Art. 3603.1.Governing Provisions For Issuance of Protective Orders; Grounds; Notice; Court-Appointed Counsel

Domestic violence and related protective-order cases do not run purely on Chapter 2's general injunction framework. Several other statutes, covering domestic abuse assistance, post-separation family violence, injunctions in family law matters, and juvenile domestic abuse, all intersect with the general TRO and preliminary injunction rules, and Article 3603.1 exists to reconcile that overlap for one specific type of order: one prohibiting a spouse or other person from harming or coming near someone.

Before that kind of order can issue, the complainant has to show good and reasonable grounds to fear for their own safety or a child's safety, or has to have been a past victim of domestic abuse by the same person. That standard sits alongside, and works with, whatever grounds the more specific domestic-violence statutes separately require.

The article balances the process in the respondent's favor too: anyone against whom this kind of order issues is entitled to a court-appointed attorney if the applicant was likewise given one, with that right stated in the order or notice itself.

For complainants, Article 3603.1 removes financial barriers to seeking protection from domestic abuse, dating violence, stalking, or sexual assault. No prepayment or cost obligation applies to seeking or dissolving these orders, clerks must process filings regardless of the party's ability to pay, and clerks have to make application forms, clerical help, and notary services available. A complainant in one of these cases can also use a signed, witnessed written affirmation, made under penalty of perjury, in place of the fuller affidavit Article 3603 otherwise contemplates.