How to Get a Restraining Order in Illinois: Filing, Court, and Duration

To get a restraining order in Illinois, file a Petition for Order of Protection at your local Circuit Clerk’s office. There is no filing fee, the clerk is required to help you complete the paperwork if you don’t have a lawyer, and a judge can issue an emergency order the same day you file. The order is called an Order of Protection, and it’s authorized by the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986.

Who Can File

Orders of Protection are only available if you have a domestic connection to the person you need protection from. The statute calls this being a “family or household member,” and the category is broader than the label suggests. It covers spouses and former spouses, parents, children, stepchildren, and anyone related by blood or current or prior marriage. People who live together or used to live together qualify. So do people who have or claim to have a child in common, and people in a current or past dating or engagement relationship. Casual acquaintances and ordinary business or social contacts don’t count as dating relationships.¹

High-risk adults with disabilities are also protected, and the protection extends to their personal assistants and caregivers.¹

If none of these describe your relationship with the person threatening you, an Order of Protection is not the right tool. Illinois provides two alternatives, covered at the end of this article: a Stalking No Contact Order for repeated unwanted contact, and a Civil No Contact Order for sexual assault or abuse.

What You Have to Show

The petition has to allege that a family or household member “abused” you as the statute defines that word. The definition covers five things: physical abuse, harassment, intimidation of a dependent, interference with personal liberty, and willful deprivation.¹

Harassment includes things like showing up uninvited at your workplace or school, following you, or calling repeatedly. Interference with personal liberty means restricting your movement or threatening you in a way that creates reasonable fear of harm. Willful deprivation applies when someone denies a high-risk adult with a disability medication, medical care, shelter, or other necessities. Reasonable parenting of a minor child is explicitly excluded.

You do not need visible injuries. The statute says a petitioner cannot be denied protection just because there are no marks or bruises. At the final hearing, the standard of proof is preponderance of the evidence: more likely than not.²

Filing the Petition

The Illinois Supreme Court has approved a standardized Petition for Order of Protection that every court in the state must accept. You can download it free from the Illinois Courts website or pick one up at any Circuit Clerk’s office.³ You can file in person or online.²

Nothing about the process costs money. The clerk cannot charge you for filing, amending, certifying, or copying the petition or order, and the sheriff cannot charge to serve papers on the respondent.² If you don’t have a lawyer, the clerk’s office is required by law to provide simplified forms and help you fill them out and file them. The State’s Attorney’s office can also help.

You can file the petition on its own, attach it to an existing case such as a divorce or custody proceeding, or seek it as part of a criminal prosecution against the respondent.

Before you file, document what happened as specifically as you can. Exact dates, times, and locations make a real difference. Gather anything that supports your account: photos of injuries or property damage, threatening texts or voicemails, police reports, and medical records. You don’t need all of these to file, but concrete evidence carries weight at the hearing.

What You Can Ask the Judge to Order

The judge has broad authority to tailor restrictions to your situation. The petition lets you check the ones that apply. Available remedies include:

No-abuse provision: Prohibits the respondent from physically abusing, harassing, intimidating, or stalking you.
Exclusive possession of your home: Requires the respondent to leave a shared residence, even one they own or lease, if you have a right to live there.
Stay-away order: Bars the respondent from your home, workplace, school, or other places you name.
No-contact order: Prohibits all direct or third-party contact, including calls, texts, and emails.
Child custody and parenting time: Grants you temporary physical custody and decision-making authority over minor children and sets conditions on any parenting time.
Child removal prohibition: Prevents the respondent from taking a child out of state or hiding the child within Illinois.
Counseling: Requires the respondent to attend domestic violence counseling, substance abuse treatment, or another program.
Financial support: Orders temporary support or compensation for losses caused by the abuse.
Personal property: Grants you exclusive possession of personal belongings or a shared vehicle.
Firearms surrender: Orders the respondent to turn over all firearms and their FOID card.

The judge decides which remedies to grant based on the evidence.²

How Long the Order Lasts

Illinois has three tiers, each with its own timeframe.

