Domestic Violence Injunctions in Hillsborough County

If you were served with a petition for an injunction for protection against domestic violence (often called a “DVI” or “restraining order”), you should seek out the services of an experienced attorney.

At Sammis Law Firm, our attorneys only represent the “respondent” in these actions to help them fight against unfounded allegations.

Injunctions for protection come with serious consequences that last a lifetime. These actions are quasi-criminal proceedings that remain a public record forever. A restraining order will show up in even the most basic background check.

Florida law provides for five different types of protective orders including:

• domestic violence;
• repeat violence;
• sexual violence;
• dating violence; and
• stalking injunctions.

Attorney for Domestic Violence Injunctions in Tampa

If you were served with a petition for protection from domestic violence, then contact an attorney at Sammis Law Firm. Our main office is located in downtown Tampa, FL. Our second office is located in New Port Richey, FL.

Our attorneys represent clients served with the most common type of petition for an injunction – the injunction for protection against domestic violence. We handle these cases throughout the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit in Hillsborough County, at the courthouse in Tampa and Plant City.

We also represent clients in all of the surrounding counties throughout the greater Tampa Bay area including Hernando County, Pasco County, Pinellas County, Manatee County, and Polk County.

Call 813-250-0500.

Hillsborough County’s IFP Against Violence Program

Hillsborough County has special circuit family law divisions that hear each petition for an injunction against domestic violence in Tampa and Plant City, FL.

The Injunction for Protection (IFP) Against Violence Program for Hillsborough County is located at:

The program is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sunday, and holidays.

After an individual applies for an injunction, the court will review the application and may issue a court order signed by a judge that can be served and or enforced by law enforcement.

Florida’s Injunctions for Protection Against Domestic Violence

Under Florida law, the requirements for an injunction for protection against domestic violence require the petitioner alleged a relationship with the respondent that includes:

• a spouse or former spouse
• a person related by blood or marriage
• a person with whom the petitioner is currently living;
• a person who has formerly lived the respondent in an intimate relationship
• the mother or father of the petitioner’s child, regardless of whether the parents were ever married or ever lived together.

Types of Florida’s Domestic Violence Injunction

An injunction for Protection Against Domestic Violence may be granted if it is alleged that the person did one of the following acts:

Requires the petitioner to allege two separate acts of violence or stalking, one being within the last six months.

The Injunction for Protection Against Repeat Violence is available for those individuals not covered by the Domestic Violence Injunctions. Injunctions for Protection Against Repeat Violence are sometimes filed against co-workers, neighbors, or friends.

Injunctions for Protection Against Dating Violence

Require the petitioner to allege that they had a continuing and significant relationship of a romantic or intimate nature.

It is determined by consideration of such facts as the dating relationship existed within the past six months, the nature of the relationship included an expectation of affection or sexual involvement, and the frequency and type of interaction included involvement over time and on a continued basis.

Injunctions for Protection Against Sexual Violence

Require the petitioner to allege one incident of any of the following acts that were reported to law enforcement regardless of whether any criminal charges were filed (or even if the charges were dropped for reduced after being filed):

• Sexual battery, as defined in Florida Statutes Chapter 794;

• A lewd or lascivious act, as defined in Florida Statutes Chapter 800, committed upon or in the presence of a person younger than 16 years of age;

• Luring or enticing a child, as described in Florida Statutes Chapter 787;

• Sexual performance by a child, as described in Florida Statutes Chapter 827; or

• Any other forcible felony wherein a sexual act is committed or attempted.

Other counties throughout Florida, including Pinellas County, Polk County, Manatee County, Sarasota County, and Pasco County have similar programs for processing injunctions for protection against domestic violence or repeat violence.

Judges for Protective Order Cases in Hillsborough County, FL

Pursuant to the most recent Administrative Order, duty judges are assigned to make determinations in violence injunctions cases.

The administrative order contains a schedule for duty judges in Hillsborough County who are assigned to review petitions for temporary injunctions for protection against domestic violence, repeat violence, sexual violence, dating violence, and stalking.

The clerk will notify the duty judge by e-mail that a petition is available for review on the Judicial Automated Workflow System (JAWS).

Upon notification, the duty judge will access JAWS to review the petition, sign the appropriate order, and electronically file it with the clerk’s office.

The orders are filed according to the following schedule:

A. Petitions filed between 3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. on non-holiday weekdays will be available for review by the duty judge at or before approximately 5:30 p.m. The duty judge will electronically file the appropriate order with the clerk’s office by 6:00 p.m.

