Rule 65.Injunctions

Rule 65.01 divides injunctive relief into three tiers: a restraining order, which may only stop someone from doing something; a temporary injunction, which can either restrain or affirmatively direct an act while the case is pending; and a permanent injunction, entered as part of a final judgment. Rule 65.02 requires every restraining order or injunction to describe the prohibited or required conduct in reasonable detail on its own terms, not by pointing back to the complaint or some other document, and it binds not only the parties and their attorneys but anyone who acts in active concert with them and has actual notice of the order. Tennessee courts have enforced the specificity requirement with real teeth, striking down orders that lean on vague standards instead of objective ones.

Rule 65.03 governs restraining orders, which a court may issue without notice to the other side only on a showing, by affidavit or verified complaint, that the applicant will suffer immediate and irreparable harm before the other side can be heard, backed by the applicant’s written account of what efforts were made to give notice and why more could not be done. Only the judge presiding over the case, or a substitute judge if that judge cannot act, may grant or dissolve the order, and the order has to be endorsed, signed, and filed, then served on the restrained party the same way a summons would be — but the order does not become binding on that party until it is served or the party is otherwise informed of it, whichever comes first. A restraining order issued without notice expires within 15 days unless extended once, for good cause, for a like period, or for longer if the restrained party agrees, with the reasons for any extension entered on the record.

Rule 65.04 covers temporary injunctions, which cannot issue without notice to the other side and require a clear showing either that the movant’s rights are being or will be violated and that irreparable harm will follow before final judgment, or that the other side’s conduct threatens to make any eventual judgment meaningless. The court has to set out its findings of fact and conclusions of law when granting, denying, or modifying one, and it may consolidate the injunction hearing with a full trial on the merits, carrying forward any evidence already taken so it need not be repeated. Rule 65.05 requires a bond before any restraining order or temporary injunction issues, except for a party proceeding on a pauper’s oath, covering the costs and damages someone wrongfully restrained might suffer, and it lets a surety’s liability on that bond be enforced by motion rather than a separate lawsuit. A restrained party who thinks the bond is too small can move for additional security, and the court can dissolve the order if adequate security is not provided.

Rule 65.06 lets a court compel compliance with a restraining order or injunction, or punish disobedience as contempt, on a showing of breach or threatened breach. Rule 65.07 subordinates the whole rule to any conflicting statute, and it lets a court hearing a domestic relations case relax the rule’s ordinary procedures however that judge finds appropriate — though Tennessee courts have made clear that flexibility does not excuse ignoring the specificity requirement that keeps a restrained party informed of exactly what conduct the order covers.