740 ILCS 21/95

(740 ILCS 21/95)

Sec. 95. Emergency stalking no contact order.

(a) An emergency stalking no contact order shall issue if the petitioner satisfies the requirements of this subsection (a). The petitioner shall establish that:

(1) the court has jurisdiction under Section 50;

(2) the requirements of Section 80 are satisfied; and

(3) there is good cause to grant the remedy, regardless of prior service of process or of notice upon the respondent, because the harm which that remedy is intended to prevent would be likely to occur if the respondent were given any prior notice, or greater notice than was actually given, of the petitioner's efforts to obtain judicial relief.

An emergency stalking no contact order shall be issued by the court if it appears from the contents of the petition and the examination of the petitioner that the averments are sufficient to indicate stalking by the respondent and to support the granting of relief under the issuance of the stalking no contact order.

An emergency stalking no contact order shall be issued if the court finds that items (1), (2), and (3) of this subsection (a) are met.

(a-5) When a petition for an emergency stalking no contact order is granted, the petition, order, and file shall not be public and shall only be accessible to the court, law enforcement, petitioner, victim advocate, counsel of record for either party, and State's Attorney for the county until the order is served on the respondent.

Accessibility to the petition, order, and file under this subsection prior to the petition being served on the respondent shall be in accordance with Section 5 of the Court Record and Document Accessibility Act.

(b) If the respondent appears in court for this hearing for an emergency order, he or she may elect to file a general appearance and testify. Any resulting order may be an emergency order, governed by this Section. Notwithstanding the requirements of this Section, if all requirements of Section 100 have been met, the court may issue a plenary order.

(c) Emergency orders; court holidays and evenings.

(1) When the court is unavailable at the close of business, the petitioner may file a petition for a 21-day emergency order before any available circuit judge or associate judge who may grant relief under this Act. If the judge finds that there is an immediate and present danger of abuse against the petitioner and that the petitioner has satisfied the prerequisites set forth in subsection (a), that judge may issue an emergency stalking no contact order.

(2) The chief judge of the circuit court may designate for each county in the circuit at least one judge to be reasonably available to issue orally, by telephone, by facsimile, or otherwise, an emergency stalking no contact order at all times, whether or not the court is in session.

(3) Any order issued under this Section and any documentation in support of the order shall be certified on the next court day to the appropriate court. The clerk of that court shall immediately assign a case number, file the petition, order, and other documents with the court, and enter the order of record and file it with the sheriff for service, in accordance with Section 60. Filing the petition shall commence proceedings for further relief under Section 20. Failure to comply with the requirements of this paragraph (3) does not affect the validity of the order.

(Source: P.A. 102-831, eff. 5-13-22; 103-166, eff. 1-1-24.)