 sets out the three forms of relief — restraining order, temporary injunction, and permanent injunction in a final judgment — and draws a jurisdictional line:

Injunctive relief shall not be granted in any action in the district court except as specifically authorized by statute.

So the circuit court is the forum unless a statute says otherwise. The same rule distinguishes what the two tools can do: "A restraining order shall only restrict the doing of an act. An injunction may restrict or mandatorily direct the doing of an act."

If you need someone ordered to do something rather than to stop, a restraining order is the wrong instrument, whatever the urgency.

Findings are mandatory on a temporary injunction

Rule 65.04(5):

In granting, denying, or modifying a temporary injunction, the court shall set forth findings of fact and conclusions of law which constitute the grounds of its action, as required by Rule 52.01.

"Shall," and it applies to a denial as much as to a grant. A losing applicant is entitled to reasons, and a winning party should be prepared to help draft them.

A temporary injunction "becomes effective and binding on the party enjoined when the order is entered" — the entry, not service — and "shall remain in force until modified or dissolved on motion or until a permanent injunction is granted or denied."

The bond, and the twenty days that come with it

Rule 65.05(1) makes a bond a condition of any restraining order or temporary injunction and adds a detail most states omit: "The address of the surety shall be shown on the bond."

That address is not housekeeping. Under Rule 65.05(2) the surety "submits himself to the jurisdiction of the court" and its liability "may be enforced on motion without the necessity of an independent action" — and:

The motion shall be served on the surety as provided by Rule 5 at least 20 days prior to the date of the hearing thereon.

Twenty days' notice to the surety, which is longer than most states require and needs to be built into the schedule of any claim on the bond.

The enjoined party has a lever of its own under Rule 65.05(3): a motion for additional security, and if the surety or the amount is insufficient, "the court may vacate the restraining order or temporary injunction, unless in a reasonable time sufficient security is given."

Enforcement is by rule and attachment

Rule 65.06:

Upon a showing by affidavit or other evidence of the breach of a restraining order or injunction, the circuit judge may proceed by rule and attachment against the person committing the breach.

Compliance may be compelled or disobedience punished as contempt by the judge of the court where the action is pending, or by any circuit judge if that judge is disqualified or absent from the district. Injunctions granted by an appellate court under RAP 20 are enforced by that court instead.

A short checklist

If you are applying:

1. File in circuit court. District court cannot grant injunctive relief without a statute.
2. Pick the right instrument. A restraining order can only stop conduct; an injunction can compel it.
3. File the temporary injunction motion promptly — a pending motion is what carries the restraining order past the dissolution hearing.
4. If you go to a substitute officer, file the affidavit showing absence and that no judge has refused.
5. Put the surety's address on the bond, as Rule 65.05(1) requires.
6. Expect findings on any temporary injunction ruling, and be ready to propose them.

If you are restrained:

1. Assume you are bound the moment you are told, not when you are served.
2. Check whether a temporary injunction motion is pending. If none is, the order ends at the hearing.
3. Move for additional security if the bond or surety is thin; the court may vacate the order.
4. Read the order for an earlier termination date before relying on the rule's default.

Where these rules live

• Ky. R. Civ. P. 65.01 — Injunctive relief
• Ky. R. Civ. P. 65.03 — Restraining order
• Ky. R. Civ. P. 65.04 — Temporary injunction
• Ky. R. Civ. P. 65.05 — Restraining order and injunction bond
• Ky. R. Civ. P. 65.06 — Enforcement
• Responding to a Kentucky complaint
• Kentucky motion to dismiss
• Kentucky summary judgment

This page explains what the rules say. It isn't legal advice, and the statutes that authorize injunctive relief in district court are not carried on this site.