Legal Help & Restraining Orders

Valley Crisis Center can help you file domestic violence or civil harassment restraining orders depending on your relationship to the person you want protected from.

Valley Crisis Center is limited to filing restraining orders to:

• For Domestic Violence Orders:
  • Current or Ex-Intimate Partner
  • Current or Ex-Spouse
  • Other Parent of Minor Children (You have to be a parent as well)
  • You have been sexually assaulted or abused by a family member or household member
• For Civil Harassment:
  • You have been sexually assaulted or abused and there is no family relation to the person you want restrained

Yes and no. If you have pictures you want to include, please have them ready to be printed. You don't need to print them yourself, we can do it for you.

If you have police reports, please be sure to get two copies. One will be included in the order we submit to court, the other in the package to serve the other party. We can also request the police reports but it will take longer for us to submit your order to court.

It is illegal to make copies of police reports and that is why we need two copies.

NO!

You don't need to report any intimate partner violence, sexual assault, or human trafficking incidents to the police to get a restraining order.

However, you will have to call the police to enforce the order if it's granted.

Yes.

In order to file a restraining order, you need at least the following personal information:

• Full Legal Name
  • It must be spelled correctly.
• Date of Birth
• Last Known Address
  • At least the last known city
  • Or work address

When you get help with a restraining order through Valley Crisis Center, you have the option of using our address in replace of your own.

However, for your order to be seen by law enforcement in their CLET (California Law Enforcement Telecommunications) System, you do need to provide your address and some personal information. That information is not included in the paperwork to serve the person you want protected from and is not available to request from court. It will only be visible to the police. For more information on the CLET System go here.

Your appointment can take up to two hours.

Valley Crisis Center's restraining order services are by appointment only. Please let us know during the assessment if you have an EPO so we can better assess your situation.

Valley Crisis Center can help you renew your restraining order. In order to renew your order, please reach out for an assessment at least 7 to 8 weeks before your order expires.

Valley Crisis Center will not be able to help you renew an expired order. If you wish to file a new restraining order, please reach out for an assessment.

It's free! Valley Crisis Center is a non-profit, our services are 100% free!

All restraining orders submitted to court are generally only in English. If you are needing help with a restraining order and you are not comfortable reading or writing in English, we suggest scheduling a one-on-one appointment instead. During that appointment, the legal advocate will translate your order into English for you.

To be assessed or schedule a one on one, call us at (209) 722‑4357.

Yes! However, if you file the order on your own, you will have to pick it up yourself as well and if you want Valley Crisis Center to go to court with you, you have to bring it to us so we can make a copy of it.

No. Valley Crisis Center legal advocates can only help with filling out restraining order paperwork and accompanying you to court as a supportive person. You will have to talk to the judge yourself. However, we are still present during the hearing so if you have questions, we can answer them after.

Valley Crisis Center will provide the restraining order forms and writing materials.

If there are pictures or police reports you would like to include, please print them out and bring them to the workshop.

If you are bringing police reports, please bring two copies. It is illegal to make a copy of a police report, so you will need to request two copies.

In order to file a restraining order, you need to have at least the following information on the person you want restrained:

• Their first and last name
• Their date of birth
• Last known address or city they lived in

No worries, save the images you want to print on a USB flash drive. Come in by at least 8:30 am and we will print the pictures out for you.

No, the max number of participants in a workshop is four. By participating in the workshop, you agree to uphold Valley Crisis Center's policy on confidentiality. If you are not comfortable completing a restraining order with other people present, you can schedule a one on one.

No. Advocates will not be reading your order out to the group or asking you to share. However, there will be other people present so they may see what you have written.