Yes, restraining orders do go on your record, but not in the way a criminal conviction does. A civil protective order is a court record rather than a criminal one, so it won’t show up as a conviction on a basic criminal background check. It still gets filed in the court system, entered into law enforcement databases, and can surface on more thorough background checks run for jobs, housing, and licensing. It can also cost you the right to own a firearm, and if you violate it, that violation creates a genuine criminal record.
Civil Order or Criminal Record
Most restraining orders are civil. A judge issues one after someone petitions the court claiming harassment, threats, or harm. Because the proceeding is civil, no prosecutor files charges and no conviction results from the order being granted. The order sits in civil court files, which are searched differently than criminal conviction databases.
Courts also issue restraining orders inside criminal cases. If you’re charged with assault, stalking, or domestic violence, a judge may impose a no-contact order as a condition of bail or sentencing. That kind of order is tied directly to the criminal proceeding and becomes part of your criminal record alongside the underlying charge. The practical difference is significant. A civil order is a court finding that protection is warranted. A criminal no-contact order is attached to an accusation or conviction of a crime.
Either way, the order itself is generally a public record. Courts operate on a presumption of open access unless a judge specifically seals the file. Anyone searching court records in the right jurisdiction can find the order, read the petition, and see the terms the judge imposed.
Where a Restraining Order Actually Shows Up
Whether an order appears on a background check depends on how deep the search goes. Basic criminal background checks focus on convictions. A civil restraining order with no accompanying criminal charges often won’t appear on them. More comprehensive checks that pull civil court records, the kind run for positions involving trust, security clearances, or work with vulnerable populations, are far more likely to reveal the order.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act limits how long some civil records can appear on consumer reports. Civil suits and civil judgments cannot be included in a report once they are more than seven years old, measured from the date of entry. Other adverse items besides criminal convictions carry the same seven-year window. Criminal convictions have no federal time limit and can be reported indefinitely.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports
Restraining orders are also entered into the National Crime Information Center, the FBI’s central database that law enforcement agencies across the country can search during traffic stops, welfare checks, and investigations.2Department of Justice. Entering Orders of Protection Into NCIC Even when a private background check misses the order, any encounter with law enforcement can surface it.
Dismissed and expired temporary orders sit somewhere in between. The filing, the petition, and the judge’s decision remain in the case file, but background check companies are less likely to flag a dismissed temporary order the same way they’d flag an active or final one. It still exists at the courthouse; it just travels less.
Firearm Ownership
This is where a civil restraining order carries consequences that rival a criminal conviction. Federal law prohibits anyone subject to a qualifying protection order from possessing any firearm or ammunition. The order qualifies if three conditions are met: you received notice and had an opportunity to participate in the hearing; the order restrains you from threatening or harassing an intimate partner or their child; and the order either includes a finding that you represent a credible threat to their safety or explicitly prohibits the use of physical force against them.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
The Supreme Court upheld this prohibition in 2024 in United States v. Rahimi.4Supreme Court of the United States. United States v. Rahimi, No. 22-915 The ban lasts as long as the order is in effect. Violating it is a federal felony carrying up to 15 years in prison, and it applies regardless of whether you bought the firearm before the order was issued.5ATF. Protection Orders and Federal Firearms Prohibitions Many states add their own surrender requirements that kick in the moment the order is served, often requiring you to turn firearms over to law enforcement or a licensed dealer within a set number of days.
What Happens if You Violate the Order
Violating a restraining order is a criminal offense. This is the point where a civil order can generate a real criminal record. In most states, a first violation without physical harm is a misdemeanor, typically carrying up to a year in jail plus fines that vary by jurisdiction. Violations involving physical contact, threats, or repeated offenses are often charged as felonies with significantly longer sentences.
Courts look at whether the violation was knowing and willful. Accidental contact is harder to prosecute than a deliberate attempt to reach the protected person, though it is still risky. Text messages, call logs, social media contact, and security camera footage play a central role in these cases.
