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Legal Information: Illinois

Restraining Orders

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Updated: 
January 23, 2024

What protections can I get in an emergency order of protection?

In an emergency order, the judge can order the abuser to:

  1. not harass, abuse, stalk, intimidate, physically abuse, neglect or exploit you and not interfere with your personal liberty;
  2. stay away from you or anyone else protected by the order;
  3. stay away from your school, job, or other specific places when you are there;
  4. not take your child out of state and not hide the child within the state;
  5. appear in court with or without your minor child in order to prevent abuse, neglect, removal, or hiding of the child; return the child to your custody/care (and the judge can give you physical care or possession of your child); and/or order the abuser to not remove the child from your physical care;
  6. not take, transfer, hide, damage or get rid of your personal property or property that you co-own with the abuser;
  7. leave or stay away from the residence while s/he is under the influence of alcohol or drugs if it causes a threat to the safety of you or your children;
  8. give up his/her guns, not possess any firearms and turn over any firearm owner’s identification card to local law enforcement until the order of protection expires;
  9. not have access to school or any other records of a child in your care;
  10. reimburse a shelter for your housing and counseling services if applicable;
  11. exclude the abuser from the home where you are living, even if the home is owned or leased by the abuser;2 and
  12. give you possession of personal property that you solely or jointly own with the abuser.3

Note: To get the protections listed in numbers 1 – 10 above, the judge must believe that you would likely suffer the harm that the order is trying to protect you from if the abuser was given prior notice of your petition.

To get exclusive possession of the home (listed in #11), the judge must believe that there would be an immediate danger of further abuse by the respondent if s/he was given prior notice and if that immediate danger outweighs the hardship to the respondent of being ordered out of his/her home.2 See Can I stay in the home that I share with the abuser while I have an emergency order even if I have another place to go? for more information.

To get the possession of personal property (listed in #12), the judge must believe that the respondent would likely get rid of your personal property if s/he were given prior notice or that you have an immediate and pressing need for possession of the property.3 See What happens to my personal property when I get an emergency order? for more information.

Note: An emergency order will not include an order for counseling, legal custody, support payments, or reimbursing you for costs/damages.3

1 750 ILCS 60/217(a)(3)(i)
2 750 ILCS 60/217(a)(3)(ii)
3 750 ILCS 60/217(a)(3)(iii)