Legal Question in Family Law in California

You are up against a distinction that is sometimes hard for lay people to understand, between "jurisdiction" and "venue." Jurisdiction is the legal power of a court to rule on a matter. The "jurisdiction" is in the Superior Court of California. If any Superior Court has jurisdiction, all Superior Courts in all counties have jurisdiction. You are correct that dismissal without prejudice does not end jurisdiction. It does, however, close the case that is venued in that courthouse.

Venue is the issue of which county's Superior Court is the proper location for a matter to be heard. There may be multiple proper venues or there may only be one depending on the nature of the case and the parties involved. There is no law against a case being dismissed in one venue and then refiled in another. So the question is whether the new court is a proper venue. Under the Code of Civil Procedure, the county of residence of either the petitioner or the respondent is a proper venue for a DV restraining order case. However, in the interests of justice, you can make a motion to have a case transferred from one county that is proper venue to another county that is proper venue. So although she has not violated any law by doing what she did, your situation provides a pretty good case for asking the court in her county to dismiss her case and order her to refile it in your county, or to order a change of venue to transfer her new case to your county, particularly since the alleged violations all occurred in your county.