How to Get a No Contact Order in Wisconsin: Types, Filing, and Hearing

To get what people commonly call a no contact order in Wisconsin, you file a civil petition for a restraining order (the statute calls it an injunction) with the Clerk of Circuit Court in your county. A judge or court commissioner can grant a temporary restraining order the same day, the sheriff serves the other person, and a full hearing is held within 14 days to decide whether to issue a longer-term injunction. You do not need a lawyer, a pending criminal case, or the cooperation of a prosecutor to start.

One terminology note before you file. A true “no-contact order” in Wisconsin is something a judge imposes on a criminal defendant as a condition of bail under Wis. Stat. § 969.02, and it lasts only as long as the criminal case.¹ You cannot petition for one yourself. The civil restraining order described below is the route you control.

Pick the Right Type of Order

Wisconsin has four types of civil restraining orders, each with its own form, eligibility rules, and penalties. Filing under the wrong statute can get your petition denied, so match your situation to one of these before you start the paperwork.

Domestic Abuse

A domestic abuse injunction under Wis. Stat. § 813.12 applies when the person you need protection from is an adult family member, a household member, a former spouse, a current or former dating partner, or someone you share a child with. You need to show that the person intentionally caused you physical pain or injury, impaired your physical condition, committed sexual assault or stalking, damaged your property, or threatened any of those acts.²

Harassment

Use a harassment injunction under Wis. Stat. § 813.125 when there is no qualifying domestic relationship. It covers two situations: the respondent subjected you to physical contact, sexual assault, or stalking; or the respondent engaged in a pattern of conduct meant to harass or intimidate you that serves no legitimate purpose.³ A neighbor, coworker, acquaintance, or stranger would generally fall here.

Child Abuse

A child abuse injunction under Wis. Stat. § 813.122 protects a minor from physical, sexual, or emotional abuse. A parent, stepparent, legal guardian, or the child themselves can file.⁴

Individual at Risk

An individual-at-risk injunction under Wis. Stat. § 813.123 protects elder adults at risk and other adults at risk as defined by Wisconsin law. It covers abuse, financial exploitation, neglect, harassment, and stalking.⁵

What to Prepare Before You File

You will need your full name and address, the respondent’s full name and current address (the court needs this to serve them), and a written account of what happened. Be specific. Judges read dozens of these petitions, and “he has been threatening me” carries much less weight than “on March 14 at approximately 6 p.m., he came to my workplace parking lot and said he would hurt me if I didn’t answer his calls.” Include dates, times, locations, descriptions of each incident, and the names of any witnesses.

The form depends on the order you need. Domestic abuse uses Form CV-402, and harassment uses Form CV-405.⁶⁷ You can download them from the Wisconsin Court System’s website or pick them up at the Clerk of Circuit Court’s office. Clerk’s office staff can help you identify the correct form; they cannot give legal advice about what to write.

Filing Fees

Domestic abuse petitions are free. The court charges no filing fee, and the sheriff charges nothing to serve the paperwork.⁴ Harassment petitions may carry a filing fee and a sheriff service fee, but those are waived if the judge finds that your petition alleges domestic abuse or stalking behavior. Petitions that do not involve domestic abuse or stalking carry the standard court and sheriff fees.

Filing, the Temporary Order, and the Hearing

File your completed petition with the Clerk of Circuit Court in the county where you or the respondent lives. Shortly after filing, you will have a brief ex parte hearing. The respondent is not present. A judge or court commissioner reads your petition and decides whether to grant a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the spot.

If the TRO is granted, it takes effect immediately. The court gives you the signed order and a notice setting the date for the injunction hearing. The respondent then has to be formally served with those documents, which the county sheriff’s department handles in most cases.⁴

The injunction hearing takes place within 14 days of the TRO, unless both parties agree to extend the timeline or the court allows more time because the respondent has not been served despite reasonable efforts.⁸ At the hearing, both sides can attend, testify, call witnesses, and present evidence. The judge then decides whether to issue the longer-term injunction.

