IF YOU ARE THE VICTIM OF DOMESTIC ABUSE, OR BELIEVE YOURSELF AT RISK

If you believe yourself to be in need of protection and the offender is either a family or household member, someone with whom you live or have lived with, or someone else who fits the STATUTORY DEFINITION you may qualify to file a Petition for an Order of Protection. You do not have to have an attorney in order to file an Order of Protection case, but you will need to file the necessary paperwork with the Circuit Clerk’s office prior to coming to court. (To print a Verified Petition for Order of Protection Form see PDF version at the bottom of this page.)

STATUTORY DEFINITION: Family or Household Members – Include spouses, former spouses, parents, children, stepchildren and other persons related by blood or by present or prior marriage, persons who share or formerly shared a common dwelling, persons who have or allegedly have a child in common, persons who share or allegedly share a blood relationship through a child, persons who have or have had a dating or engagement relationship, and persons with disabilities and their personal assistants. For purposes of this paragraph, neither a casual acquaintanceship nor ordinary fraternization between two individuals in business or social contexts shall be deemed to constitute a dating relationship. In the case of a high-risk adult with disabilities, “family or household members” includes any person who has the responsibility for a high-risk adult as a result of a family relationship or who has assumed responsibility for all or a portion of the care of a high-risk adult with disabilities voluntarily, or by express or implied contract, or by court order. 

When you come into Court for the purpose of filing a Petition for an Order of Protection:

• You will need to bring a good (valid) address for the person against whom you are filing the Petition. This is necessary because your Petition must be served on the person you will be naming as the Respondent at a later time.

• You will need to provide the birth date of the person against whom you are filing the Petition.

• You will also be asked to fill out papers that include a description of the incident or incidents which have led you to file the Petition. The incident(s) must involve an offender who is a family or household member, someone with whom you live or have lived with, or someone else who fits with the statutory definition and must be in the nature of actual physical abuse, threat of harm or harassment. You cannot file a Petition for an Order of Protection in a situation involving only destruction of, or threat of harm to, property alone.

• Once you have completed the necessary paperwork, you must decide whether to request an Emergency Order of Protection, or whether to set the case for hearing. In order to obtain an Emergency Order of Protection, you must appear before a Judge for a hearing to establish that abuse has occurred and that further abuse is likely to occur again if the abuser were given prior notice of the filing of your case.

• If, after the hearing for an Emergency Order, the Judge finds an Emergency Order is necessary, it will be entered upon the conclusion of your hearing. It may be possible to obtain an Emergency Order of Protection within 24 hours.

• If your case is not an emergency, you will be given a court date for hearing. This date is generally from 5 to 21 days from the time you file your case, since it is necessary for the respondent to be served with the Summons and the Petition for Order of Protection.

• At the court hearing, an Order of Protection (sometimes referred to as a “restraining order, Peace Bond” or “OP”) may be issued by the judge. Depending on your individual situation, the judge may also issue orders granting temporary maintenance, child support, child custody, and possession of your home. An Emergency Order of Protection may be in effect for up to 21 days, an Interim Order of Protection for up to 30 days and a Plenary (Final) Order of Protection for up to 2 years. The purpose of the Interim Order is to give the petitioner time to initiate additional legal action, such as a divorce or separation, or time for the respondent and/or petitioner to seek counseling should they wish to pursue another course of action. Because each case is unique the exact outcome of any one case cannot be predicted.
How to Prepare, File and Serve an Order of Protection (OP)

If someone wishes to file an Order of Protection against another individual, he or she may do so with the Circuit Clerk’s Office. Forms to file a Petition for an Order of Protection are provided by the Circuit Clerk’s Office. Once a petition has been filed with the Circuit Clerk, the clerks will:

• give the file a case number;
• send the individual filing the petition into a courtroom immediately; and
• prepare the forms for the Sheriff

Once an Order of Protection is issued by a judge, the order is maintained by the Circuit Clerk’s Office. This process may take two to three hours to complete.

HARASSMENT, STALKING, OR OTHER TYPES OF ABUSE

The following types of abuse qualify for relief by the filing of a Petition for Order of Protection:

• harassment
• stalking
• physical abuse
• exploitation
• interference with personal liberty
• intimidation of a dependent
• neglect and willful deprivation

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

ABUSE – “Abuse” means physical abuse, harassment, intimidation of a dependent, interference with personal liberty or willful deprivation but does not include reasonable direction of a minor child by a parent or persons in loco parentis.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE – Domestic Violence means abuse as defined in the definition above.

