Violating an Order of Protection: No Contact Means None

Orders of Protection in Illinois can result in your being jailed and prosecuted. Learn how to avoid violating an order of protection. If you are accused or to avoid receiving a protection order, call us at (312) 466-9466.

Our criminal defense law firm has represented many people charged with the offense of Violation of an Order of Protection.

More than any other crime, defendants frequently get in trouble based on bad assumptions about the law that are too optimistic.

Most Orders of Protection require a Respondent to have "no contact" with the Petitioner. This means that the Respondent cannot speak to the Petitioner.

Some defendants wrongly assume that is all. But the fact is that the Respondent also cannot call, text, email, write a letter or send smoke signals. Contact of any kind is completely forbidden. Even minor contact.

We have defended people for things like texting "Pay the electric bill" or something equally minor. But any contact, no matter how harmless it may seem, can land you in jail.

Even more common is the wrong but widely held belief that you can contact the Petitioner if you are responding to contact from them. Wrong!

Even if the Petitioner calls you, you cannot call them back. Even if they invite you to come to their home, you cannot go. If you do you risk going to jail and being prosecuted. Only a judge can modify or change the order of protection, not the person who obtained it.

Orders of Protection can seem like no big deal, but then they turn into traps that can get you jailed and prosecuted. If you did nothing to make a person fear you, do not agree to an Order of Protection. Fight back with an experienced attorney like Steven R. Hunter.