Civil Protective Order Court

Search for existing civil orders of protection

Special COVID Procedures

To aid us in getting information to you as quickly as possible, if you have business before the Civil Protective Order Court, please complete the contact form with your email address. Cause number and Hearing Date are not required, but are helpful. Thank you for helping us contact you more efficiently during this time of COVID. 

Before 2013, Protective Orders could be filed in any court in St. Joseph County but were predominantly filed in small claims court. In 2013, the St. Joseph County Courts secured a grant from the Indiana Supreme Court Family Court Project to develop and implement a Civil Protective Order (CPO) Court to address domestic violence and stalking within our county. The CPO Court became fully operational on November 1, 2013.

Contact Us

  1. Physical Address
    101 S Main Street
    Room 151
    South Bend, IN 46601

    Phone: 574-235-9661

    Directory

Civil Protective Order Court is for petitions involving domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking.

Neighborhood disputes are  generally NOT eligible for civil orders of protection.

When petitioning for a civil order of protection, please be prepared to answer the following questions:

  1. What is the relationship between the parties?  (e.g., spouse, child, parent, boy/girlfriend, stalking victim, etc.)
  2. If stalking is involved, have there been 2 or more incidents?
  3. Do the allegations involve domestic violence or sexual assault?
  4. Are there other court cases involving these parties in another court? 

State site with the Petition for Civil Order of Protection forms

After filling out the Petition, please take it to:

1896 Courthouse, Room 151
101 S. Main Street. 
Phone: 574-235-9661
Hours: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday - Friday

You are also welcome to call or visit one of the community resources below for assistance with filling out the forms: 

Special Victims Unit 
533 North Niles Ave., South Bend 
Phone 574-235-7818
Hours: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday - Friday

Family Justice Center of St. Joseph County 
533 North Niles Ave., South Bend 
Phone: 574-234-6900 
Hours: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday – Friday