Rule 65.Injunctions and restraining orders

Current through January 1, 2025 · Last verified July 8, 2026

In one sentenceRule 65 requires notice before a preliminary injunction can issue, allows a temporary restraining order without notice only on a strict factual and certification showing and for no more than 14 days, requires security before either can issue (except for governmental parties), and specifies what every injunction or restraining order must state and whom it binds.

Full Text of Rule 65

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

(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 shall 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 that party's 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 shall 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 shall be entered in the record.

(3) Expediting the preliminary-injunction hearing. If the order is issued without notice, the motion for a preliminary injunction shall 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 shall proceed with the motion; if the party does not, the court shall dissolve 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 shall 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. No such security shall be required of the United States, the State of West Virginia and its political subdivisions, or of an officer or agency thereof.

(d) Contents and scope of every injunction and restraining order.

(1) Contents. Every order granting an injunction and every restraining order shall:

(A) state the reasons why it issued;

(B) state 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

End

Amendment History

The current West Virginia Rules of Civil Procedure took effect January 1, 2025, as part of a rewrite that modernized the rules’ numbering and structure. West Virginia does not publish a per-rule amendment history inside the compiled rules text reproduced here. The text above is verified current through the source’s own January 1, 2025 update; for the underlying adopting order and any later amendments, see the West Virginia Judiciary’s compiled rules page.

Plain-English Summary

Rule 65 governs the two main tools for stopping conduct before a case is fully tried. A preliminary injunction can only issue after notice to the party it would restrain, and the court can advance the trial on the merits and fold it into the preliminary-injunction hearing — evidence taken at that hearing becomes part of the trial record without needing to be repeated, though any jury-trial right survives regardless.

A temporary restraining order is the narrower, faster tool: it can issue without notice only if specific facts in an affidavit or verified complaint clearly show immediate, irreparable injury before the other side could be heard, and the moving attorney certifies in writing what notice efforts were made and why more wasn't required. Every such order has to state when it issued, describe the irreparable injury and why notice wasn't given, and get filed and entered in the record promptly. It expires within 14 days unless extended once for a like period (for good cause) or longer with the restrained party's consent — and once issued, the preliminary-injunction hearing gets priority on the docket, ahead of everything but older matters of the same kind. The restrained party can also move, on two days' notice, to dissolve or modify the order.

Either kind of order generally requires the movant to post security to cover the costs and damages of anyone wrongfully enjoined or restrained — except no security is required of the United States, West Virginia, its political subdivisions, or their officers and agencies. And every injunction or restraining order has to state why it issued, spell out its terms specifically, and describe the restrained conduct in detail rather than by cross-referencing the complaint — binding the parties, their officers, agents, and attorneys, and anyone else acting in concert with them who gets actual notice.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a court issue a preliminary injunction without notifying the other side?

No. Rule 65(a) requires notice to the adverse party before a preliminary injunction can issue.

When can a temporary restraining order issue without notice?

Only when specific facts in an affidavit or verified complaint clearly show immediate, irreparable injury before the other side can be heard, and the movant's attorney certifies what notice efforts were made and why more wasn't required.

How long does a temporary restraining order last?

No more than 14 days, unless extended once for a like period for good cause or longer with the restrained party's consent.

Does a party seeking an injunction have to post security?

Generally yes, in an amount the court considers proper to cover the costs and damages of anyone wrongfully enjoined — except the United States, West Virginia, its political subdivisions, and their officers and agencies aren't required to post security.

Source & verification. The rule text is reproduced verbatim from the official West Virginia Rules of Civil Procedure (W. Va. R. Civ. P. 65). Prescribed by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia (W. Va. Const. art. VIII, § 3). The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified July 8, 2026. · Official source

Also known as: preliminary injunctiontemporary restraining orderTRO West Virginiainjunction bond