Chapter 39 Injunctions
David Silverstein
Assistant Attorney General
Klarimarie Baez-Nazario
CPI Supervisor, Hillsborough
County Sheriff’s Office
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DOES ANYONE USE
CHAPTER 39 INJUNCTIONS?
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Injunction Requirement
F.S. 39.301(9)(a)(6)a
• In 2014, the Florida legislature made
it mandatory for CPIs to seek Chapter
39 Injunctions in certain
circumstances.
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Injunction Requirement
F.S. 39.301(9)(a)(6)
• If present or impending danger is
identified, CPI must implement a
safety plan or take the child into
custody.
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Injunction Requirement
F.S. 39.301(9)(a)(6)a
 CPI shall implement separate safety
plans for the perpetrator of domestic
violence and the parent who is the
victim of domestic violence.
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Injunction Requirement
F.S. 39.301(9)(a)(6)a
 If the perpetrator of domestic
violence is not the parent, guardian,
or legal custodian, the CPI shall seek
a Chapter 39 Injunction.
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Injunction Requirement
F.S. 39.301(9)(a)
 Purpose of the injunction is to
implement a safety plan for the
perpetrator and to impose any other
conditions to protect the child.
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Injunction Requirement
F.S. 39.301(9)(a)
 Injunction process gives the
dependency court jurisdiction over
the perpetrator. Typically, the
dependency court has jurisdiction
only over the parents and the child.
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QUESTION
 Does the CPI have to seek a Chapter
39 Injunction if the perpetrator is the
father to one child in the home, but
is not father to another child in the
home?
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ANSWER
 Yes. The statutes require the CPI to
seek a Chapter 39 Injunction when
the perpetrator is not the father of a
child in the home.
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QUESTION
• If the perpetrator is the biological
father of the child but has not
established paternity, does the CPI
have to seek a Chapter 39
Injunction?
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ANSWER
• Yes. Chapter 39 provides that the
legal father is a “parent.” Therefore,
a biological father who has not
established paternity is not a
“parent” under Chapter 39.
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QUESTION
• If the perpetrator is the legal parent
to some but not all children in the
home, should the CPI seek to protect
the perpetrator’s children?
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ANSWER
• It is best practice to seek an
injunction to protect all of the
children in the home, even the
perpetrator’s children, because the
violation of the injunction can result
in immediate arrest of the
perpetrator.
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ANSWER
• However, note that there should be a
dependency action regarding these
children to ensure that the perpetrator
has an opportunity to reunify. Injunctions
can be in effect until the child turns 18.
Injunctions can be modified, but there
may not be a CPI or case manager to
provide recommendations to the court
regarding the modification.
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QUESTION
• Does a CPI have to seek a Chapter 39
Injunction if the child is removed
from the home or if a dependency
petition has been filed with the child
remaining in the home?
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ANSWER
• Yes. The statutes do not relieve the
CPI of the responsibility to seek a
Chapter 39 Injunction when the child
is removed or if a dependency
petition is filed.
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QUESTION
• Instead of seeking a Chapter 39
Injunction, can the CPI shelter the
child and then ask the court to order
that the perpetrator have no contact
with the child?
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ANSWER
• No. The statutes require that the CPI
seek a Chapter 39 Injunction even if
the child is removed from the home.
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ANSWER
• The dependency court in a dependency
petition proceeding does not have
jurisdiction over a perpetrator who is not
a legal parent of a child.
• Therefore, the court cannot hold a
perpetrator, who is not a legal parent, in
contempt for violation of a no contract
order.
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ANSWER
• The purpose of the injunction
proceeding is to give the court
jurisdiction over the perpetrator.
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QUESTION
• Does a CPI need to seek a Chapter 39
Injunction if the victim obtains an
injunction against the perpetrator in
Family Court?
• What if the Family Court injunction
prevents contact between the
perpetrator and the children?
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ANSWER
• Yes. The CPI must still seek a Chapter
39 Injunction since the statutes do
not relieve the CPI of the
responsibility to obtain an injunction
when the victim has obtained an
injunction. The purpose of a Chapter
39 Injunction is to protect the child,
not the adult DV victim.
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ANSWER
• The victim can enforce the Family
Court injunction, but the
Department is not a party to the
Family Court case.
• The Department can enforce a
Chapter 39 Injunction.
