Rule 65.Injunctions and restraining orders

Title IX: Provisional and Final Remedies · Last amended July 1, 2016 · Last verified July 14, 2026

In one sentenceRule 65 governs preliminary injunctions and temporary restraining orders in Idaho courts, covering notice, contents, duration, required security, and the grounds and scope of injunctive relief.

Full Text of Rule 65

Text sizeJump to: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g)

(a) Preliminary injunction.

(1) Notice. The court may issue a preliminary injunction only on notice to the adverse party.

(2) Consolidating the hearing with the trial on the merits. Before or after beginning the hearing on a motion for a preliminary injunction, the court may advance the trial on the merits and consolidate it with the hearing. Even when consolidation is not ordered, evidence that is received on the motion and that would be admissible at trial becomes part of the trial record and need not be repeated at trial. But the court must preserve any party's right to a jury trial.

(b) Temporary restraining order.

(1) Issuing without notice. The court may issue a temporary restraining order without written or oral notice to the adverse party or its attorney only if:

(A) specific facts in an affidavit or a verified complaint clearly show that immediate and irreparable injury, loss, or damage will result to the movant before the adverse party can be heard in opposition; and

(B) the movant or the movant's attorney certifies in writing any efforts made to give notice and the reasons why it should not be required.

(2) Contents; Expiration. Every temporary restraining order issued without notice must state the date and hour it was issued; describe the injury and state why it is irreparable; state why the order was issued without notice; and be promptly filed in the clerk's office and entered in the record. The order expires at the time after entry, not to exceed 14 days, that the court sets, unless before that time the court, for good cause, extends it for a like period or the adverse party consents to a longer extension. The reasons for an extension must be entered in the record.

(3) Expediting the preliminary-injunction hearing. If the order is issued without notice, the motion for a preliminary injunction must be set for hearing at the earliest possible time, taking precedence over all other matters except hearings on older matters of the same character. At the hearing, the party who obtained the order must proceed with the motion; if the party does not, the court must dissolve the order.

(4) Motion to dissolve. On 2 days' notice to the party who obtained the order without notice, or on shorter notice set by the court, the adverse party may appear and move to dissolve or modify the order. The court must then hear and decide the motion as promptly as justice requires.

(c) Security. The court may issue a preliminary injunction or a temporary restraining order only if the movant gives security in an amount that the court considers proper to pay the costs and damages, including reasonable attorney's fees, sustained by any party found to have been wrongfully enjoined or restrained. The State of Idaho or any political subdivision, its officers, and its agencies are not required to give security.

(d) Contents and scope of every injunction and restraining order.

(1) Contents. Every order granting an injunction and every restraining order must:

(A) state the reasons why it issued;

(B) state its terms specifically; and

(C) describe in reasonable detail, and not by referring to the complaint or other document, the act or acts restrained or required.

(2) Persons bound. The order binds only the following who receive actual notice of it by personal service or otherwise:

(A) the parties;

(B) the parties' officers, agents, servants, employees, and attorneys; and

(e) Grounds for preliminary injunction. A preliminary injunction may be granted in the following cases:

(1) when it appears by the complaint that the plaintiff is entitled to the relief demanded, and that relief, or any part of it, consists of restraining the commission or continuance of the acts complained of, either for a limited period or perpetually;

(2) when it appears by the complaint or affidavit that the commission or continuance of some act during the litigation would produce waste, or great or irreparable injury to the plaintiff;

(3) when it appears during the litigation that the defendant is doing, threatening, procuring or allowing to be done, or is about to do, some act in violation of the plaintiff's rights, respecting the subject of the action, and the action may make the requested judgment ineffectual;

(4) when it appears, by affidavit, that the defendant is about to remove or to dispose of the defendant's property with intent to defraud the plaintiff;

(5) for the defendant upon filing of a counterclaim praying for affirmative relief upon any of the grounds mentioned above in this section, subject to the same rules and provisions provided for the issuance of injunctions on behalf of the plaintiff;

(f) Restoring possession of real property. The district courts may issue a writ of injunction for affirmative relief having the force and effect of a writ of restitution, restoring any person to the possession of any real property from which the person was removed by force, violence, fraud, or stealth, or from which the person is kept out of possession by threats if possession was taken on Sunday, a legal holiday, or in the nighttime, or while the party in possession was temporarily absent. The granting of the writ extends only to the right of possession under the facts of the case, in respect to the manner in which the possession was obtained, and does not resolve the legal rights of the parties on any other issue. This writ may only be issued on 7 days' notice in writing to the adverse party of the time and place of hearing on the application for writ.