B. Petitions filed between 5:00 p.m. Friday – 8:00 a.m. Saturday will be available for review by the duty judge at or before Saturday morning’s first appearance hearings. The duty judge will electronically file the appropriate order with the clerk’s office by the end of the first appearance hearings.

C. Petitions filed between 5:00 p.m. Saturday – 8:00 a.m. Sunday will be available for review by the duty judge at or before Sunday morning’s first appearance hearings. The duty judge will electronically file the appropriate order with the clerk’s office by the end of the first appearance hearings.

D. Petitions filed between 5:00 p.m. on the day before a holiday and 8:00 a.m. on a holiday will be available for review by the duty judge at or before the holiday morning’s first appearance hearings. The duty judge will electronically file the appropriate order with the clerk’s office by the end of the first appearance hearings.

E. Petitions filed between 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. on court holidays on which the clerk’s office is open for business (Good Friday, Rosh Hashanah, and Yorn Kippur) will be available for review by the duty judge throughout the day. Upon notification by the clerk that the petition is available for review, the duty judge will electronically file the appropriate order with the clerk’s office as soon as possible after reviewing the petition.

F. If an emergency requires immediate judicial review of a petition at a time other than designated above, then the duty judge should be contacted through The Spring. Upon execution of the appropriate documents by the petitioner at The Spring, such documents will be transported by a law enforcement officer to the duty judge for consideration. Upon entry of an appropriate order, the law enforcement officer will return the documents to The Spring for processing.

Extension of a Preexisting Injunction

Under section 741.30(1)(a), Florida Statutes (2010), any person “who is either a victim of domestic violence … or has reasonable cause to believe he or she is in imminent danger of becoming the victim of any act of domestic violence,” may file a petition for an injunction for protection against domestic violence.

On the other hand, “[w]hen moving for an extension of a preexisting injunction, the petitioner must establish either that additional domestic violence has occurred or that, at the time the petition for an extension is filed, he or she has a continuing reasonable fear of being in imminent danger of becoming the victim of domestic violence.nGiallanza v. Giallanza, 787 So.2d 162, 164 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001).

At a hearing to extend an injunction for protection, the court must consider the evidence and make findings of whether additional domestic violence has occurred or whether the complaining witness has a “continuing reasonable fear of being in imminent danger of becoming the victim of domestic violence.”

At such a hearing, the trial court must also give the respondent the opportunity to be heard in opposition to the motion to extend the injunction.

In Pope v. Pope, 901 So.2d 352, 354 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005), the court noted that due process requirements of section 741.30 and remanded a case for an evidentiary hearing after the trial court extended a temporary injunction without giving the respondent an opportunity to present his case.

The Control of a Pet in an Order for Protection

Visit the website of the Florida Senate to learn more about the 2020 Legislative summary. Effective July 1, 2020., 2020 CS/SB 1082 provides that expressly authorizes a court, when granting a domestic violence injunction, to:

1. Award the petitioner the exclusive care, possession, or control of an animal that is owned, possessed, harbored, kept, or held by the petitioner, the respondent, or a minor child who is residing in the residence or household of the petitioner or respondent.
2. Order the respondent to have no contact with the animal. • Prohibit the respondent from taking, transferring, encumbering, concealing, harming, or otherwise disposing of the animal.

The bill does not apply to animals owned primarily for a bona fide agricultural purpose or to a service animal if the respondent is the service animal’s handler.

Finding a Lawyer for a Domestic Violence Injunctions in Tampa, FL

If you have been served with a Petition for Protection Against Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Repeat Violence, Sexual Violence or Stalking, in Tampa or Plant City in Hillsborough County, FL, then contact an experienced attorney at Sammis Law Firm.

Our attorneys represent both men and women served with a temporary injunction for protection against violence in a domestic, intimate or family relationship.

Our offices are located in downtown Tampa and New Port Richey, FL. Find out more about how we fight domestic violence injunctions for protection in Pasco County filed at the courthouse in New Port Richey or Dade City, FL.

It is important to have an attorney prior to the arrest. If you are arrested for any charge of Violation of Domestic Violence Injunction (§ 74l.30(9)(b), Fla. Stat.), then you will not be released on a bail bond until after your first appearance hearing.

The judge presiding at the first appearance hearing will determine the appropriate amount of bail bond.

We fight to protect our clients from the serious consequences that accompany any finding of violence or a threat or future violence in a protective order hearing.

Call us at (813) 250-0500 to discuss your case.

This article was last updated on Wednesday, May 12, 2021.