An order of protection is a civil court order under the Illinois Domestic Violence Act, 750 ILCS 60, that can put you out of your home, bar you from contacting your spouse or your kids, take your guns, and follow you for two years, all based on a hearing the judge held without you in the room. It can also, for the person who needs it, be the only thing standing between them and someone dangerous. We handle both sides of these cases in Winnebago, Boone, and Stephenson County courtrooms, and this page explains how they work from either chair.
A word on where this comes from. I was trained in this area at the Cook County Domestic Violence Legal Clinic at the Harrison Street courthouse in Chicago, and over the years I’ve litigated more than 800 orders of protection, on both the petitioner’s side and the respondent’s, with over 100 of them taken all the way to a contested hearing or trial on the merits. Most lawyers who handle these do a handful a year. The patterns in how they’re granted, denied, and negotiated are familiar to me, and that’s what shapes the advice below.
The three kinds of orders and how long each lasts
| Order | How it’s issued | How long it lasts | What you can do about it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emergency order of protection (EOP) 750 ILCS 60/217 |
Ex parte: the petitioner appears alone, testifies, and the judge issues it the same day without notice to the respondent. | 14 to 21 days (60/220(a)), until the hearing on the plenary order. | You cannot appeal it, but you can move to re-hear or modify it on 2 days’ notice if it wrongly affects your home or your kids (60/224). More realistically, you prepare for the plenary hearing. |
| Interim order 60/218 |
After the respondent has been served or has appeared, before the full hearing. | Up to 30 days. | Used when the plenary hearing has to be continued. Same remedies as the EOP. |
| Plenary order of protection 60/219 |
After a full hearing where both sides can testify, call witnesses, cross-examine, and present evidence. Burden is preponderance of the evidence. | Up to 2 years (60/220(b)), and it can be extended. An OP entered in a criminal case lasts as long as the sentence. | Contest it at the hearing. This is the one that matters. |
If you’ve been served: what the order can actually do to you
Section 214 of the Act lists nineteen remedies a judge can order. The ones that change your life the day you’re served:
- Prohibition of abuse, harassment, and interference (214(b)(1)). The core of every order.
- Exclusive possession of the residence (214(b)(2)). You’re out of the house, even if your name is on the lease or deed.
- Stay-away (214(b)(3)). A set distance from the petitioner, her home, her work, her school, and often the children’s school.
- Physical care and possession of minor children (214(b)(5)), and restrictions on parenting time (214(b)(7)). An OP can suspend your parenting time entirely until the hearing.
- Firearm surrender (214(b)(14.5)). You must turn your firearms over to law enforcement, and your FOID card is revoked under 430 ILCS 65/8.2 for as long as the order is in effect. Federal law separately bars possession while you’re subject to a qualifying order (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8)).
- Prohibition of entry and possession of personal property (214(b)(4), (9), (10)): what you can retrieve from the home, and when, with a police escort.
- Counseling (214(b)(4)), which in practice means a partner abuse intervention program.
The order also goes into the LEADS database the same day. Any officer who runs your name sees it.
How to respond to an emergency order of protection
Most people served with an EOP make one of two mistakes. The first is contacting the petitioner to “work it out.” That is a violation of the order, a Class A misdemeanor under 720 ILCS 5/12-3.4, and it happens constantly: a text that says “can we talk about this” is a criminal charge. The second is skipping the hearing because it’s “just civil.” If you don’t show up, the plenary order enters by default for two years, with every remedy the petitioner asked for.
What we do instead, in the two to three weeks before the plenary hearing:
- Get the petition and the EOP. The petition is the petitioner’s sworn account. Every allegation in it is what we’ll be answering.
- Preserve your evidence. Texts, call logs, photos, social media, doorbell video, witnesses. Export it now; phones get lost and accounts get locked.
- Move to modify, if needed. If the EOP cut off contact with your children or locked you out of the only place you can live, a motion under 60/224 on two days’ notice can get it adjusted before the hearing.
- Coordinate with any criminal case. If there’s a domestic battery charge, anything you say at the OP hearing is under oath and admissible in the criminal case. Sometimes the right move is to agree to a limited order without a finding of abuse; sometimes it’s to try the OP first because it’s a free look at the complaining witness under cross-examination. That’s a judgment call we make case by case.
- Prepare for the plenary hearing. It’s a real trial, usually 30 minutes to a few hours. The petitioner has to prove abuse by a preponderance. “Abuse” under 60/103(1) means physical abuse, harassment, intimidation of a dependent, interference with personal liberty, or willful deprivation. Harassment is the broadest and most-litigated category.
