Injunction for Protection (Restraining Order) in Manatee County, Florida

Call 911 if you're in immediate danger. The National Domestic Violence Hotline number is 1-800-799-7233. Florida's statewide hotline is 1-800-500-1119. In Manatee County, injunction for protection petitions are filed at the Manatee County Judicial Center, 1115 Manatee Avenue West in Bradenton. The Courthouse Cashiering station there sells the state's approved packets.

Manatee's clerk doesn't run a single, clearly labeled self-help center like some neighboring counties do. Packets for family law matters, including all five injunction types, are handled at Cashiering. TurboCourt is offered separately as a paid option for certain dissolution paperwork. Plan to go in person for an injunction rather than using an online tool, since a judge needs to review your petition quickly.

Filing costs nothing. Florida law bars a filing fee for domestic violence, repeat violence, dating violence, sexual violence, or stalking injunctions, and Manatee County follows this rule the same as the rest of the state. The sheriff also serves the respondent free of charge.

Hope Family Services is generally recognized as Manatee County's domestic violence resource. Check its website directly or call 211 for its current crisis line number, so you have it ready before you need it in a hurry.

How an injunction for protection works in Florida

An injunction for protection against domestic violence (Fla. Stat. 741.30) is for someone you have a close relationship with, such as a spouse or former spouse, someone you live with or used to live with as a family, a co-parent, or a close relative. Florida has related injunctions for repeat violence, dating violence, sexual violence, and stalking that may apply instead if the relationship does not fit the domestic violence category.Florida uses the same statewide forms in every county, including Manatee County, FL. The basic steps are:

1. File a Petition for Injunction for Protection Against Domestic Violence (Florida Supreme Court approved family law form 12.980(a)) at the courthouse. There is no filing fee.
2. A judge reviews your petition, often the same day, and can grant a temporary injunction that lasts until your hearing.
3. The other person is served with the paperwork and can respond.
4. You attend a full hearing, generally within about 15 days of a temporary injunction.
5. If the judge grants a final injunction, it can last a fixed term or until further order of the court, and can be extended.

An injunction for protection can do more than order someone to stay away. It can set temporary time-sharing with children, require the other person to leave a shared home, and require them to surrender firearms. Local domestic violence advocates and the clerk's office can help you fill out the forms, often at no cost.

Where to file in Manatee County, FL

Injunction requests in Manatee County, FL are filed with the Twelfth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida, Manatee County. Because courthouse locations, hours, and local domestic violence resources change over time, confirm current details using the Florida court clerk directory:

Find the Manatee County, FL Clerk of Court (Florida court clerk directory)

Local notes for Manatee County, FL

Bring photo ID to the Judicial Center. Ask Cashiering staff to confirm you have the current version of whichever injunction form fits your situation before you leave with it. Manatee also lists a mailing address, Attn: Family Law, P.O. Box 25400, Bradenton, FL 34206, for some family law correspondence, but file the injunction petition itself in person, not by mail.

Once a judge grants a temporary injunction and it's served, Florida law requires the return hearing to be set within 15 days. This deadline comes from state statute and applies no matter how Manatee organizes its own self-help resources.

Bay Area Legal Services covers Manatee County for income-qualified family law help, useful if your injunction case is tangled up with a custody or divorce filing. Hope Family Services' hotline number isn't listed here, so save the statewide domestic violence hotline, 1-800-500-1119, as a reliable backup.

Manatee County's clerk handles five distinct injunction forms, and picking the right one matters. Domestic violence covers spouses, former spouses, relatives, or people living together as a family. Repeat violence covers two incidents against someone outside that group. Dating violence, sexual violence, and stalking each address a different fact pattern under Florida law. All five carry the same statewide protections: free filing, free service, and a return hearing within 15 days. If a respondent violates an active injunction, that violation is itself a crime. Call 911 rather than returning to the clerk's office.

Official injunction resources in Manatee County, FL

Manatee County Judicial Center handles restraining-orders filings, located at 1115 Manatee Avenue West, Bradenton 34205.

The filing fee is Free. E-filing is available through https://www.myflcourtaccess.com. Injunction petitions are filed in person at the Judicial Center in Bradenton so a judge can review the request quickly, not mailed to the clerk's P.O. Box used for other family law filings.

Manatee County Clerk courthouse cashiering / self-help packets (https://www.manateeclerk.com) can help with procedure and paperwork. No single dedicated self-help center URL was located. Packets, including injunction forms, are sold at the Courthouse Cashiering station; TurboCourt links are provided separately for dissolution paperwork.

• Manatee County Clerk of the Circuit Court
• Hope Family Services
• Bay Area Legal Services
• Fla. Stat. 741.30 (injunction statute)

Local details reviewed August 2026. Offices and locations can change, so confirm with the official sites above before you file.

Manatee County, FL Injunction for Protection FAQs