Family Code · §85.022

Conduct Prohibited Under Protective Order

Conduct Prohibited Under Protective Order (§85.022): key points and worked practice questions for Texas peace officer exam preparation.

Key points

  • Prohibition of firearm possession
  • Exception only for an actively employed, full-time sworn peace officer (§85.022(b)(6))
  • Federal 18 U.S.C. §922(g)(8) overlay
  • Notice required to respondent

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Worked examples

Worked example 1

Tex. Fam. Code §85.022 explicitly authorizes a final protective order to:

  1. Only prohibit contact
  2. Prohibit possession of a firearm by the respondent (subject to limited statutory exceptions and notice requirements); in addition, federal law (18 U.S.C. §922(g)(8)) prohibits firearm possession by respondents under qualifying protective orders Correct
  3. Allow firearm possession
  4. Only restrict location
Why: Final protective orders typically include firearm prohibitions. Federal law (18 U.S.C. §922(g)(8)) separately makes firearm possession a federal crime for a person subject to a qualifying protective order. (The 'Lautenberg Amendment' is a different federal ban, for misdemeanor domestic-violence convictions: §922(g)(9).)
Statute: Tex. Fam. Code §85.022(b)(6); 18 U.S.C. §922(g)(8)
Worked example 2

Under Tex. Fam. Code §85.022(a)(1), a protective order may require the respondent to:

  1. Stay away only
  2. Complete a battering intervention and prevention program (BIPP) accredited under Code of Criminal Procedure art. 42.141 Correct
  3. Take an anger-management class
  4. Counseling only
Why: §85.022(a)(1): the court may order the person found to have committed family violence to complete a battering intervention and prevention program accredited under Article 42.141, Code of Criminal Procedure. BIPP programs are structured specifically for family-violence intervention.
Statute: Tex. Fam. Code §85.022(a)(1)
Worked example 3

Tex. Fam. Code §85.022(b)(7) authorizes a protective order to prohibit:

  1. Only ranch ownership
  2. Removing children from the geographic area or jurisdiction without permission of the court Correct
  3. Owning property
  4. Commercial fishing
Why: FV protective orders commonly include geographic restrictions on the respondent's ability to remove children — particularly important to prevent abduction-type harms.
Statute: Tex. Fam. Code §85.022(b)(7)

Statutory definitions for this topic

BIPP (Battering Intervention and Prevention Program) Tex. Fam. Code §85.022(a)(1); Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 42.141
Accredited program required as a condition of many family-violence protective orders. Programs are accredited under Code of Criminal Procedure art. 42.141.
Lautenberg Amendment (federal) 18 U.S.C. §922(g)(8), (g)(9); §925(a)(1); Tex. Fam. Code §85.022(b)(6)
The Lautenberg Amendment (1996) added 18 U.S.C. §922(g)(9), which bars firearm possession by anyone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence; unlike most federal firearm bans, it has no exemption for government-issued firearms used in official duty (§925(a)(1)). A separate provision, §922(g)(8), bars possession while subject to a court order, issued after a hearing with actual notice, that restrains threats against an intimate partner or child and either finds a credible threat or explicitly prohibits the use of force. Both are federal offenses separate from any state violation.