How to Complete and File the Illinois Order of Protection Standardized Form

To file an order of protection in Illinois, fill out the free standardized Petition for Order of Protection and the matching Summons for Protective Orders, bring them to the circuit clerk in the right county, and see a judge the same day for a 21-day emergency order while a full hearing is scheduled. The forms are approved by the Supreme Court Commission on Access to Justice, every circuit court in the state must accept them, and the law waives all filing and service fees.¹²

Who Can File

You qualify to file if the person who abused you is a “family or household member” under the Illinois Domestic Violence Act. The definition is broader than most people assume. It reaches spouses and former spouses, parents and children, stepchildren, people related by blood or marriage, anyone who shares or formerly shared a home with you, anyone who has or allegedly has a child in common with you, and anyone you have or had a dating or engagement relationship with.³ It also covers people with disabilities and their personal assistants or caregivers. A casual acquaintance or ordinary social contact does not count as a dating relationship.

You can file in the circuit court of the county where you live, where the abuser lives, where the abuse happened, or where you are temporarily staying to avoid further abuse.

Getting the Forms

Download the forms free at illinoiscourts.gov. The main document is the Petition for Order of Protection, currently designated ATJ 403.5.⁴ You also need the Summons for Protective Orders, which notifies the respondent that a case has been filed and tells them when to appear. Both were most recently approved in May 2025. The petition runs 15 pages, but most of it involves checking boxes rather than writing narrative.

The forms page also lists a Search Warrant for Seizure of Firearms and an information sheet. You do not fill those out. If the judge orders firearm surrender, the court handles those documents. Most courthouses keep blank copies of the petition and summons at the clerk’s office or a self-help center.

Information to Gather First

Collecting the right details before you sit down with the form prevents an incomplete filing.

Your information: Your name, a mailing address where you can receive court notices, phone number, and email. If disclosing your home address would put you at risk, use a P.O. box, a work address, or a trusted friend’s address. The form includes a checkbox for this.
Respondent’s information: Full name, home address, employer name, work address, and work schedule. The form also asks for date of birth or approximate age, gender, height, weight, race, hair and eye color, and distinguishing features like scars or tattoos. Those physical descriptors help the sheriff identify the right person when serving the order.⁴
Relationship to the respondent: Spouse, former spouse, parent, dating partner, and so on. The court uses this to confirm you qualify under the statute.³
Account of the abuse: A chronological description of recent incidents with specific dates and locations. Note whether weapons were involved, whether children were present, and whether you sought medical treatment. Concrete details make a stronger case at the hearing.
Children’s information: Full names, dates of birth, and current living arrangements if you plan to ask for temporary custody or supervised parenting time.

A good address for the respondent matters more than people realize. The sheriff needs it to physically deliver the papers. Without a reliable home or work address, service may fail and the case stalls.

Filling Out the Petition

The petition walks you through lettered sections. Section A covers your identifying information. Section B covers the respondent’s details, including the physical description fields. Section C asks you to describe the relationship and the abuse. Write in plain language. You do not need legal terminology. Describe what happened, when, and where. If the abuse has happened more than once, lead with the most recent incident and then summarize the pattern.

After the factual sections, the form moves into remedies. This part determines what the court order will actually require the respondent to do or stop doing.

Choosing Remedies

The remedies section is a series of checkboxes. Select only the protections you need. The judge reviews each one individually. Options under the statute include:⁵

Prohibition of further abuse, harassment, threats, or intimidation.
Exclusive possession of the residence, which bars the respondent from the home even if the respondent owns or leases it, as long as you have a right to live there.
A stay-away order keeping the respondent a specified distance from you, your school, your workplace, or other locations.
Required counseling, including domestic violence intervention or substance abuse treatment.
Temporary custody of children and limits on the respondent’s parenting time, including supervised visits.
A prohibition on removing children from Illinois or concealing them.
Firearm surrender, including Firearm Owner’s Identification (FOID) cards.

Check every remedy that fits your situation. Leaving a box blank does not permanently foreclose that protection, but the judge will not address it in the initial order. You can file a motion later to add remedies you skipped.

The Summons

The Summons for Protective Orders is shorter and goes in alongside the petition. It tells the respondent a case exists and lists the date and time for appearance. You enter the respondent’s name and the best address for service. The clerk fills in the hearing date and case number after you file. An outdated address here is the most common reason service fails.

