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Sheriff serves your petition for a restraining order

After you get a court date, you must have someone give a copy of your court papers to the person you want a restraining order against. This is called serving papers. 

A sheriff or marshal can do this for you for free. 

Serving the papers lets the other person know that a case was filed, what they can do next, and what they can’t do if a judge granted a temporary restraining order.

Before you start

To ask a sheriff, marshal, or other peace officer to serve your papers, you must have an address or location for the other person (the restrained person).

⚠️  You can also ask someone else (18 or older and not you) to serve the papers with you, like a friend or a registered process server. But, because the reason for the restraining order is that you're concerned the person to be restrained can harm someone else or themselves with a firearm, it is important to think about your server's safety. It might be dangerous for your server to hand papers to the other side, so the sheriff is often the safest option.

Why service matters

It’s important to have the restrained person served as soon as possible. Once they are served with a temporary restraining order, they will have to turn in, sell, or store any firearms or ammunition they have within 24 hours, and police can arrest them for violating the order.

Service also gives the judge the power to make a long-term restraining order (which can last up to 5 years). Without service, the judge can only give a temporary restraining order.

Service can take more than one try. If you can’t finish service before your court date, the judge can give you more time.

⚠️ Your case can move forward only after the other side is properly served, even if the judge didn’t grant a temporary restraining order.

How to serve your petition for restraining order

🔗 All court form links open in a new tab.

  • Fill out form SER-001

    Request for Sheriff to Serve Court Papers (form SER-001)

    Use this form to ask the sheriff to serve the other side with your court papers. 

    📌 Tips for filling out the form:

    • Location of person (item 4):
      The sheriff will try to serve the person at the address you give.  
      If you have more than one address (like a work address and a home address) you can list both (in item 4a and 4b) and write the hours that the person will be at each address. 
    • Type of court papers you are serving (item 5a):
      Write "gun violence restraining order." 
    • Court hearing (item 5c):
      Give the court date listed on item 3 of the Notice of Court Hearing (form GV-109).
    • Deadline for service (item 5d):
      Check your form GV-109, item 5 
      Subtract that number of days from the court hearing date on GV-109, item 3. 
      Example:       If your hearing is June 10 and the judge ordered service at least 5 days before, your deadline is June 5.

    ⚠️ Contact the sheriff right away. It may take a couple of weeks for them to try to serve the papers.

  • Gather all your court papers

    You will need to give the sheriff a copy of your court papers, which will include a copy of:

    📌 Check item 5 of form GV-109 to see if the judge ordered you to serve any other forms.

  • Give your papers to the sheriff

    You can turn in your papers to the sheriff in person or electronically. In some counties (like Trinity County), you may work with a marshal instead. You can also have someone else drop them off for you if needed.

    Contact the sheriff to find out how to submit your papers.

    💵 There is no fee for the sheriff to serve these papers for you.

  • Get paperwork back from the sheriff

    After service, you’ll get paperwork that shows what happened:

    ✅ If your papers were served

    The sheriff will fill out a proof of service form.

    This shows the court that the other side was served so your case can move forward.

    ❌ If your papers were not served

    The sheriff may give you a Declaration of Due Diligence, showing the dates and times they tried to serve the other person.

    Check in with the sheriff if you haven’t received the paperwork before your deadline.

    If service wasn’t completed, you may need to ask the court for a new court date. To to that, you have 2 options:

    • Before your court date, you can file a Request to Continue Court Hearing for Gun Violence Restraining Order (form GV-115) to ask for a new court date to give you more time.
    • Or, you can ask at your court date for more time to serve the other side.
      If the judge reschedules your court hearing, the judge will need to sign a new order (form GV-116), which will have your new court date and could extend any temporary protection you have.

    📌 You will then need someone to serve GV-116 with the other forms you filed (see form GV-109, item 5 for any other forms you must have served on the other side).

    After you get your paperwork

    1. Make sure the original proof of service or declaration of due diligence form gets filed with the court.
      • If there is a stamp on the upper right-hand corner of the form, it's already filed
    2. Bring a copy of the form to your court date.

    If the judge granted a Temporary Restraining Order (form GV-110), once the other side (restrained person) is served, they must sell, store, or turn in their firearms and ammunition within 24 hours. If they don't, they can be arrested for violating the restraining order.

    💬 Need help?

    Your court’s self-help center can explain how to request service, check the status, or ask for more time.

     

Prepare for your court date

What's next?

Once you’ve served your Petition for Gun Violence Restraining Order, learn what to expect at your hearing so you know how to prepare.

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