Emergency Order

This is the same-day option. A judge can grant one based on your petition and testimony alone, without notifying the respondent first. Emergency orders last 14 to 21 days, giving you a safety window while the court schedules a full hearing.⁴ If the courthouse is closed for the day or it’s a court holiday, you can seek a 21-day emergency order from any available judge.⁵

Interim Order

An interim order lasts up to 30 days and bridges the gap between the emergency order and the final hearing. It requires that the respondent has been served with notice of the hearing, though they don’t have to have appeared yet. Interim orders can include most protections available in a final order, but counseling, support payments, and monetary compensation require personal service or a general appearance.⁶

Plenary Order

This is the final order, issued after a hearing where both sides can present evidence. It can last up to two years and can be extended on a showing of good cause with no cap on the number of extensions.⁶ An uncontested extension with no requested changes can be granted based on a written statement that circumstances haven’t materially changed.

What Happens in Court

For an emergency order, the judge reviews your petition and may hear brief testimony from you the same day. The respondent isn’t there. If the judge finds abuse occurred or is likely, the emergency order issues right away.

The respondent then has to be served with the petition and the emergency order. Cases sometimes stall here. If the respondent can’t be located or is avoiding service, the plenary hearing gets pushed back, and the court can extend the emergency order in the meantime.⁴

At the plenary hearing, you and the respondent both present evidence and testimony. Bring witnesses, documents, and copies of everything. If the respondent has been properly served and doesn’t show up, the judge can enter a default order granting what you asked for. Arrive early, bring extra copies of your evidence, and be ready to describe what happened clearly and specifically.

After the Order Is Issued

Violating an Order of Protection is a crime. Call the police immediately if the respondent ignores any condition. Carry a copy of the order with you so law enforcement can verify it quickly.

A first violation is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.⁷⁸ The charge is elevated to a Class 4 felony (one to three years in prison) if the respondent has a prior conviction for domestic battery, a prior violation of an Order of Protection, or a prior conviction for certain serious offenses against a family or household member, including aggravated battery, stalking, criminal sexual assault, and kidnapping. For any second or subsequent violation, the court must impose at least 24 hours in jail unless the judge explicitly finds that doing so would be manifestly unjust.

Firearms and the FOID Card

An Order of Protection triggers immediate consequences for gun ownership. The respondent has to surrender all firearms and their FOID card. Illinois State Police automatically review FOID status when an order is entered. After revocation notice, the respondent has 48 hours to surrender the FOID card to local law enforcement, transfer all firearms out of their possession, and complete a Firearm Disposition Record. Failing any of these steps is itself a Class A misdemeanor.⁹

If You Travel or Move Out of State

Your Illinois order stays enforceable elsewhere. Under the federal Violence Against Women Act, every state, tribe, and territory must honor a valid protection order issued anywhere in the United States and enforce it as if their own court had issued it.¹⁰ The issuing court must have had jurisdiction and the respondent must have received notice and an opportunity to be heard. Emergency and ex parte orders count as long as the respondent gets that opportunity within a reasonable time. Keep a certified copy with you when you travel.

If You Don’t Have a Domestic Relationship With the Person

If the person threatening you isn’t a family or household member, an Order of Protection won’t fit. Two other Illinois orders may.

Stalking No Contact Order

This is available to anyone experiencing stalking or repeated unwanted contact, whether or not you know the person. You’ll need to describe a pattern of behavior such as repeated calls, messages, following, or uninvited appearances. File in the county where you live, where the stalker lives, or where the incidents occurred.¹¹

Civil No Contact Order

This is designed for victims of sexual assault or sexual abuse. You don’t need a prior relationship with the offender, and you don’t need to have reported the crime to police or be pursuing a criminal case. The order can require the respondent to stay away and stop all communication. File in the county where you live, where the respondent lives, or where the assault happened.¹²¹¹

1
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 750 ILCS 60/103 – Definitions
2
Justia Law. Illinois Compiled Statutes 750 ILCS 60 – Article II Orders of Protection
3
State of Illinois Office of the Illinois Courts. Order of Protection
4
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 750 ILCS 60/220 – Duration and Extension of Orders
5
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 750 ILCS 60/217 – Emergency Order of Protection
6
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986 – 750 ILCS 60
7
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 720 ILCS 5/12-3.4 – Violation of an Order of Protection
8
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-55 – Class A Misdemeanors
9
Illinois State Police. FOID Revoked
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2265 – Full Faith and Credit Given to Protection Orders
11
Office of the Illinois Attorney General. Orders of Protection
12
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 740 ILCS 22 – Civil No Contact Order Act