6. Drafting Documents
Generally speaking, there are six (6) forms that volunteers must draft in order to obtain a protective order. When drafting documents on the computer, create a folder with the client’s last name in the following directory: H:/Clubs/pop/Case files. Templates are located in the following directory: H/Clubs/pop/Templates. When you open a template, save it immediately in the client’s folder with the following file name: the clients last name in non-caps followed by a two or three letter designation of the document type in all caps (for example, smithPET, smithEPO, smithPPO, etc.) You will need to tailor each template to the specifics of the client’s case.
1. Petition
In the Petition, we generally ask the court to grant the Petitioner an Emergency Protective Order and to set a date for a "show cause" hearing to make the emergency order permanent. The statute provides for different kinds of relief. Be sure to ask for all the forms of relief that are appropriate for your client.
The statute requires that the petition contain the following:
- The Petitioner’s name and age
- The name and address of the Respondent.
- Allegations concerning the date or manner of specific acts or feared acts of abuse, harassment, or disruption of the peace of the Petitioner or members of the Petitioner’s household or any allegations concerning specific damage to or the fear of damage to any property of the Petitioner;
- Requests for relief.
- A request that the court set a hearing date.
Because the court is being asked to grant ex parte relief, the petition should be factual and specific, presenting a compelling picture of an emergency situation.
Be sure to include a complete record of all interaction with the police in the petition.
2. Emergency Protective Order and Order to Appear
You must draft the Emergency Protective Order and Order to Appear that the judge will sign, and you must take them with you to the court when you file your Petition. Include in the order all the relief you are seeking for the client.
Note that the Court has asked us to include the relevant statute numbers in the caption of the order to aid the Courts in distinguishing the different kinds of protective orders that exist.
3. Civil Appearance Form
The civil appearance form lets the Court know who is representing the Petitioner.
4. Confidential Form
The confidential form is used to protect the location and other information about the Petitioner from the Respondent. This is especially important when the Respondent does not know the current address of the client. If the Petitioner travels to other counties frequently, those counties should be listed on the confidential form as well so the clerk can send copies of the protective order to the clerk’s in those counties.
5. Summons
The Respondent must be served with the petition and any order setting a hearing date. In order to accomplish this, you will need to complete a Summons and file it along with the petition for protective order. We always use sheriff’s service, so you must indicate this by placing an "x" in the appropriate location. This will indicate that the sheriff or a deputy must personally serve the abuser.
6. Permanent Protective Order
A permanent protective order provides all of the relief outlined under the emergency protective order. The permanent protective order is not filed with the other documents, but must be taken to the show cause hearing.
Note that the Court has asked us to include the relevant statute numbers in the caption of the order to aid the Courts in distinguishing the different kinds of protective orders that exist.
Templates of all of these documents (with the exception of the confidential form, which is located in a file folder on the desk in the POP office) are located on the computer hard drive to assist you in drafting. Examples can be found in Appendix D of this manual.
Other documents which may be filed are: a motion and an order to the sheriff to assist the Petitioner in removing his/her belongings from the Respondent’s home, a motion and an order for a continuance, a motion and an order to dismiss. Templates exist on the computer hard drive for all of these as well as others.
Both the client and the attorney will have to review the documents and sign them. It is good to review the petition with the client by reading it aloud while s/he follows along. If the abuser is living in the client’s house, inform the client that s/he should make arrangements to be in a safe place when service is made.