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QUESTION
• Does the CPI still need to seek an
injunction if the perpetrator is not
willing to abide by a safety plan, is
incarcerated, or is unable to be
located?
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ANSWER
• Yes. The statutes do not relieve the
CPI of the requirement to seek a
Chapter 39 Injunction when the
perpetrator is not willing to abide by
a safety plan, is incarcerated, or is
unable to be located.
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Injunction Process
F.S. 39.504(1)
 At any time after a protective
investigation has been initiated
pursuant to Chapter 39, the CPI may
request that the court issue an
injunction to prevent any act of child
abuse.
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Injunction Process
F.S. 39.504(1)
 Reasonable cause exists for an
injunction if there is evidence of
child abuse or if there is a reasonable
likelihood of such abuse occurring
based on a recent overt act or failure
to act.
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QUESTION
 Does a dependency action need to
be filed before the CPI is able to seek
a Chapter 39 Injunction or after an
injunction petition is filed?
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ANSWER
 No. The CPI can seek a Chapter 39
Injunction “at any time after a
protective investigation has been
initiated.” Therefore, no dependency
action is required.
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QUESTION
 How “recent” must the domestic
violence incident be?
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ANSWER
 The statutes do not provide a
definition of the word, “recent.”
However, it is critical to obtain the
Chapter 39 Injunction as soon as
possible after the domestic violence
incident.
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ANSWER
 This presents issues when the CPI
determines that there is impending
danger late in the investigation.
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Petition for Injunction
F.S. 39.504(2)
• Person seeking the injunction must
file a verified (sworn/notarized)
petition or a petition with an
affidavit.
• Petition must include specific actions
by alleged offender from which the
child must be protected.
• Petition must include the remedies
sought.
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Petition for Injunction
Challenges
• Should the Chapter 39 Injunction be
filed in the same court file of an
existing dependency case?
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Petition for Injunction
Challenges
• The Clerk and Judges in Hillsborough
County directed that the Chapter 39
Injunction be a separate case with a
separate dependency case number.
The Juvenile Court directed that
Chapter 39 Injunctions be filed with
the Family DV Clerk because that
division was familiar with the
injunction process.
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Petition for Injunction
Challenges
• How should Chapter 39 Injunction
cases be assigned to a particular
judge?
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Petition for Injunction
Challenges
• The case was assigned to the division
judge who has a collateral pending
dependency case or by zip code of
the child’s residence.
• However, the dependency judges
directed that the DV Family Court
judges handle the hearing on the
final injunction.
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Hearing/Temporary Injunction
F.S. 39.504(2)
• Upon filing of the injunction the
court shall set a hearing at the
earliest possible time.
• The court may issue a temporary
injunction with the verified petition
and any affidavits as evidence.
• The temporary injunction pending
the hearing is effective for up to 15
days.
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Hearing/Temporary Injunction
Challenges
• At first, the injunction petitions were
scheduled on the daily shelter docket.
The CPI provided notice to the
perpetrator to attend the hearing.
• Then, the judges agreed to enter ex parte
temporary injunctions at the same time
as shelter hearings and then schedule
final injunction hearings with notice to
the perpetrator with the DV judges.
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Service
F.S. 39.504(3)
• Petition and any temporary
injunction must be personally served
on the alleged offender.
• A sheriff or law enforcement officer
in the county where the alleged
offender resides must serve the
alleged offender with the petition
and the temporary injunction if
entered.
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Extension of Temporary Injunction
F.S. 39.504(2) and (3)
• The court may extend the temporary
injunction for good cause shown
including service of process.
• The court may grant a continuance of
the hearing at any time for good
cause shown and the temporary
injunction shall be continued during
the continuance.
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QUESTION
• How long can the court continue the
ex parte temporary injunction before
having a hearing?
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ANSWER
• There is no time limit for continuing
the ex parte temporary injunction
pending a hearing.
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QUESTION
• Does the CPI need to conduct a
diligent search to locate the
perpetrator?
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ANSWER
• The statutes and rules of court do
not require that the CPI conduct a
diligent search. However, the CPI
should try to locate the perpetrator
for service of the petition and any
temporary injunction.
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Service
Challenges
• There were many cases where
the perpetrator was not able to
be located for service.
• CPI would make a request to
locate.
• Pending the search, the CLS
attorney would ask the court to
enter another temporary
injunction for 15 days.
