Jurisdiction is proper in any court empowered to hear family or juvenile matters.1  But where both District Court and Family Court operate concurrently, the Family Court has exclusive subject-matter jurisdiction over all actions brought by a current or former intimate partner under either the Domestic Abuse Assistance Act or the Protection from Dating Violence Act.2

For cases involving abuse of a child, actions may be brought in family court under the DAAA or in juvenile court under La. Ch.C. art. 1564, et seq. The fact that the abuse was originally alleged in a Petition for Protection from Abuse under the DAAA does not prevent a juvenile court from exercising jurisdiction over a Children’s Code petition based on the same allegations of fact, so long as the DAAA case was not adjudicated on the merits and is no longer pending.3

Venue is proper in any of the following parishes:        

• Parish of household or marital domicile
• Parish where petitioner or defendant resides
• Parish where abuse occurs
• Parish where divorce or annulment action could be brought (domicile of petitioner or defendant or last matrimonial domicile).

• 1La. R.S. 46:2133(A).
• 2Wellborn v. 19th Jud. Dist. Ct., 07-1087, p. 10 (La. 1/16/08), 974 So. 2d 1, 7. But see Raborn v. Raborn 2013-1211 (La. App. 1 Cir. 11/13/14), 2014 WL 5878933, at *3–4 (even though family courts are vested with exclusive jurisdiction for DAAA actions, La. R.S. 9:575 explicitly vests district courts with subject matter jurisdiction if those injunctions relate to a parent or grandparent being abused by an adult child or adult grandchild); Succession of Crute v. Crute, 2016-0836, p. 10 (La. App. 1 Cir. 8/30/17), 226 So. 3d 1161, 1170 (district court did not err by consolidating family court divorce action into previously existing succession case, where issues of fact and law related and consolidation done by consent).
• 3State in Int. of C.D., 2018-0834, p. 8 (La. App. 4 Cir. 12/19/18), 262 So. 3d 929, 933.

The Protective Order Registry provides form Petitions for requesting protective orders under the Domestic Abuse Assistance Act.1  Do not be tied to space limits on the forms. If necessary, add a page so that the Petition will include a sufficiently comprehensive narrative of the abuse you intend to elicit testimony about. Although the forms include a “checklist” to elicit information about types of abuse, e.g., slapping, kicking, etc., lawyers should not rely on that checklist to plead specific acts of abuse.2  Some petitioners will be eligible for protective orders under both the Domestic Abuse Assistance Act and the Post-Separation Family Violence Relief Act. Both statutes may be pleaded together.3

Once an order is granted, the protective order itself must be reduced to a Uniform Abuse Prevention Order form.4  The judge will expect you to complete this form. All necessary relief should be checked and initialed by the judge when signed.

• 1Louisiana Protective Order Registry (LPOR) forms are developed by the Judicial Administrator’s Office, and the construction given by that agency constitutes persuasive interpretive authority. See McCann v. McCann, 09-1341 (La. App. 3 Cir. 3/10/10), 33 So. 3d 389 (citing Roberts v. Baton Rouge, 108 So. 2d 111 (La. 1958)). In McCann, the Louisiana Court of Appeal for the Third Circuit found that inclusion of the category “other” and “grandparent or grandchild” on the LPOR form neither of which is explicitly named in the statute, supports including step-grandchild within scope of statute’s protection. Id.
• 2For additional practical advice on drafting petitions for protection, see Section 4.11.1.
• 3La. R.S.9:368; Louisiana Uniform Abuse Prevention Order Form 19, La. Sup. Ct.
• 4For these forms, see LPOR Forms, La. Sup. Ct.

The court should serve the protective order on the defendant at the close of the hearing. The petitioner should not leave the courthouse before being given certified copies of her protective order. The survivor should have three to four copies so that she can keep one at home, one on her person, one at work, and one for school officials if children are involved. Clerks of court must immediately file, process, and issue temporary restraining or protective orders without any charge.1  Furthermore, the law does not allow the court to withhold judgments or certified copies thereof from in forma pauperis litigants.2  If the defendant is not present for the hearing, or if he leaves before receiving a copy, the protective order is still enforceable because the defendant had notice of the hearing and an opportunity to be heard.

• 1La. R.S. 46:2134(F); La. C.C.P. art. 3603.1(C).
• 2Carline v. Carline, 93 CA 1505, p. 5 (La. App. 1 Cir. 10/7/94), 644 So. 2d 835, 837.

If a divorce is pending, a protective order application under the Domestic Abuse Assistance Act must be filed in the same court and same case as the divorce.1  Sometimes lawyers representing the party who is abusive will try to forum shop or circumvent cases about their client’s prior abuse by filing actions in a new case number. Lawyers should check to see whether it is necessary to make a motion to consolidate and transfer to a previous case number when this happens.

• 1See La. R.S. 46:2134(E).