Q: Hello. I have a civil restraining order with my ex husband and he is not following it and I would like to make changes t
A: Start off by writing him through email or text, telling him that you feel that he is not honoring the terms of the civil restraining order and that if he violates it again, you will be forced to file a new domestic violence complaint against him and you will use his ongoing violations of the civil restraints as examples of harassment type behavior. I would also detail each item (for your purposes only at this point) of each violation of the civil restraining order, your efforts to impress on your ex your concerns for each violation (what you said to him or wrote him about it) and his response. List them in numeric and date order so that if you need to file a new domestic violence complaint, you will have detailed material of his improper actions and that you told him of his violations and that you now view it as a form of harassment. When you refile your domestic violence complaint, make sure to list all of your prior complaints, the creation of a civil restraining order, his ongoing violation of it and that you view his actions as a form of harassment and in the new complaint, detail all of his actions after you told him to comply with the civil restraining order.
James A. Abate agrees with this answer
A: You cannot enforce Civil Restraints. They are a polite way to agree to dismiss a TRO, but there is no way to enforce them short of filling a new TRO or Criminal Charges.
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