Prohibiting plaintiffs from filing abusive civil actions against certain defendants with whom the plaintiff has a current or former family, household or dating relationship and authorizing the court to impose prefiling restrictions on such plaintiffs.

SB 346 prevents individuals from filing civil lawsuits against current or former family, household, or dating partners primarily to harass or maliciously harm them. If a defendant claims a case is abusive, courts must hold a hearing and may dismiss the case if evidence shows the plaintiff repeatedly filed similar lawsuits (within 5 years) or was sanctioned for frivolous filings. Courts can impose a 48- to 72-month ban on the plaintiff filing new cases against the same person and award attorney fees to the defendant. This directly affects plaintiffs in relationship-based civil disputes who repeatedly use the court system for harassment, while requiring courts to verify the legitimacy of such claims before allowing filings.