If the TRO Is Denied

A denial does not end your case. If your petition alleged domestic abuse or stalking and the fee was waived, you can still request a full hearing on whether the court should issue an injunction. Either party can move for that hearing date.³ If a court commissioner denied the TRO, you can also request a de novo hearing before a circuit court judge. That motion must be filed within 30 days of the denial.

If the denial came down to thin detail in your petition, you can refile with a more thorough account. Local victim advocacy organizations often help with petition drafting at no charge.

What the Order Does, and How Long It Lasts

An injunction bars the respondent from all contact with you: showing up in person, phone calls, texts, emails, social media messages, and contact through a third party. It typically requires the respondent to stay a specified distance from your home, workplace, and school. A judge can add conditions tailored to your situation, such as keeping the respondent away from your children’s school or a shared community location at particular times.

Duration depends on the order type:

Domestic abuse, harassment, and individual at risk: up to four years.²
Child abuse: up to two years.⁸
Extended domestic abuse injunction: up to ten years if the judge finds a substantial risk that the respondent may commit homicide or sexual assault against you.
Permanent domestic abuse injunction: available if the respondent has been convicted of sexual assault against you.

When a domestic abuse injunction expires, the court is required to extend it if you state that the extension is necessary for your protection. You do not have to prove new incidents of abuse to get the extension.² Contact the clerk’s office before your injunction’s end date rather than on it.

Firearm Consequences for the Respondent

A domestic abuse or child abuse injunction makes it a Class G felony for the respondent to possess a firearm. They must surrender all firearms to the county sheriff or another court-approved person.⁹ For harassment and individual-at-risk injunctions, the judge can order a firearm prohibition but it is not automatic.³

Federal law adds its own prohibition. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8), anyone subject to a qualifying protection order involving an intimate partner cannot possess firearms or ammunition. The order has to come out of a hearing where the respondent had notice and a chance to participate, and it must either include a finding of credible threat or expressly prohibit the use of force.¹⁰ A temporary ex parte TRO does not trigger the federal ban; a final injunction typically does.

If the Respondent Violates the Order

Call 911. Do not try to enforce the order yourself. A violation is a criminal offense that can lead to arrest and new charges. Penalties depend on which type of order was violated:

Keep a log. Save screenshots of messages, note dates and times of drive-bys, and get witness contact information when you can. A documented pattern of violations strengthens both any criminal complaint and any later request to extend or modify the injunction.

Keeping Your Address Off the Petition

The petition asks for your address, and the respondent will see it. If you have moved and the person does not know where you live, Wisconsin’s Safe at Home program under Wis. Stat. § 165.68 gives you a legal substitute address to use on public and private records. Mail sent to the substitute address is forwarded to your actual location at no cost.¹¹ You enroll through a designated application assistant, usually a victim advocate. If you own your home, property records may still expose your address, so call Safe at Home at (608) 266-6613 to discuss alternatives before you file.

Enforcement Across State Lines

A Wisconsin injunction follows you. Under the Violence Against Women Act, every state, tribe, and territory must give full faith and credit to a valid protection order from another jurisdiction and enforce it as if it were local.¹² You do not need to register the order in a new state for it to be enforceable, though carrying a certified copy makes things go faster in practice.

If the respondent crosses state lines intending to violate the order and then violates it, the violation becomes a federal crime under 18 U.S.C. § 2262. Federal penalties run up to five years in prison for a general violation, up to 20 years if the victim suffers serious bodily injury or the offender uses a dangerous weapon, and up to life if the victim dies.¹³

1
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 969.02 – Conditions of Release
2
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 813.12 – Domestic Abuse Restraining Orders and Injunctions
3
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 813.125 – Harassment Restraining Orders and Injunctions
4
Wisconsin Court System. Restraining Orders – Frequently Asked Questions
5
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 813.123 – Restraining Orders and Injunctions for Individuals at Risk
6
Wisconsin Court System. Circuit Court Forms – CV-402
7
Wisconsin Court System. Circuit Court Forms – CV-405
8
Wisconsin Department of Justice. Restraining Orders
9
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 941.29 – Possession of a Firearm
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
11
Wisconsin Department of Justice. Safe at Home Address Confidentiality Program
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2265 – Full Faith and Credit Given to Protection Orders
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2262 – Interstate Violation of Protection Order