How Do I Get a Restraining Order in Texas?

Full question:

I'm a career soldier. In the four years I've been divorced my ex wife has repeatedly threatened to go to my chain of command whenever I have so much as questioned anything she asked of me. Not wanting that kind of interference I have complied with whatever she has 'asked' me to do. On the occasions when I assert my rights with her, she sends me emails calling me names and reiterates her usual threat--she'll go to my chain of command if I don't do what she wants. The most damaging thing she's done is two years ago she sent a defamatory letter to an adoption agency my current wife and I were working with with the result the agency wouldn't work with us anymore (it's two years later and the timing hasn't been right for us to attempt adopting again), and just recently she sent a defamatory letter to my chain of command accusing me of numerous things that are not true. This spring I overpaid her on child support and when I asked her to return the excess she threatened to complain to my chain of command if I persisted in asking her to return what she owed me. I want to make this pattern of black mail, defamation, and harassment stop.

• Category: Restraining Order
• Date: 04/07/2025
• State: Texas

Answer:

A restraining order may be issued to a person who is a victim of harassment. A restraining order is a court document that is an order signed by a judge. Typically, civil court orders are not published in newspapers, but violations of criminal restraining orders will become part of one's legal record. The restraining order may expire by statute or remain in effect until vacated by the court. The order may or may not be issued ex parte, or without both parties to the order present. In certain cases, a judge may require testimony by both sides before issuing a restraining order.

Libel and slander are subcategories of defamation. in order to prove defamation, the plaintiff must prove:

1.; that a statement was made about the plaintiffs reputation, honesty or integrity that is not true;
2.; publication to a third party (i.e., another person hears or reads the statement); and
3.; the plaintiff suffers damages as a result of the statement.

Slander is a form of defamation that consists of making false oral statements about a person which would damage that person's reputation. Some statements while libelous or slanderous, are absolutely privileged in the sense that the statements can be made without fear of a lawsuit for slander.; The best example is statements made in a court of law.; An untrue statement made about a person in court which damages that person's reputation will generally not cause liability to the speaker as far as slander is concerned. Case law from various jurisdictions supports the principle that, generally, information released by the police, including reports and records, is considered to be a report of an official action subject to a privilege against a charge of defamation. To prove defamation it must be shown that the person did not have a belief in the statement made, or failed to make a reasonable investigation into its truth.