Out of State Order of Protection

[3pointzero]

My question involves restraining orders in the State of: Tennessee

My ex recently filed for an order of protection against me in Tennessee. I had been living in California and had recently moved to Georgia to stay with my mom when I was served with the ex parte order and date to attend court for the permanent protective order hearing. My ex listed my address in the petition for the order of protection as in Tennessee, specifically my sister's house. I have never lived there and have not lived in Tennessee for over a year and a half. I believe this was done intentionally as she knew I was in Georgia since I was served the notice here. The court date was for March 15th but I was served on the 4th or 5th of March. I was unable to attend the court date due to such short notice and the petition was granted. My sister has been receiving mail for me at her address from the courts now but she has not opened any of it and sent it back immediately stating that I do not and have never lived at her residence.

Since I was never served the final permanent order of protection due to this intentional error of my address am I able to take any action to get this order dismissed or at least get a hearing of some sort to modify it? She was awarded custody of my dog in the order, my dog she stole from me and which I had a pending civil case in Tennessee against her to have the dog returned. Frankly I could care less about not being able to contact her, I just want my dog back and to move on and never here from her again.

[Dogmatique]

You didn't respond? At all?

You were served whilst in Georgia, yes?

[3pointzero]

Yes I was served in Georgia but only for the initial hearing. Nothing since.

[drthyrd]

I was in Georgia since I was served the notice here. The court date was for March 15th but I was served on the 4th or 5th of March. I was unable to attend the court date due to such short notice and the petition was granted.

You received 10 days notice. Even if you were in Brunswick, GA and the case was in Nashville, TN you could have made it in 10 days if you hiked. And if you live anywhere north of Atlanta, the TN border is less than an hour away by car... Truly though, this doesn't matter. Ten days might not have been the ideal length of notice from your personal perspective, but it was plenty of notice from a tactical operations perspective (ie, how I am getting to court in TN) and from a legal perspective. The burden was on you to respond / show up if you don't want the petitioner to be granted the relief they are seeking. Courts takes itself very seriously and if you don't, big mistake. Courts don't operate on a convenience basis. They have the power to force people to attend through subpoena, but frankly, in situations like this, they assume that if you fail to attend you don't contest.

Since I was never served the final permanent order of protection due to this intentional error of my address am I able to take any action to get this order dismissed or at least get a hearing of some sort to modify it? She was awarded custody of my dog in the order, my dog she stole from me and which I had a pending civil case in Tennessee against her to have the dog returned. Frankly I could care less about not being able to contact her, I just want my dog back and to move on and never here from her again.

There is a limited time to appeal a protective order, time measured in days and weeks not months. If you get a copy the final order it might define the length of time you had to appeal, which probably ranged between 10 and 30 days, but a time frame that has almost certainly passed. You knew about the court date, so you can not argue you don't like the way you were served. You were served. Given the restraining order in place, you may want to be careful that you don't violate the order in your civil case (for example, by mailing a letter to the ex). You might consider consulting an attorney regarding your civil case to ensure that don't inadvertantly do so as you pursue return of the dog through that venue. In the dog was wrongly awarded to your ex in the RO, it may be possible to get it back, but I don't think you are in do-it-yourself territory at this time.

[3pointzero]

Tennessee law states that the hearing is to occur 15 days after respondent gets service. This date was set when the petition was filed not when I received it. I live in Atlanta, shes in Memphis. She knowingly put the wrong address on the forms she filled out. There are also other inconsistoncies and false statements in the narrative. The final sentence of the narrative reads "The vicitm is fearful for her safety and would like 'Someone elses name, not mine' to be ordered by the court to have no further contact with her". This part is especially interesting because the person named is no one I have ever heard of.

Also, I never received the final copy of the permanent order and frankly I havent had the money until now to hire an attorney to deal with this. I had to request the final paperwork from the courts by fax last week.

[drthyrd]

Tennessee law states that the hearing is to occur 15 days after respondent gets service. This date was set when the petition was filed not when I received it.

Actually, 'reasonable notice' to the respondent is all that is required and not 15 days notice. You are confusing how quickly the hearing must be held with how much notice you must receive. Service by mail is deemed to have occurred on the date the letter was mailed.

I live in Atlanta, shes in Memphis.

That is a long drive... but still possible with 10 days notice.

She knowingly put the wrong address on the forms she filled out.

Yes... but you were still served and made aware of the hearing prior to the date.

There are also other inconsistoncies and false statements in the narrative. The final sentence of the narrative reads "The vicitm is fearful for her safety and would like 'Someone elses name, not mine' to be ordered by the court to have no further contact with her". This part is especially interesting because the person named is no one I have ever heard of.

All things you could have pointed out if you had appeared in court.

Also, I never received the final copy of the permanent order and frankly I havent had the money until now to hire an attorney to deal with this. I had to request the final paperwork from the courts by fax last week.

You probably haven't received a copy because as you indicated in your initial post, you have had your sister return the mail to the court rather than send it to you, making the situation harder on yourself. Even when you have grounds for an appeal, there is a limited time frame that you can raise the issues and make the appeal. Time is of the essence. Get the order, see if you can still appeal, and if you can do so and want to do so, by all means, go to court.

[3pointzero]

I wasn't even aware she was getting stuff until 2 weeks ago. No one was telling me this. My sister and I haven't spoken in some time. My mother informed me of the mail she was getting. But yes I need to find out if I can file some sort of appeal.

- - - Updated - - -

http://www.state.tn.us/tccy/tnchild/36/36-3-605.htm

However, if the respondent is not a resident of Tennessee, the ex parte order shall be served pursuant to §§ 20-2-215 and §§ 20-2-216. Such notice shall advise the respondent that the respondent may be represented by counsel.

Does this mean I could have had an attorney represent me without me being there?