Two courts in the same building, and which one hears you depends on whether you are married.
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Which courtroom hears your order of protection in Tipton County depends on one thing, and most people get it wrong on the way in.
That is true whether or not a divorce has been filed. Chancery Court for the 25th Judicial District is served by Chancellors William C. Cole and Kasey Culbreath, and it sits in Suite 110 of the Justice Center at 1801 South College Street in Covington.
General Sessions Court hears orders of protection alongside misdemeanors, preliminary hearings, and civil matters. Judge M.O. Eckel III presides, the same judge who handles juvenile court and the county’s night traffic docket. Suite 102, same building.
The Standard
Orders of protection run on a definition, and the definition is narrower than most people assume. Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-3-601, abuse means one of four things.
It also reaches conduct carried out indirectly. The statute covers acts inflicted through a third party, including a family member, a friend, a significant other, or a coworker, acting on the offending party’s behalf.
The Part That Sinks Petitions
Petitions get filed every week alleging emotional abuse, spiritual abuse, mental abuse, or some variation. Those phrases appear nowhere in Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-3-601.
That does not mean the underlying conduct is nothing. It means it has to be presented as something the statute recognizes, or brought under the stalking route below, or it does not belong in an order of protection petition at all.
This cuts both ways. If you are the respondent, read the petition carefully and see what it actually alleges. If you are the petitioner, understand that using the wrong word for the right conduct is a way to lose a case you should win.
The Category Nobody Knows About
This one is newer and most people, including some attorneys, do not realize it is available.
Financial abuse means behavior that is coercive or deceptive, or that unreasonably controls or restrains a person’s ability to acquire, use, or maintain economic resources they are entitled to, using coercion, fraud, or manipulation to do any of the following.
To money, assets, credit, or financial information.
Using a person’s money, assets, or credit to gain an advantage over them.
Forcing default on joint or other financial obligations. Exploiting a power of attorney, a guardianship, or a conservatorship. Or failing to act in the best interest of a person to whom a fiduciary duty is owed.
If the conduct in your situation looks like control over money rather than violence, this is the provision to read.
No Domestic Relationship
Orders of protection are not limited to spouses and partners. The statute defines a stalking victim as any person, regardless of the relationship with the perpetrator, who has been subjected to, threatened with, or placed in fear of stalking under Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-315.
That covers neighbors, coworkers, former friends, and strangers.
A willful course of conduct involving repeated or continuing harassment of another person that would cause a reasonable person to feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated, threatened, harassed, or molested, and that actually causes the victim to feel that way. Both halves have to be there.
Conduct directed at the victim including repeated or continuing unconsented contact that would cause a reasonable person emotional distress, and that actually does.
If the Petition Fails
Tennessee allows a court to shift costs onto a petitioner whose case fails, but the bar is deliberately high, and it is not a penalty for losing.
Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-3-617, if the court does not issue or extend an order it may assess court costs, filing fees, litigation taxes, and attorney fees against the petitioner, but only on clear and convincing evidence of both of the following.
Not a victim of domestic abuse, stalking, sexual assault, observation without consent, unlawful photography, or a felony offense under the listed chapters.
Knew. Not was mistaken, not overstated it, not failed to prove it.
Respondents ask about this constantly, and the honest answer is that it happens, but it takes a knowingly false petition rather than a weak one.
A final order runs for a fixed period not to exceed one year under Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-3-608. On a violation the court may extend it to five years, and to ten on a second or subsequent violation. Lifetime orders are available under § 36-3-627 where the respondent was convicted of certain felony offenses.
The hearing is generally held within fifteen days of service under § 36-3-605(b), and the respondent is entitled to at least five days notice. The burden is preponderance of the evidence, which is far below the criminal standard, and proof of a genuine fear of physical harm is enough. Actual violence is not required.
Violating an order is a Class A misdemeanor under § 39-13-113. An order meeting the federal criteria at 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8) bars firearm possession anywhere in the United States while it is in effect.
What It Costs
Most firms will not publish this. Ours is below.
That figure reflects the travel and the reality that these dockets take a full day. An order of protection in Shelby County is priced separately.