A violation can also damage your position in related family court proceedings. Judges deciding custody or divorce matters treat a restraining order violation as strong evidence of poor judgment or dangerousness. The order itself may be extended or its terms made more restrictive.
Interstate Violations
Crossing state lines with the intent to violate a protection order escalates the situation to a federal offense under the Violence Against Women Act. The penalties climb with the harm caused:
- Up to 5 years in prison for a violation without serious physical harm
- Up to 10 years if serious bodily injury results or a dangerous weapon is used
- Up to 20 years if the victim suffers permanent disfigurement or life-threatening injury
- Life imprisonment if the victim dies
These penalties apply to anyone who travels across state lines, or enters or leaves tribal land, and then engages in conduct that violates the order.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2262 – Interstate Violation of Protection Order
Immigration Consequences
For non-citizens, violating a protection order creates a specific deportation risk. Federal immigration law makes any non-citizen deportable if a court determines they violated the portion of a protection order that protects against credible threats of violence, repeated harassment, or bodily injury. This applies to both temporary and final orders issued by civil or criminal courts.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1227 – Deportable Aliens
The order being issued against you does not by itself trigger deportation. The violation does. Lawful permanent residents face the same risk as visa holders. Non-citizens on either side of a protection order case should get immigration-specific legal advice quickly.
Employment, Housing, and Professional Licensing
A restraining order can create friction in areas where the legal protections against outright discrimination are limited.
Employment
Employers running comprehensive background checks may find a restraining order, especially for positions involving security clearances, law enforcement, childcare, healthcare, or any role requiring a high level of trust. Federal guidance on using criminal history in hiring focuses on whether the record is relevant to the job, weighing the nature of the offense, time elapsed, and the position’s responsibilities.8U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act That guidance was written for criminal records. A civil restraining order sits in a gray area with fewer explicit protections, and its presence on a background check can quietly end a candidacy even when no law prohibits it.
Housing
Landlords running background checks may treat a restraining order as a red flag, particularly in smaller rental properties where the landlord is personally involved. The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, and national origin. It does not address restraining orders as a protected category.9eCFR. 24 CFR Part 100 – Discriminatory Conduct Under the Fair Housing Act Landlords generally have discretion to deny applicants based on court records, though some local laws add tenant protections.
Professional Licensing
State licensing boards for nursing, medicine, law, teaching, and social work often require applicants to disclose court orders, arrests, or convictions at initial licensing and renewal. A civil restraining order alone may not require disclosure in every state, but any criminal conviction stemming from a violation almost certainly does. In some states, even expunged convictions must be disclosed to licensing boards. Failing to disclose when required can result in discipline or denial of the license, sometimes a worse outcome than the underlying incident would have produced on its own.
Getting a Restraining Order Sealed
Sealing a restraining order from public view is possible in many jurisdictions, but the process varies and success is not guaranteed. You file a petition with the court that issued the order, explaining why the privacy interest or risk of harm from public access outweighs the public’s interest in keeping the record open.
Courts typically weigh several factors:
- Safety concerns, meaning whether continued public access puts either party at risk
- Time elapsed since the order was issued and whether it has expired
- Changed circumstances showing the situation has been resolved
- Public interest in the transparency courts are expected to maintain
Some states require the other party to be notified and given a chance to object. Others require a formal hearing. A few allow sealing only with the consent of both parties or on a finding of good cause. The process is easier when the order was dismissed or expired without violations than when it was active for years or accompanied by criminal charges.
Sealing has one important limit. Even after a court seals the record, it typically remains accessible to law enforcement. Sealing keeps the general public and most background check companies from finding the order, but it does not erase it from databases like NCIC. Working with an attorney who handles these petitions regularly in your jurisdiction will improve your chances, because the procedural requirements are specific and a poorly prepared petition is an easy one for a judge to deny.