To file a Wisconsin ex parte restraining order, pick the correct CV form for your situation, fill out the petition with a specific sworn Statement of Facts, attach a Confidential Address Information Sheet, and file the packet with the Clerk of Circuit Court in a county with proper venue. A judge or court commissioner reviews it the same day, usually without the other party present, and either signs a temporary restraining order and sets a hearing date or denies the petition. The forms are free to download from wicourts.gov, and domestic abuse petitions carry no filing fee.
Pick the Right Form Before You Write Anything
Wisconsin has four main restraining-order form series. Each is tied to a different statute and a different kind of relationship or harm. Filing the wrong one means the judge has no authority to grant what you need.
- CV-402 — Domestic Abuse. For protection from a spouse, former spouse, someone you live with or used to live with, or someone you share a child with. Wis. Stat. § 813.12.1Wisconsin Court System. Circuit Court Forms – CV-402
- CV-405 — Harassment. For stalking, repeated unwanted contact, or threats from anyone who doesn’t fit the domestic-abuse categories. Wis. Stat. § 813.125.2Wisconsin Court System. Circuit Court Forms – CV-405
- CV-412 — Child Abuse. Filed on behalf of a child to restrain someone from committing physical or sexual abuse against that child.3Wisconsin Court System. Circuit Court Forms – CV-412
- CV-428 — Individual at Risk. For adults with cognitive impairments or physical disabilities who need protection from abuse, neglect, or interference with protective services.4Wisconsin Court System. Circuit Court Forms – CV-428
One boundary worth flagging: if you need temporary orders about minor children inside a pending divorce or custody case, that runs through family court on form FA-4128VA under Wis. Stat. §§ 767.117 and 767.225, not the restraining-order track covered here.
Gather This Information First
Courts need enough identifying detail about the respondent for the sheriff to actually find and serve them. Have the respondent’s full legal name, current home address, date of birth, and a physical description including height, weight, hair color, eye color, and race.5Marathon County, WI. Temporary Restraining Order Without an address, service stalls and the TRO sits unenforceable.
You also need a clear chronological record of the incidents that make you fear for your safety. For each one, pin down the date, the location, and exactly what the respondent said or did. Note any police report numbers and any dates and facilities for medical treatment. You don’t attach these records to the petition itself, but you’ll draw on them to write the Statement of Facts, and you’ll want originals or copies at the injunction hearing.
Keeping Your Address Confidential
Every petition filed through the Wisconsin Court System must include a Confidential Address Information Sheet, which the court keeps separate from the public case file so your home address doesn’t appear in records the respondent can access. The court’s online Forms Assistant generates this sheet automatically.6Wisconsin Court System. Restraining Orders
If you have relocated and the respondent doesn’t know where you live, the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Safe at Home program gives you a legal substitute address you can use on court filings and other public records. Enrollment starts with safety planning through a designated Application Assistant, usually a victim advocate, followed by an application to the program. You must live in Wisconsin, be a victim of abuse or fear for your physical safety, and currently live at a location unknown to the person you fear.7Wisconsin Department of Justice. Safe at Home Address Confidentiality Program
Fill Out the Petition
You have two ways to complete the paperwork. The Wisconsin Court System posts downloadable PDF and Word versions of every form at wicourts.gov, which you can print and complete by hand or fill in on screen.1Wisconsin Court System. Circuit Court Forms – CV-402 The easier route for domestic abuse and harassment petitions is the court’s online Forms Assistant, an interview-style questionnaire that populates the petition and the Confidential Address Information Sheet from your answers.6Wisconsin Court System. Restraining Orders
Leave the judge’s signature line, the date, and the hearing date blank on the TRO and Notice of Hearing portions of the packet. The court fills those in. If you’re handwriting anything, print clearly.
The Statement of Facts Is Where Petitions Win or Lose
A judge or court commissioner reads your Statement of Facts and decides, without hearing from the other side, whether reasonable grounds exist to believe the respondent has engaged in domestic abuse or harassment.8Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 813.12(3) – Domestic Abuse Temporary Restraining Orders and Injunctions Summary language gets denied. “He has been abusive for years” tells the judge nothing actionable. Specifics work:
“On March 12, 2026, at approximately 9 p.m., at our apartment on Elm Street, he grabbed me by the arm and slammed me into the kitchen wall.”
