(a-1) A petition for a civil no contact order may be filed in person or online.
(a-5) When a petition for an emergency civil no contact order is filed, the petition and file shall not be public and shall only be accessible to the court, law enforcement, petitioner, rape crisis advocate, counsel of record for either party, and State's Attorney for the county until the petition is served on the respondent.
Accessibility to the petition 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) Withdrawal or dismissal of any petition for a
civil no contact order
prior to adjudication where the petitioner is represented by the State shall
operate as a dismissal without prejudice. No action for a civil no contact
order shall be dismissed because the respondent is being prosecuted for a crime
against the petitioner. For any action commenced under item (2) of subsection
(a) of
this Section, dismissal of the conjoined case (or a finding of not guilty)
shall not require dismissal of the action for a civil no contact order;
instead, it may be treated as an independent action and, if necessary and
appropriate, transferred to a different court or division.
(c) No fee shall be
charged by the clerk of the court for filing petitions or modifying or
certifying orders. No
fee
shall be charged by the sheriff for service by the sheriff of a
petition, rule, motion, or order in an action commenced under this
Section.
(d) The court shall provide, through the office
of the clerk of the court, simplified forms for filing of a petition under this Section by any
person not represented by counsel.
(Source: P.A. 102-831, eff. 5-13-22; 102-853, eff. 1-1-23; 103-154, eff. 6-30-23; 103-166, eff. 1-1-24.)
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