Filing with the Clerk

Take the completed petition and summons to the circuit clerk’s office in the appropriate county. Illinois requires electronic filing through eFileIL for most court documents.⁶ Many courthouses have kiosks or staff who can help you file electronically in person if you do not have internet access or are unfamiliar with the system. Self-represented filers in protection cases can usually get hands-on help at the courthouse.

No fees apply at any point. The statute waives the clerk’s filing fee, amendment and certification costs, photocopying charges, and the sheriff’s service fee.² You do not need to apply for a fee waiver. The exemption is automatic.

Once the clerk accepts your documents, the case gets a number and the paperwork goes to a judge.

The Emergency Hearing

You typically see a judge the same day for an emergency (ex parte) hearing. “Ex parte” means the respondent is not present and gets no advance notice, which the law allows when notifying the abuser beforehand would likely lead to more harm. A 21-day emergency order can be sought before any available circuit judge, including outside regular business hours, on weekends, and on court holidays.⁷

At the hearing, the judge reads your petition and may ask questions about the abuse. There is no cross-examination. You do not need a lawyer, though having one can help. If the judge finds the statutory requirements are met, an Emergency Order of Protection issues immediately and remains in effect until a full hearing, usually within 14 to 21 days.

Service on the Respondent

The order is not enforceable against the respondent until it has been formally served. After the judge signs the emergency order, the clerk sends the petition, summons, and order to the sheriff’s office for delivery. The sheriff attempts to find the respondent at the addresses you listed and hand over the documents in person.

If the sheriff cannot locate the respondent after reasonable attempts, you can ask the court to appoint a special process server, meaning a licensed private detective or any person 18 or older who is not a party to the case. You file a Motion to Appoint Special Process Server, which requires judge approval. In Cook County, you must use the sheriff for the first attempt before requesting a private server. Special process servers charge their own fees, which are not covered by the court fee waiver.

The Plenary Hearing

The plenary hearing is the full hearing where both sides present evidence and testimony. The judge sets the date when issuing the emergency order. Bring any documentation that supports your petition: photos of injuries, threatening text messages, medical records, police reports, or witness statements. The respondent has the right to attend, present evidence, and argue against the order.

If the judge finds that abuse occurred, a Plenary Order of Protection can last up to two years. There is no limit on how many times it can be renewed, and an extension can be granted on good cause shown and may remain in effect until the court vacates or modifies it.⁸

If the Respondent Violates the Order

Once the order is served, any violation is a criminal offense. A first violation is a Class A misdemeanor, carrying up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.⁹¹⁰ A second or subsequent violation requires a minimum of 24 hours imprisonment unless the court finds that sentence would be manifestly unjust. The charge can escalate to a Class 4 felony, carrying one to three years in prison, if the violation is a repeat offense or results in bodily harm to the protected person.¹¹

Call 911 if the respondent violates the order. You do not need to file a separate petition. Law enforcement can arrest the respondent based on the existing order, provided it has been properly served.

Extending or Modifying the Order

You can go back to court to change the terms of an existing order. If the respondent has abused you again since the order was entered, file a motion to add or strengthen remedies. You can also request any remedy that was originally reserved, not requested, or denied on procedural rather than substantive grounds. Custody, parenting time, and support provisions can be modified by either party under the standards in the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act.¹²

After the first 30 days of a plenary order, a modification requires showing that the facts or applicable law have changed since the order was entered. If your order is nearing expiration and you still feel unsafe, file a motion to extend before it lapses. You can support an uncontested extension with an affidavit explaining that circumstances have not materially changed and why you still need the order.

1
Illinois Courts. Order of Protection
2
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 750 ILCS 60/202
3
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 750 ILCS 60/103
4
Illinois Courts. Petition for Order of Protection
5
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 750 ILCS 60/214 – Order of Protection; Remedies
6
Illinois Courts. eFileIL – Statewide eFiling
7
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 750 ILCS 60/217
8
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 750 ILCS 60/214 – Order of Protection; Remedies
9
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 720 ILCS 5/12-3.4 – Violation of an Order of Protection
10
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-55 – Class A Misdemeanor
11
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-45 – Class 4 Felony
12
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 750 ILCS 60/224 – Modification and Re-Opening of Orders