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Your Attorney
William Young · Of Counsel · Tipton County
Attorney William Young handles order of protection matters in Tipton County, on both sides, along with criminal defense and traffic matters in Covington, Atoka, Munford, Brighton, and throughout the county. He knows the rules of evidence and procedure cold, which matters more in these hearings than most people expect.
Orders of protection in Shelby County → · Criminal defense → · About William Young →
If your hearing is this week and you don't have the money, read this →
Common Questions
A fixed period not to exceed one year under Tenn. Code Ann. section 36-3-608. A violation can extend it to five years, and a second or subsequent violation to ten. Lifetime orders are available under section 36-3-627 where the respondent was convicted of certain felony offenses.
Ten days from a general sessions court under Tenn. Code Ann. section 36-3-601(3)(F). In New v. Dumitrache, 604 S.W.3d 1 (Tenn. 2020), the Tennessee Supreme Court held the ten days condition the reviewing court's subject matter jurisdiction, meaning a late appeal cannot be heard at all.
It depends on whether the parties are married. If they are, with or without a divorce pending, the petition starts in Chancery Court. If they are not married, it goes to General Sessions Court. Both are in the Justice Center at 1801 South College Street in Covington, in different suites.
Chancery Court is served by Chancellors William C. Cole and Kasey Culbreath. General Sessions is presided over by Judge M.O. Eckel III, who also handles juvenile court and the county's night traffic docket.
Plan for the day. Chancery works through a good deal of other business before it calls the order of protection docket, and being early does not mean being heard early. This is not a courthouse you can drop into on a lunch break.
Tenn. Code Ann. section 36-3-601 defines abuse as inflicting or attempting to inflict physical injury by other than accidental means, placing a person in fear of or in physical harm or physical restraint, causing malicious damage to the personal property of the abused party, or intentionally engaging in behavior that amounts to financial abuse. It also covers acts carried out indirectly through a third party such as a family member, friend, or coworker.
Not by itself. The statute does not use the phrase. Petitions get filed alleging emotional abuse, spiritual abuse, or similar language, and those words appear nowhere in Tenn. Code Ann. section 36-3-601. The conduct has to fit one of the statutory categories, or it has to amount to stalking under a separate statute.
It was added to the definition of abuse and most people do not know it exists. It means coercive or deceptive behavior that unreasonably controls a person's ability to acquire, use, or maintain economic resources they are entitled to. Restricting access to money, assets, credit, or financial information. Using someone's resources to gain an advantage. Forcing default on joint obligations, exploiting a power of attorney or conservatorship, or failing to act in the interest of someone to whom a fiduciary duty is owed.
Then the route is usually stalking. Under Tenn. Code Ann. section 39-17-315 a stalking victim is any person, regardless of relationship to the perpetrator, subjected to, threatened with, or placed in fear of stalking. That opens the door to an order of protection for neighbors, coworkers, and strangers.
A willful course of conduct involving repeated or continuing harassment that would cause a reasonable person to feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated, threatened, harassed, or molested, and that actually causes the victim to feel that way. Harassment means repeated or continuing unconsented contact that would cause a reasonable person emotional distress and actually does. It does not include constitutionally protected activity or conduct that serves a legitimate purpose.
Possibly, but the bar is high. Under Tenn. Code Ann. section 36-3-617 a court that declines to issue or extend an order may assess court costs, filing fees, litigation taxes, and attorney fees against the petitioner only on clear and convincing evidence of two things: that the petitioner was not actually a victim, and that the petitioner knew the allegation was false when the petition was filed.
No. The statute says expressly that the finding cannot rest on the petitioner asking for a dismissal, failing to attend the hearing, or filling out the petition incorrectly. Losing a petition and filing a knowingly false one are different things.
Representation in a Tipton County order of protection matter starts at $7,500. That reflects the travel and the fact that these dockets consume a full day.
You are not required to have one, and the court will hold you to the same standard as a lawyer. The rules of evidence apply, and a respondent who loses lives with the consequences on a background check, on gun rights, and in any custody case that follows.
Free consultation. Call before the hearing, not after.