ORDERS OF PROTECTION

When family conflicts are escalating in your home, an Order of Protection can protect you and your children from threats, abuse, harassment, interference with personal liberty, and stalking. An Order of Protection makes it a crime to commit these acts against a protected person. Orders of Protection cases are civil proceedings, but they carry criminal penalties for violating the court order. The first or second violation of an Order of Protection is a criminal misdemeanor, a third violation (or any subsequent violation) may be charged as a felony. The purpose of an Order of Protection is to prevent abuse, harassment, and stalking from escalating any further.

Similar orders are available to protect elderly people from neglectful or abusive caregivers. These Orders are designed to keep away family members who are behaving in a controlling, deceptive, or abusive ways. 

The orders also allow our clients to get an Order of Protection in place before the respondent is aware the order is issued. That’s crucial to prevent further abuse.

Orders of Protection require attorneys who understand the nuanced principles of the Illinois Domestic Violence Act. The litigation for an Order of Protection case happens quickly – court dates are no more than three weeks apart – so it’s important to have an attorney who understands this litigation process. There are many other considerations, too, including whether or not alleging abuse in a case will have an impact on allocation of parental responsibilities, parenting time, major decision-making for children, housing, child support, and the like.



Our domestic violence attorneys can help guide you through this difficult time and help you avail yourself of the protections that state statutes provide for survivors of domestic abuse.