Temporary Restraining Order
A short-lived court order, often signed without notice to the other side, that holds conduct in place until the court can hear an application for a temporary injunction. In Texas a TRO granted without notice expires within 14 days unless extended, and the applicant must file a bond in an amount the court sets.
A Texas temporary restraining order granted without notice expires on the date the court sets, no more than 14 days after signing, and can be extended once for a like period unless later extensions are unopposed (Tex. R. Civ. P. 680). The order must also set a hearing on the injunction sought.
A temporary restraining order, or TRO, is the first and shortest stage of injunctive relief. Its job is to stop a specific act for the few days it takes to get both sides in front of the judge. A TRO may be granted without notice to the restrained party only if specific facts in an affidavit or verified pleading show that immediate and irreparable injury will occur before notice can be served and a hearing held (Tex. R. Civ. P. 680).
The next stage, a temporary injunction, cannot issue without notice Rule 681 and lasts until trial. In family matters, a divorce court may grant its own TRO without notice to protect property and the parties (Tex. Fam. Code § 6.501).
- Governing rule
- Tex. R. Civ. P. 680
- Duration
- Up to 14 days if granted without notice, one extension for a like period (Rule 680)
- Required showing
- Immediate, irreparable injury before notice and hearing, by affidavit or verified pleading (Rule 680)
- Bond
- Amount fixed by the judge, filed before the TRO issues (Rule 684)
- Who is bound
- Parties, their agents and employees, and others in active concert with actual notice (Rule 683)
Bond
The order granting a TRO fixes the bond, and the applicant must file it with the clerk before the TRO issues (Rule 684). The bond runs to the restrained party, with two or more sureties approved by the clerk, and is conditioned on paying all sums and costs adjudged against the applicant if the order is dissolved in whole or in part. The clerk issues the writ only after the petition, the judge's order and the bond are on file (Rule 688).
Two exceptions apply. A court may not require a bond from an applicant who files the indigency affidavit described in Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 65.043 when the TRO is meant to stop foreclosure on the applicant's residential homestead (§ 65.041). In a divorce, the court may dispense with bond for an ancillary injunction between spouses (Rule 693a).
Who is bound and how it is enforced
The order binds the parties, their officers, agents, servants, employees and attorneys, and anyone in active concert or participation with them who receives actual notice by personal service or otherwise (Rule 683). Disobedience may be punished as contempt. On the applicant's affidavit describing the violation, the court may issue an attachment for the person's arrest or a show-cause order (Rule 692).
Outside justice and municipal courts, punishment for contempt is a fine of up to $500, up to six months in county jail, or both (Tex. Gov't Code § 21.002(b)). A court may also jail a person until the person complies, for no more than 18 months (§ 21.002(e), (h)).
Dissolving or extending a TRO
A party restrained without notice may move to dissolve or modify the order on two days' notice to the applicant, or on shorter notice if the court allows, and the court must hear the motion as quickly as justice requires (Rule 680). Extensions need good cause, and the reasons go on the record. Only one extension is allowed unless later ones are unopposed, though the restrained party can consent to a longer period.
When a TRO issues without notice, the temporary injunction hearing is set for the earliest possible date and takes precedence over all but older matters of the same kind. The applicant must go forward with the temporary injunction at that hearing. If it does not, the court must dissolve the TRO.
What a TRO granted without notice must state
- The date and hour of issuance, endorsed on the order, which is filed with the clerk at once (Rule 680).
- A definition of the injury and why it is irreparable.
- Why the order was granted without notice.
- An expiration date no more than 14 days after signing.
- A date for the hearing on the temporary or permanent injunction, no more than 14 days from the order (Rules 680, 687(e)).
- The reasons for issuance, in specific terms, describing the restrained acts in reasonable detail without reference to the petition or other documents (Rule 683).
What are the grounds for a temporary restraining order in Texas?
The applicant needs a substantive ground for an injunction plus urgency. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 65.011 lists the statutory grounds, among them entitlement to relief that requires restraining an act prejudicial to the applicant, threatened irreparable injury to real or personal property, and conduct that would make a judgment in pending litigation ineffectual. For a TRO without notice, Rule 680 adds the urgency element: specific sworn facts showing immediate, irreparable injury before a hearing can be held.
What is the process of a temporary restraining order in Texas?
The applicant files a petition verified by affidavit that plainly states the grounds Rule 682 and presents it to the judge. If the judge grants the TRO, the order fixes the bond and sets a hearing date. The applicant files the petition, order and bond with the clerk, the clerk issues the writ (Rule 688), and a sheriff, constable or other officer delivers a copy to the restrained party and files a return (Rule 689).
What is the difference between a temporary restraining order and a temporary injunction in Texas?
Texas uses "temporary injunction" for what federal courts call a preliminary injunction. A TRO can issue without notice and, when it does, expires within 14 days. A temporary injunction requires notice Rule 681 and a hearing, and lasts until trial, which the order must set (Rule 683). A party may appeal an order granting or refusing a temporary injunction before final judgment (CPRC § 51.014(a)(4)). That statute does not list TROs.
Is a temporary restraining order the same as a protective order in Texas?
No. The protective order most people mean is a separate Family Code remedy that a court generally renders after finding that family violence occurred (Tex. Fam. Code § 85.001). It generally lasts up to two years, and longer in specified circumstances (§ 85.025). A TRO under Rule 680 is available in any civil suit that supports injunctive relief, and one granted without notice lasts at most 14 days unless extended.
For a business served with a TRO, the hearing can be no more than 14 days from the order (Rule 687(e)), and the order binds employees and agents who learn of it, along with the named defendant (Rule 683). That makes internal notice a practical issue: whoever might take the restrained action needs to know about the order. On the other side, a company seeking a TRO takes on bond exposure. If the order is later dissolved in whole or in part, the bond answers for the sums and costs adjudged against the applicant (Rule 684). Since September 1, 2025, venue for trying an injunction against a Texas resident includes the business court division of the county where that party is domiciled (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 65.023(a)).
- The order states a hearing date no more than 14 days after the order Rule 687(e) and describes the restrained acts in reasonable detail (Rule 683).
- A party restrained without notice may move to dissolve or modify the TRO on two days' notice to the applicant, or shorter notice the court allows (Rule 680).
- The order binds officers, agents, employees and others in active concert who receive actual notice, and disobedience may be punished as contempt (Rules 683, 692).
- An answer denying the petition's material allegations must be verified by the defendant's oath to support dissolving the injunction before final hearing on that basis (Rule 690).
- Parties served with a TRO commonly bring the order and petition to a Texas lawyer who handles injunction and business litigation before the hearing date.