EXPLOITATION – “Exploitation” means the illegal, including torturous, use of a high-risk adult with disabilities or of the assets or resources of a high-risk adult with disabilities. Exploitation includes, but is not limited to, the misappropriation of assets or resources of a high-risk adult with disabilities by undue influence, by breach of a fiduciary relationship, by fraud, deception, or extortion, or the use of such assets or resources in a manner contrary to law.

FAMILY or HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS – include spouses, former spouses, parents, children, stepchildren and other persons related by blood or by present or prior marriage, persons who share or formerly shared a common dwelling, persons who have or allegedly have a child in common, persons who share or allegedly share a blood relationship through a child, persons who have or have had a dating or engagement relationship, and persons with disabilities and their personal assistants. For purposes of this paragraph, neither a casual acquaintanceship nor ordinary fraternization between two individuals in business or social contexts shall be deemed to constitute a dating relationship. In the case of a high-risk adult with disabilities, “family or household members” includes any person who has the responsibility for a nigh-risk adult as a result of a family relationship or who has assumed responsibility for all or a portion of the care of a high-risk adult with disabilities voluntarily, or by express or implied contract, or by court order.

HARASSMENT – “Harassment” means knowing conduct which is not necessary to accomplish a purpose that is reasonable under the circumstances, would cause a reasonable person emotional distress, and does cause emotional distress to the petitioner. Unless the presumption is rebutted by a preponderance of the evidence, the following types of conduct shall be presumed to cause emotional distress:

a) creating a disturbance at petitioner’s place of employment or school;

b) repeatedly telephoning petitioner’s place of employment, home or residence;

c) repeatedly following petitioner about in a public place or places;

d) repeatedly keeping petitioner under surveillance by remaining present outside his or her home, school, place of employment, vehicle or other place occupied by petitioner or by peering in petitioner’s windows;

e) repeatedly threatening to improperly remove a child of petitioner’s from the jurisdiction, improperly concealing that child from petitioner or making a single such threat following an actual or attempted improper removal or concealment;

f) improperly concealing a minor child from petitioner, repeatedly threatening to improperly remove a minor child of petitioner from the jurisdiction or from the physical care of petitioner, repeatedly threatening to conceal a minor child from petitioner, or making a single such threat following an actual or attempted improper removal or concealment, unless respondent was fleeing an incident or pattern of domestic violence; or

g) threatening physical force, confinement or restraint on one or more occasions.

IN LOCO PARENTIS – In the place of a parent; instead of a parent.

INTERFERENCE WITH PERSONAL LIBERTY – “Interference with personal liberty” means committing or threatening physical abuse, harassment, intimidation or willful deprivation so as to compel another to engage in conduct from which she or he has a right to abstain or to refrain from conduct in which she or he has a right to engage.

INTIMIDATION OF A DEPENDENT – “Intimidation” means subjecting a person who is dependent because of age, health or disability to participation in, or the witnessing of: physical force against another or physical confinement or restraint of another which constitutes physical abuse as herein defined, regardless of whether the abused person is a family or household member.

NEGLECT – “Neglect” means the failure to exercise that degree of care toward a high-risk adult with disabilities which a reasonable person would exercise under the circumstances and includes but is not limited to:

a) the failure to take reasonable steps to protect a high-risk adult with disabilities from acts of abuse;

b) the repeated, careless imposition of unreasonable confinement;

c) the failure to provide food, shelter, clothing, and personal hygiene to a high-risk adult with disabilities who requires such assistance;

d) the failure to provide medical and rehabilitative care for the physical and mental health needs of a high-risk adult with disabilities; or

e) the failure to protect a high-risk adult with disabilities from health and safety hazards.

PHYSICAL ABUSE – “Physical abuse” includes sexual abuse and means any of the following:

a) knowing or reckless use of physical force, confinement, or restraint; or

b) knowing, repeated and unnecessary sleep deprivation; or

c) knowing or reckless conduct which creates an immediate risk of physical harm.

STALKING – “Stalking” means knowingly and without lawful justification, on at least two (2) separate occasions following another person or placing the person under surveillance or any combination thereof and:

a) at any time transmitting a threat of immediate or future bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement or restraint and the threat is directed towards that person or a family member of that person; or

b) placing that person in reasonable apprehension of immediate or future bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement or restraint; or

c) placing that person in reasonable apprehension that a family member will receive immediate or future bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement, or restraint.

WILLFUL DEPRIVATION – “Willful deprivation” means willfully denying a person who because of age, health or disability requires medication, medical care, shelter, food, therapeutic device, or other physical assistance, and thereby exposing that person to the risk of physical, mental or emotional harm, except with regard to medical care or treatment when the dependent person has expressed an intent to forego such medical care or treatment. This paragraph does not create any new affirmative duty to provide support to dependent persons.