New Statewide MOEP Form Required Starting June 1, 2024 

by Ned Minevitz

After an arrest involving family violence or for trafficking of persons, sexual assault, indecent assault, aggravated sexual assault, or stalking, Texas magistrates may enter a Magistrate’s Order of Emergency Protection (MOEP) under Article 17.292 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. MOEPs are designed to protect the victims of such crimes. 

Beginning with MOEPs entered on or after June 1, 2024, all magistrates in Texas are required to use the new MOEP form available on the Office of Court Administration’s (OCA) Standardized Protective Order Forms webpage. This requirement is in Article 17.292(d-1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which was enacted in 2023 through S.B. 48. While the new form is required, a magistrate’s failure to use it does not affect the validity or enforceability of an issued MOEP. Along with the new standard MOEP, OCA has also created a new Motion to Modify MOEP and Order on Motion to Modify MOEP, which are available on the page linked above. There is no change to how MOEPs are transmitted, filed, and enforced following execution. 

The new standard forms may be filled out digitally or printed and filled out by hand. In line with Article 17.292(d-1), the forms should not be altered by courts. Any questions, suggestions, or issues related to the new forms should be directed to OCA. Should adjustments or improvements be necessary, OCA has indicated that they will revise the forms accordingly.  

Given these changes, TMCEC has removed its MOEP as well as orders related to MOEP modification from the Forms Book. During a TMCEC webinar presented by OCA’s Kimberly Piechowiak on June 6, 2024, titled The New Magistrate’s Order for Emergency Protection (available on-demand on TMCEC’s Online Learning Center),  one participant pointed out that the new MOEP provides “The Magistrate’s Record of Service is attached to this Order.” OCA has not, at this time, developed a standard Record of Service. Therefore, the Magistrate’s Record of Service of Order of Emergency Protection is still available in the Forms Book. The Clerk’s Letter: Copy of Service of Order of Emergency Protection is also still available in the Forms Book.