(g) Employer and employee actions exempt. These rules do not modify any statute of the state of Idaho relating to restraining orders or injunctions in actions affecting employer and employee in labor disputes.

End

Amendment History

(Adopted March 1, 2016, effective July 1, 2016.)

Plain-English Summary

Rule 65 is the roadmap for stopping someone from doing something, or forcing them to act, before a case is fully tried. A preliminary injunction can only issue after the opposing party gets notice and a chance to be heard, and a court may combine that hearing with the trial on the merits if it wants to avoid presenting the same evidence twice. A temporary restraining order, or TRO, is the emergency version: a judge may issue one without notice to the other side, but only when specific facts in an affidavit or verified complaint show that immediate, irreparable harm will happen before the other side can be heard, and only after the moving party certifies what efforts were made to give notice.

Because a TRO is issued without the other side present, the rule builds in fast checks. The order must explain the injury, say why it is irreparable, and say why notice was skipped; it expires within 14 days unless extended for good cause; and the hearing on a preliminary injunction must be scheduled at the earliest possible time. The party who obtained the order must be ready to proceed at that hearing, or the court will dissolve it, and the opposing party can move to dissolve or modify the order on short notice. A movant seeking either a TRO or a preliminary injunction generally must post security to cover costs and damages if it turns out the order was wrongfully issued, though the State and its subdivisions are excused from that requirement.

The remaining sections round out the rule. Every injunction or restraining order must state its reasons, spell out its terms specifically, and describe the restrained conduct in detail rather than by cross-reference to the complaint, and it binds only the parties, their agents and employees, and others acting in concert with them who receive actual notice. Rule 65(e) lists the traditional grounds for a preliminary injunction, such as preventing irreparable injury or fraudulent disposal of property, and Rule 65(f) covers the separate remedy of restoring someone to possession of real property after a forcible or stealthy removal. Labor dispute injunctions remain governed by their own statutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a TRO and a preliminary injunction under Rule 65?

A temporary restraining order, or TRO, can be issued quickly and even without notice to the other side when immediate, irreparable harm is shown, but it is short-lived, generally capped at 14 days. A preliminary injunction requires notice to the adverse party and stays in place until the case is resolved or the court says otherwise.

Can a court issue an emergency injunction without notifying the other side?

Yes, but only as a temporary restraining order under Rule 65(b), and only when specific facts in an affidavit or verified complaint clearly show immediate and irreparable injury will occur before the other side can be heard, along with a certification of notice efforts.

How long does a TRO last before it expires?

Rule 65(b)(2) caps a TRO issued without notice at 14 days from entry, though the court can extend it once for good cause, or longer if the adverse party consents.

Does a party have to post a bond to get a preliminary injunction or TRO?

Generally yes. Rule 65(c) requires security in an amount the court considers proper to cover costs and damages if the order turns out to be wrongful, except the State of Idaho and its subdivisions are not required to post security.

Who is bound by an injunction or restraining order?

Rule 65(d)(2) binds the parties, their officers, agents, servants, employees, and attorneys, and anyone else acting in active concert with them, but only those who receive actual notice of the order.

Source & verification. Rule text are reproduced verbatim from the Idaho Rules of Civil Procedure, adopted by the Supreme Court of Idaho. Last verified July 14, 2026. · Official source

Also known as: TROtemporary restraining orderpreliminary injunctionemergency injunctionmotion to dissolve TROrestraining order idaho