To get a default judgment in a Cook County civil case against a defendant who never responded, you first have to file a military affidavit in Cook County using form CCG 0004. The affidavit tells the judge whether the absent defendant is on active duty, and no default motion moves forward without it. The requirement comes from federal law, applies to every type of civil case, and takes three steps: run a Department of Defense database search on the defendant, complete the form, and e-file it with your default motion.
Why the Court Requires This Affidavit
The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, at 50 U.S.C. § 3931, directs courts to require a sworn statement about the defendant’s military status before entering any judgment against a party who hasn’t appeared.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3931 – Protection of Servicemembers Against Default Judgments The point is to keep service members from losing cases they couldn’t defend because they were stationed overseas or otherwise occupied by military duties. In Cook County the rule applies across the board: evictions, contract disputes, debt collection, small claims, and family cases including child custody. If you file a default motion without the affidavit, the judge will strike it and send you back to start over.
The affidavit has to do one of three things: state that the defendant is in military service, state that the defendant is not in military service, or state that you were unable to determine military status despite reasonable effort.
Step 1: Run a DMDC Search on the Defendant
The Department of Defense Manpower Data Center keeps the official active-duty database. Its SCRA website generates a certificate showing whether a person is currently serving, left active duty within the past 367 days, or has been notified to report for active duty.2Defense Manpower Data Center. SCRA That certificate is the factual basis for the affidavit, and judges expect to see one.
For a reliable result, you need the defendant’s Social Security number. The system will also accept a date of birth, but a date-of-birth-only search returns results with a disclaimer that they are not guaranteed accurate.3Defense Manpower Data Center. Status Finder Some judges reject those, particularly when the defendant has a common name. If you don’t have the Social Security number and can’t get it, you’ll likely be filing on the “unable to determine” option, and you should document every step you took to try to find out.
The search is free and takes a few minutes. Save the certificate as a PDF.
Step 2: Complete Form CCG 0004
Cook County’s standardized form is CCG 0004, “Affidavit as to Military Service,” available in the Clerk of the Circuit Court’s online forms library.4Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County. Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County – Forms It’s short, but errors send you back to redo it, so work carefully.
Fill in the case caption at the top: full party names and the case number. Then choose the option that matches your DMDC result: the defendant is in military service, is not in military service, or you were unable to determine. Provide the supporting facts in the space given, and attach or summarize the DMDC certificate.5Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County. CCG 0004 – Affidavit as to Military Service
Sign it under the certification language required by 735 ILCS 5/1-109. That certification functions like a notarized oath: you are swearing under penalty of law that the contents are true.6Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code of Civil Procedure 735 ILCS 5/1-109 – Verification by Certification No separate notarization is needed.
Step 3: E-File the Affidavit With Your Default Motion
Cook County requires electronic filing for civil documents through the statewide eFileIL system, and the military affidavit is no exception.7Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County. eFile Upload the completed CCG 0004 as a supporting document alongside your motion for default judgment. You’ll receive an electronic receipt confirming the submission.
There is no separate fee for the affidavit itself. It becomes part of the permanent case record, and at the default hearing the judge will look for it before granting any relief. A missing, incomplete, or contradicted affidavit means the motion gets denied.
If the DMDC Shows the Defendant Is on Active Duty
A default judgment is off the table in this situation. The court cannot enter one. Instead, the judge must appoint an attorney to represent the absent service member before the case moves any further.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3931 – Protection of Servicemembers Against Default Judgments If the appointed lawyer can’t locate the service member, nothing that lawyer does will waive any defense or bind the service member to the outcome.
The service member separately has the right to request a stay of proceedings under 50 U.S.C. § 3932, and when the required showing is made the court must grant a stay of at least 90 days.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3932 – Stay of Proceedings When Servicemember Has Notice For a plaintiff, this means a case against an active-duty defendant can sit idle for months, and there is no shortcut around it.
If You Can’t Determine the Defendant’s Military Status
If the DMDC search is inconclusive or you can’t supply enough identifying information to get a clean result, you file the affidavit on the third option and describe the reasonable efforts you made. The court has discretion in what happens next. It may require more investigation, or it may let the case proceed on the condition that you post a bond. The bond protects the defendant: if the person later turns out to have been on active duty and gets the judgment set aside, the bond covers their losses from the judgment.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3931 – Protection of Servicemembers Against Default Judgments The court sets the amount.
Document your effort in detail. An affidavit that simply says you don’t know is far less likely to satisfy a judge than one that lists the DMDC search, the records you checked, and the inquiries you made, with an explanation of why each came up short.
Penalties for Filing a False Affidavit
Filing a military affidavit you know to be false is a federal crime under 50 U.S.C. § 3931(c), punishable by a fine under Title 18, up to one year in prison, or both.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3931 – Protection of Servicemembers Against Default Judgments Because CCG 0004 also carries the Illinois certification under 735 ILCS 5/1-109, a false statement can trigger state consequences for filing a fraudulent court document as well.6Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code of Civil Procedure 735 ILCS 5/1-109 – Verification by Certification
A judgment built on a false affidavit is also vulnerable. If a service member later shows the plaintiff misrepresented military status, the court can set the judgment aside and sanction the plaintiff. The DMDC search is free and takes minutes, so there is no reason to skip it or guess at the answer.