GLASTONBURY, CONNECTICUT · FAMILY LAW + FAMILY-VIOLENCE DEFENSE
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A restraining order is a civil court order. It is not a criminal case, and you do not need a police report, an arrest, or criminal charges to apply for one — or to be on the receiving end of one.
Morton Family & Criminal Law handles restraining order matters from either side, subject to conflict screening. The two situations need different preparation, so they are covered separately.
National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233
CT Safe Connect: (888) 774-2900 — 24/7, by call, text, chat, or email
The statute is C.G.S. §46b-15. An application is filed in Superior Court by someone who says a family or household member, or a dating partner, has subjected them to conduct the statute covers.
A continuous threat of present physical pain or injury, stalking, a pattern of threatening — or coercive control.
It also means allegations of coercive control, like any other allegation, remain subject to proof and to the court’s determination.
There is no filing fee, and the Judicial Branch bears the cost of service. The court may issue an ex parte order the same day, before the other person has been heard, where the application alleges an immediate and present physical danger. A hearing follows within 14 days, with the respondent served at least three days beforehand. If the application indicates the respondent holds a pistol permit or certificate, or possesses firearms or ammunition, and an ex parte order has issued, the hearing is held within seven days of that order.
No order exceeds one year, though it can be extended on application.
A person subject to a restraining order must transfer or surrender firearms and ammunition within 24 hours of notice.
Violating a restraining order is charged under C.G.S. §53a-223b — a class D felony, or a class C felony where the violation involves restraint or threatening, harassing, or assaulting the protected person.
Coercive control was added to Connecticut’s family-law definition of domestic violence by Public Act 21-78 (“Jennifer’s Law”). Jennifer’s Law is the common name for that public act, not a single statute section; its provisions were codified across several family-law statutes, including C.G.S. §46b-1(b), which defines domestic violence for purposes of Title 46b. Coercive control means a pattern of behavior that, in purpose or effect, unreasonably interferes with a person’s free will and personal liberty. The statute gives examples: isolating someone from friends, relatives, or support; depriving them of basic necessities; controlling or monitoring their movements, communications, finances, or access to services; compelling conduct by force, threat, or intimidation, including threats based on immigration status; cruelty or threatened cruelty to animals in order to intimidate; and sexual threats or coercion.
Coercive control is addressed principally through civil restraining-order relief under C.G.S. §46b-15 and related family-law proceedings. It is not a separate crime in Connecticut, though particular conduct within a pattern — stalking or threatening, for instance — may be charged criminally on its own.
These get used interchangeably and they are different things.
| Restraining order | Criminal protective order | |
|---|---|---|
| Which court | Civil family | Criminal |
| Who starts it | The protected person applies | Issued by the court in a pending criminal case |
| Requires an arrest? | No | Yes — it follows from the charge |
| Statute | C.G.S. §46b-15 | C.G.S. §46b-38c(e) |
| How long | Up to one year, extendable | While the criminal case is pending |
| Violation charged under | §53a-223b | §53a-223 |
A third order, the standing criminal protective order, comes after a conviction and can last far longer. That is covered on the criminal protective orders page.
It is entirely possible to be subject to both a restraining order and a protective order at once, arising from the same incident, with different terms. They do not cancel each other out, and complying with one does not excuse violating the other.
The firm represents applicants and respondents — in different matters, never in the same one.
That means a conflict check comes before anything else. Before we take any detail about what happened, we need names: yours and any former names, the other party’s, any children involved, and the parties in any related family or criminal case. If the firm has already spoken with or represented the other person in the same or a substantially related matter, intake stops there and goes to Attorney Morton before anything further is said.
This is why the contact form asks for names and not your story. It protects you as much as anyone.
Family violence is an explicit factor in Connecticut’s custody analysis, and a restraining order can include provisions about children on a temporary basis.
An order can require a respondent to stay away from a residence, including one they own or rent.
The 24-hour surrender obligation applies on notice of the order.
A restraining order and a dissolution case can run at the same time, in the same judicial district, on different schedules.
Restraining order applications are filed in the Superior Court for the judicial district where the applicant lives. For Glastonbury and the surrounding Hartford district towns, that is 90 Washington Street in Hartford.
A related criminal case would be heard separately, for most of this area at G.A. 12, 410 Center Street in Manchester.
How to apply for a Connecticut restraining order, what an ex parte order does, and what happens at the hearing. Coercive control counts.
Read more
Served with a Connecticut restraining order application? What the ex parte order already requires, the firearms deadline, and how the hearing works.
Read more
No. A restraining order is a civil matter. No arrest, charge, or police report is required.
No. Connecticut’s definition includes coercive control — a pattern of conduct that unreasonably interferes with a person’s free will and personal liberty — alongside continuous threat of physical pain or injury, stalking, and a pattern of threatening.
The court can issue an ex parte order the same day where the application alleges immediate and present physical danger. A hearing follows within 14 days, or within seven days of an ex parte order where the application indicates the respondent has firearms or permits.
No longer than one year, though it can be extended on application.
It is a separate crime under C.G.S. §53a-223b — a class D felony, or class C where the violation involves restraint or threatening, harassing, or assaulting the protected person.
In different matters, yes, subject to conflict screening. Never on both sides of the same dispute. That is why intake collects names before any details.
Every case starts with a conversation about what you’re facing and what it would take to handle it.