Agreed orders without a finding
In many cases the best resolution for both sides is an agreed order: the respondent agrees to stay away and not contact the petitioner, the order enters, and the court makes no finding that abuse occurred. That protects the petitioner and avoids a judicial finding of abuse on the respondent’s record, which matters for custody, for the criminal case, and for firearms (an agreed order can be drafted to avoid some of the federal firearm consequences, though not all). Winnebago County judges accept these regularly. Whether it’s the right outcome depends on what’s in the petition and what else is pending.
If you need an order of protection
If you’re the one who needs protection, the process is the same statute from the other side, and it moves fast when it’s done right. In Winnebago County, petitions are filed at the courthouse at 400 W. State Street and an emergency order can be heard the same day. Boone County petitions are heard in Belvidere and Stephenson County petitions in Freeport. Remember Me Domestic Violence Services and the Winnebago County State’s Attorney’s victim-witness unit can help with the forms, and a petitioner can file without a lawyer. Where a lawyer makes the difference is at the plenary hearing, where the respondent will likely have one, and in drafting the remedies so they actually cover what you need: the right addresses, the children’s schools, the firearms, the specific accounts and devices.
Who can petition: anyone abused by a family or household member, as defined in 60/103(6), which includes current and former spouses and partners, people who share or shared a home, people with a child in common, and relatives by blood or marriage. If the person isn’t a family or household member, the right tool is different; see the next section.
Not every protective order is an “order of protection”
Illinois has three separate civil protective-order statutes, and people mix them up:
| Order | Statute | Who it’s for |
|---|---|---|
| Order of protection | 750 ILCS 60 (Domestic Violence Act) | Family or household members: spouses, exes, partners, roommates, relatives, co-parents. |
| Stalking no contact order | 740 ILCS 21 | Anyone being stalked by anyone, regardless of relationship. Two or more acts of following, monitoring, threatening, or communicating that would cause a reasonable person to fear or suffer emotional distress. |
| Civil no contact order | 740 ILCS 22 | Victims of non-consensual sexual conduct or penetration, regardless of relationship. |
Violating any of the three is a Class A misdemeanor, and a Class 4 felony on a prior.
Violating an order of protection
Violation of an order of protection is its own criminal charge under 720 ILCS 5/12-3.4: a Class A misdemeanor the first time, a Class 4 felony with a prior violation or certain prior domestic offenses. It is charged for any knowing violation of any remedy in the order, including a text, a social-media message, a message passed through a friend, or showing up at a place the order covers. Winnebago County prosecutes these aggressively, and the violation often becomes the reason a domestic battery case can’t be reduced. Full page: violation of an order of protection.
Orders of protection and custody
An OP that gives one parent exclusive possession of the children is temporary, but the two years it can last is a long time in a child’s life, and the family court will see it. Under 750 ILCS 5/603.10, a finding of abuse can restrict a parent’s decision-making and parenting time in the divorce or parentage case. If there’s any custody matter pending or likely, the OP hearing has to be approached as part of that case, not separately.
Frequently asked questions
How long does an order of protection last in Illinois?
An emergency order lasts 14 to 21 days. A plenary order, entered after a hearing, lasts up to 2 years and can be extended. An order entered as part of a criminal sentence lasts for the length of the sentence.
Can I contact the petitioner to resolve things if I’ve been served?
No. Any contact that the order prohibits is a violation under 720 ILCS 5/12-3.4, even if the petitioner responds or initiates. Communicate only through lawyers until the order is modified or dismissed.
Does an order of protection go on my record?
A civil OP is not a criminal conviction, but it’s a public court record and it’s entered in the state LEADS database while it’s in effect. A plenary order with a finding of abuse is visible in background checks that search court records.
Can an order of protection be dismissed?
The petitioner can move to dismiss or vacate it. The respondent can contest it at the plenary hearing and, if the petitioner doesn’t prove abuse, the court denies it. An entered plenary order can be modified or vacated on motion with changed circumstances.
Will I lose my guns?
While a qualifying order is in effect, yes. The judge can order surrender under 60/214(b)(14.5), the FOID card is revoked under 430 ILCS 65/8.2, and federal law bars possession under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8). Rights generally return when the order expires, but the FOID has to be reinstated.
What happens if the petitioner doesn’t show up to the plenary hearing?
The emergency order expires and the petition is typically dismissed for want of prosecution. If you don’t show up, the plenary order enters by default.
Talk to a Rockford order of protection lawyer
Whether you’ve been served or you need protection, the plenary hearing is usually less than three weeks away and it decides the next two years. We’ve handled more than 800 of these. Call or text (815) 391-0089 for a free, confidential consultation. We handle order of protection cases in Winnebago, Boone, and Stephenson Counties.