Senate Judiciary Committee hears bill to consolidate civil protection orders into a single chapter

At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Representative Bernie Satrim introduced House Bill 1489, a Supreme Court–sponsored measure that would consolidate three separate restraining- and protection-order statutes into a single new chapter titled "civil protection orders." Representative Bernie Satrim said the bill "puts all civil protection orders...into 1 single chapter."

The bill would gather disorderly conduct restraining orders (DCROs), domestic violence protection orders (DVPOs) and sexual assault restraining orders (SAROs) in one place, standardize petition requirements and remedies, remove filing and service fees for all three order types, establish uniform service by sheriffs with no service fee, require transmission of orders to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), and set an effective date of Jan. 1, 2026 to allow Judicial IT and the self-help center time to update forms and systems. "Section 18 provides for an effective date of 01/01/2026," Sarah Behrens, staff attorney for the State Court Administrator’s Office, told the committee.

Why it matters: Supporters said consolidation reduces confusion for petitioners, clerks and law enforcement by centralizing definitions and procedures that are currently scattered across multiple code sections. Behrens described differences in current practice that…