Louisiana injunctions: the hearing has an outside date, and it is ten days

Louisiana procedure · Last verified August 17, 2026

Most states tell a court to hear an injunction application "at the earliest possible time." Louisiana puts a number on both ends of that, and the number at the far end is ten days.

Not less than two, nor more than ten

Article 3602:

A preliminary injunction shall not issue unless notice is given to the adverse party and an opportunity had for a hearing. An application for a preliminary injunction shall be assigned for hearing not less than two nor more than ten days after service of the notice.

Two limits, running in opposite directions, and both are worth knowing.

The floor protects the defendant. The hearing cannot be assigned sooner than two days after service, so a party facing an injunction has at least that long to prepare.

The ceiling protects the plaintiff. The hearing cannot be pushed past ten days. That is unusual — in most states an injunction application competes for a slot on a crowded docket, and "the earliest possible time" can mean weeks.

Count from service of the notice, not from filing and not from the order setting the hearing.

A restraining order lasts ten days, and can be renewed ten days at a time

Article 3604(A):

A temporary restraining order shall be endorsed with the date and hour of issuance; shall be filed in the clerk's office and entered of record; shall state why the order was granted without notice and hearing; and shall expire by its terms within such time after entry, not to exceed ten days, as the court prescribes. A restraining order, for good cause shown, and at any time before its expiration, may be extended by the court for one or more periods not exceeding ten days each.

Note "one or more periods." Most states allow a single extension for a like period and then stop. Louisiana allows successive ten-day extensions, each on good cause shown and each sought before the current order expires. There is no stated ceiling on the number.

That timing point is the trap. A restraining order that has already lapsed cannot be extended; it has to be applied for again. Diary the expiration, not the extension.

"The reasons for each extension shall be entered of record," so the good cause has to be articulated each time, not carried forward from the first application.

Divorce and protective-order restraining orders run on different clocks

The ten-day rule is displaced in the two situations where these orders matter most.

In a divorce suit, Article 3604(B) provides that a restraining order issued with a rule to show cause for a preliminary injunction "shall remain in force until a hearing is held on the rule for the preliminary injunction" where it prohibits a spouse from:

(1) Disposing of or encumbering community property; (2) Harming the other spouse or a child; or (3) Removing a child from the jurisdiction of the court.

No ten-day expiry, and no need to seek an extension — the order runs to the hearing.

For protective orders, Article 3604(C)(1) sets a different figure:

A temporary restraining order issued in conjunction with a rule to show cause for a protective order filed in an action pursuant to the Protection from Family Violence Act, R.S.46:2121 et seq., and pursuant to the Protection From Dating Violence Act, R.S.46:2151, shall remain in force until a hearing is held on the rule for the protective order or for thirty days, whichever occurs first.

Thirty days, or the hearing, whichever comes first — and where a hearing officer hears the initial rule, the order stays in force for fifteen days after that hearing or until the judge signs the protective order, whichever occurs last.

Being kept out of your own property is enough on its own

Article 3603(D) supplies a shortcut that has no counterpart in most states:

The plaintiff's assertion by affidavit that the plaintiff is being denied the use or enjoyment of immovable property in which the plaintiff has an ownership, possessory, or lease interest by a person without a legal interest in the property shall be sufficient to justify the issuance of a temporary restraining order without notice.

The affidavit is "sufficient to justify" the order. The usual showing — immediate and irreparable injury before the other side can be heard — is satisfied by the assertion itself in this one category.

And under Article 3601(F)(1), no security is required for an order "seeking removal of a person from immovable property in which the person does not have a legal interest."

Attorney's fees are part of the damages

Article 3608:

The court may allow damages for the wrongful issuance of a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction on a motion to dissolve or on a reconventional demand. Attorney's fees for the services rendered in connection with the dissolution of a restraining order or preliminary injunction may be included as an element of damages whether the restraining order or preliminary injunction is dissolved on motion or after trial on the merits.

Most states allow damages against the bond and stop there. Louisiana makes attorney's fees an element of those damages, and says so twice over — whether the order falls on a motion to dissolve or only after trial.

Two routes to raise it: a motion to dissolve, or a reconventional demand. A defendant who intends to seek fees should keep the time spent on the dissolution separately recorded, because that is the work the article describes.

Security, and the applicants who need none

Article 3610 makes security a condition of issuance:

A temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction shall not issue unless the applicant furnishes security in the amount fixed by the court, except where security is dispensed with by law.

Then it carves out the cases where the requirement would defeat the point:

However, no security is required when the applicant for a temporary restraining order or preliminary or permanent injunction is seeking protection from domestic abuse, dating violence, stalking, or sexual assault.

No appeal from a restraining order — and fifteen days on the injunction

Article 3612 splits the two:

A. There shall be no appeal from an order relating to a temporary restraining order. B. An appeal may be taken as a matter of right from an order or judgment relating to a preliminary or final injunction, but such an order or judgment shall not be suspended during the pendency of an appeal unless the court in its discretion so orders.

And the deadline is short:

An appeal from an order or judgment relating to a preliminary injunction must be taken, and any bond required must be furnished, within fifteen days from the date of the order or judgment.

Fifteen days, running from the date of the order — not from notice of judgment, and not the delays that govern ordinary appeals. The bond has to be furnished inside the same window.

Note also that the appeal does not suspend the injunction unless the court so orders. Winning the right to appeal does not buy relief from the order in the meantime.

Contempt, and undoing what was done

Article 3611 goes further than a contempt citation:

Disobedience of or resistance to a temporary restraining order or preliminary or final injunction is punishable as a contempt of court. The court may cause to be undone or destroyed whatever may be done in violation of an injunction, and the person aggrieved thereby may recover the damages sustained as a result of the violation.

So a party that builds the wall, cuts the trees or transfers the property in the teeth of an injunction is not merely exposed to a fine. The court can order the thing undone or destroyed, and the aggrieved party has a damages claim on top.

A short checklist

If you are applying:

Count the hearing window from service — not less than two, not more than ten days.
Diary the restraining order's expiration, and move to extend before it lapses.
State fresh good cause for each extension; the reasons go on the record every time.
Budget for security unless your case is one the article exempts.
In a divorce or protective-order matter, check which clock applies — the ten-day rule may not.
Serve affidavits at least twenty-four hours before a hearing on affidavits, as Article 3609 requires.

If you are restrained:

Move to dissolve on two days' notice, or shorter if the court allows.
Track your fees on the dissolution — Article 3608 makes them an element of damages.
Do not wait for an appeal from a restraining order. There is none.
Calendar fifteen days from any preliminary injunction order if you intend to appeal, and arrange the bond inside that window.

Where these rules live

This page explains what the rules say. It isn't legal advice, and the statutes governing protective orders and domestic abuse proceedings are not carried on this site.

How this guide is sourced. Every procedural statement here is drawn from the text of the rules named above, each of which is reproduced verbatim on its own page on this site. Quoted rule language appears in quotation marks or block quotes; everything else is original writing. Last verified August 17, 2026.

This page explains what the rules say. It is legal information, not legal advice, and it cannot tell you how a rule applies to your situation. Deadlines are often short and some are not extendable — if the outcome matters, talk to a lawyer or your court’s self-help center.