Every incident should answer who, what, when, and where. Quote the respondent’s words when you can. Lead with the most recent incidents, since those carry the most weight in showing immediate danger, then work back through earlier events.
Where and How to File
File in the circuit court for the county where you live, the county where the respondent lives, or the county where the abuse or harassment took place.9Door County, WI. Restraining Order Any other county lacks proper venue and will reject the petition.
In Person
Bring the completed petition and any supporting documents to the Clerk of Circuit Court office. In-person filing remains the most common route for emergency petitions because it puts the paperwork in front of a judge the same day. Some clerk offices have staff or volunteer advocates who can look over your forms for obvious errors before you file.
Electronic Filing
Wisconsin allows statewide e-filing of TRO petitions through efiling.wicourts.gov. The system walks you through selecting the county, entering party information (including the respondent’s demographic details for the sheriff), uploading your completed petition, and submitting. Restraining-order petitions are exempt from the standard $35 e-filing fee. If a party needs an interpreter, there’s a field to flag the language.10Wisconsin Court System. Circuit Court eFiling – eFiling a Temporary Restraining Order
Fees and Waivers
Domestic abuse petitions (CV-402) carry no filing fee. Harassment petitions (CV-405) do, running roughly $165 to $170 depending on the county, plus potential sheriff service fees.11Dane County Clerk of Courts. Temporary Restraining Order Forms If you can’t afford the harassment fee, submit Form CV-410A (Petition for Waiver of Fees and Costs — Declaration of Indigency) with your petition. You declare under oath that you can’t pay filing and service fees because of poverty.12Wisconsin Court System. Wisconsin Code 814.29 – Petition for Waiver of Fees and Costs – Declaration of Indigency
What Happens the Same Day
Once the clerk accepts your petition, it goes to a judge or court commissioner, typically that same day. The judge reads your Statement of Facts and decides whether reasonable grounds exist to believe the respondent has committed domestic abuse or harassment. If yes, the judge signs the Temporary Restraining Order and sets a date for the injunction hearing. If the facts are too vague, the petition gets denied. A denial doesn’t bar you from refiling with more detail or additional evidence, and some courts will tell you what was missing.
Getting the Respondent Served
A signed TRO isn’t enforceable until the respondent is formally served. The clerk forwards the TRO and notice of hearing to the county sheriff, who handles service. You can hire a private process server at your own expense, but you cannot serve the respondent yourself.6Wisconsin Court System. Restraining Orders Give the sheriff any location information that helps them find the respondent, including work addresses or schedules.
Service is yours to track. If the sheriff hasn’t located the respondent before the hearing, contact the court to reschedule rather than let the case lapse.
One wrinkle: if the respondent is on active military duty, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act may require the court to appoint an attorney for the respondent and grant a stay of at least 90 days before proceeding. The servicemember can also request a stay with a letter from their commanding officer stating that military duty prevents them from appearing. This doesn’t stop you from filing or getting the TRO signed, but it can push the injunction hearing out.
The Injunction Hearing
Wisconsin law requires the injunction hearing within 14 days after the TRO is issued, unless both parties agree in writing to extend. The TRO stays in effect until the hearing happens.13Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 813.12 – Domestic Abuse Temporary Restraining Orders and Injunctions This is your chance to present your case in full, and the respondent’s first chance to tell their side.
Bring copies of anything that supports what you wrote in the petition: photographs of injuries, screenshots of threatening messages, police reports, medical records, and a copy of the signed TRO itself. The judge hears both sides and then decides whether to grant a longer-term injunction, which can run up to four years for both domestic abuse and harassment cases.14Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 813.12 – Domestic Abuse Temporary Restraining Orders and Injunctions15Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 813.125 – Harassment Restraining Orders and Injunctions
Mistakes That Delay or Derail the Process
A Statement of Facts that reads like a summary rather than an account of specific events is the single most common reason petitions get denied. If a judge can’t picture what happened and when, there’s nothing to act on.
Filing in the wrong county wastes time. Without a connection to where you live, where the respondent lives, or where the incidents happened, the court will reject the petition for lack of venue.9Door County, WI. Restraining Order
Forgetting the Confidential Address Information Sheet makes the filing incomplete.6Wisconsin Court System. Restraining Orders Using the online Forms Assistant avoids this because the sheet comes out of the questionnaire automatically.
Losing track of service is the quiet killer. If the respondent hasn’t been served by the hearing date and you don’t contact the court to reschedule, the case can be dismissed and you start over.