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Service
Challenges
• There have been many cases that
have multiple temporary injunctions
due to service difficulties.
• Some judges dismissed temporary
injunctions after there were several
unsuccessful attempts to serve the
perpetrator.
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Service
Challenges
• The Sheriff’s Civil Process Division
would attempt service, but required
a new temporary injunction if the 15
days passed on the temporary
injunction because the time period
of the injunction lapsed.
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QUESTION
• Is the perpetrator allowed to ask for
discovery?
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ANSWER
• Chapter 39 Injunction statute does
not mention that perpetrators in
Chapter 39 Injunction proceedings
are allowed to obtain discovery.
• However, F.S. 39.202(2)(e) provides
that the information from the child
abuse report shall be released to the
parents of the alleged child victim
and the alleged perpetrator.
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Injunction Hearing
F.S. 39.504(3)
• After the hearing, the court may
enter a final injunction.
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QUESTION
• Do you need to present witness
testimony at the hearing and do the
Rules of Evidence apply?
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ANSWER
• Uncertain. There is nothing the
statutes or rules of court that specify
whether witness testimony is
required or that the Rules of
Evidence apply.
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ANSWER
• However, Chapter 39 typically
specifies when witness testimony is
not required and when the Rules of
Evidence do not apply. Therefore,
judges have required witness
testimony and applied the Rules of
Evidence.
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QUESTION
• Is the perpetrator entitled to a courtappointed attorney for the injunction
hearing?
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ANSWER
• No. The Chapter 39 Injunction
statute does not mention the
appointment of counsel for the
perpetrator who is not related to the
child.
• Fla.R.Juv.P. Rule 8.320 provides that
at each stage of the dependency
proceeding the court shall appoint
counsel to indigent parents or others
who are so entitled as provided by
law.
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Hearings
Challenges
• It is difficult to serve witnesses with
subpoenas if the injunction hearing
is in 15 days. Sometimes the hearings
are scheduled in less than 15 days.
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Hearings
Challenges
• The child may be the only witness
and may have to testify. If there is a
collateral dependency proceeding,
the child may have to testify two
times: in the injunction proceeding
and in the dependency proceeding.
However, judges were willing to
continue hearings to consider child
testimony by close-circuit or child
victim hearsay motions.
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Hearings
Challenges
• The judges require the CPI to be
present as the petitioner and will
dismiss the temporary injunction if
the CPI does not appear at the
hearing.
• CPIs were spending a lot of time in
court waiting for hearings. There is
an agreement with CLS for CPIs to be
on standby to come to court if the
perpetrator was served, and there
will be a final hearing.
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Hearings
Challenges
• Some judges dismissed the
temporary injunction if the domestic
violence incident was not recent.
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Injunction Order
F.S. 39.504(4)
• Refrain from further abuse or acts of
DV.
• Participate in specialized treatment
program.
• Comply with the safety plan.
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Injunction Order
F.S. 39.504(4)
• Limit contact/communication with
the child victim or other children in
the home.
• Refrain from contacting child at
home, school, work.
• Have limited supervised contact with
child.
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Injunction Order
F.S. 39.504(4)
• Vacate the family home.
• Have exclusive use and possession of
the dwelling.
• Exclude the offender from residence
of caregiver.
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Injunction Order
F.S. 39.504(4)
• Pay temporary support for the child
or other family members.
• Pay costs of medical, psychiatric,
psychological treatment for the child
due to the abuse and similar costs
for family members.
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Length of Injunction Order
• Final injunction is in effect until
modified or dissolved by the court.
• Motion to modify injunction must be
provided to all parties including the
department.
• Court loses jurisdiction when child
turns 18.
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Enforcement of Injunction
F.S. 39.504(6)
• Any person who fails to comply with
an injunction commits a first degree
misdemeanor and can be arrested.
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Enforcement
Challenges
• Since the new injunction
requirement was initiated,
perpetrators have not been arrested
for violation of the injunction.
• Who is responsible for monitoring
the compliance with the injunction
when the CPI investigation is open?
How about when the CPI case is
closed?
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Data
FY 2015-2016
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Injunction Petitions: 95
Injunction Hearings: 206
Final Injunctions Granted: 65
Injunctions Denied: 8
Final Injunction Hearings Continued:
117
• Final Injunction Hearings Continued
for Lack of Service on Respondent:
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