New York State Sheriffs' Institute

Order of Protection Notification System

Be notified when an order is served so that you can keep yourself and your loved ones safe.

 

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Order of Protection Notifications

About the System

The 45-minute period of time immediately following service of an order of protection is crucial for the victim. The NY Order of Protection Notification System notifies a victim when an Order of Protection has been served, providing the information they need to take appropriate precautions for themselves and their loved ones.

Victims can register to be notified by phone, text message, or e-mail when an Order of Protection has been served. This free service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The NYS Sheriffs’ Institute worked with New York State’s All Hazards Alert and Notification System (NY-ALERT) to create the Order of Protection Notification System for domestic violence victims in 2009.

We worked with New York State to develop a new, stand-alone system that will be streamline the registration process and be much easier to access.

Click this link to register to receive notification by text, e-mail, or phone when an order of protection is served. The free service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

What You’ll Need to Register:

All these can be found on the top section of your Order of Protection.

  • Valid e-mail address
  • Name of the Family Court that issued the Order
  • Docket Number
  • Order of Protection Number

Sheriff Assist and the New York Sheriffs’ Institute do not issue Orders of Protection, nor can they provide legal advice. For more information on how to obtain an Order of Protection, you should contact an attorney or local victim services in your county to assist you through the court process.

Services

How the System Works

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Step 1

Court issues Order of Protection (OP).

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Step 2

Register here to be notified when the OP is served by law enforcement.

Step 3

OP is served and entered by law enforcement or the courts.

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Step 4

OP Notification is triggered and notifies the victim by text, email, or phone

Order of Protection Notifications

How to Register

The Order of Protection System relies on the participation of four groups for its effectiveness:

Courts

Notify victims of the program. Enter the order of protection into the Universal Case Management System (UCMS) and the NYS Order of Protection Registry.

Advocates

Inform victims about the program and assist them in registering.

Victims

Choose to register for the notification service.

Law Enforcement

In addition to serving the order, the law enforcement officer must enter the service data into the Order of Protection Service Screen on the eJusticeNY portal.

“An individual’s decision to seek an order of protection is often a difficult one: They know their abuser’s behavior is likely to escalate and become more violent. The Order of Protection Notification System provides survivors and their families with information that is critical to helping ensure their safety. I applaud the Sheriffs’ Institute’s investment in this system and OVS proudly funds the Institute so it can administer the state’s Victim Information and Notification Everyday (VINE) program. These two electronic notification systems are important tools that help victims and survivors move forward and escape abusive relationships.”

Elizabeth Cronin

Director, New York State Office of Victim Services

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the Order of Protection Notification system work?

The period of time immediately following service of an Order of Protection is recognized as a particularly crucial period for a victim. Abusers are often more violent during this period of separation.

If a victim chooses to register for this service, they will be notified that the Order of Protection has been served. However, the decision to take advantage of this service is the victim’s choice. A victim can only be notified once they register for the service.

If the victim chooses to register for this service, the notification can provide an opportunity for the victim to be proactive and take appropriate precautions during this precarious time, allowing the victim to implement a Personal Safety Plan for themselves and any impacted children or other family members.

What Steps are involved in the success of this Notification System?

Step 1: Court
The Court issues the Order of Protection and provides a copy to the victim/protected party.[1] Court personnel enter the Order of Protection into the Court
[1] For purposes of this document and to avoid any confusion, we refer to the person filing for the Order of Protection as the Protected Party. However once filed in Family Court, court documents will refer to the victim as the Petitioner.  In Criminal Court, court documents will refer to the victim as the Complainant and the “Against Party” as the defendant.

  • System, which updates the NYS Order of Protection Registry at the New York State eJustice/Integrated Justice Portal.
  • NYS then updates the federal NCIC Protective Order File.
  • The court forwards a copy of the Order of Protection to law enforcement for service or, in some cases, the court serves the Order of Protection itself in court.

Step 2: Registration

  • The victim learns about the availability of the Order of Protection Notification System. This may take place at court, via an advocate or other means.

Step 3: Law Enforcement

  • Serves the Order of Protection.
  • Completes the Order of Protection Service Screen on the eJusticeNY/Integrated Justice Portal immediately after service.

Step 4: The Victim

  • The victim is notified that the Order of Protection has been served.
  • Carries out their personal Safety Plan to protect themselves and their loved ones.

Please note that the notification is dependent on the court initially entering the Order of Protection into the court system AND, once the Order is served, either the court or law enforcement, must enter the fact that the Order of Protection has been served as soon as possible after service of the Order. The entry that the Order has been served triggers the Order of Protection Notification System to generate a notification to registered users. It is possible that you may be notified twice that the Order has been served:

  •  When the law enforcement agency completes the Order of Protection Service Screen on the eJusticeNY/Integrated Justice Portal immediately after service.
  • Once the court receives an Affadavit of Service from the serving law enforcement agency and enters the Order as served into the court system.
Once the Court issues my Order of Protection, how much time do I have to register for the Order of Protection Notification Service?

There is a thirty (30) day registration window. You must register for this service within thirty (30) days of the Order of Protection being issued by the Court. You are encouraged to register as soon as possible after the Court issues the Order of Protection.

Once I register for Order of Protection Notifications of Service, how long will I continue to receive notifications?

Your registration will remain active for thirty-one (31) days. At day 25, you will begin to receive notifications alerting you that your registration is about to expire and asking if you would like to renew your subscription for an additional thirty-one (31) days.

You can continue to renew your registration as long as the Order of Protection is active. If you do not respond to the first “about to expire” notification, you will continue to receive that message for another five (5) days. At that time, if you do not renew, your registration will expire.

When I attempt to enter the Docket No. on the Order of Protection Notification System registration screen, I get the following message: “The following field must be corrected: You must Enter a valid Docket Number.” What do I do?

You will need to confirm that you have entered the Docket Number correctly. A very common error in entering the Docket Number is mistaking the letter O for the number 0. The first one or two characters of the Docket Number (the one or two characters in front of the first dash), are ALWAYS letters. Therefore, when you see O or OO, they are NOT zeros.

Please be sure to enter the Docket Number exactly as it appears on the actual Order of Protection. The field is edited to help you make this entry correctly. The proper format is a one or two-digit capital letter, a dash (-), a five-digit number, a dash (-), followed by a two-digit number usually representing the year of the filing. There are no spaces in the Docket No. It should look like this: B-12345-20 or BB-12345-20.

If your Order of Protection has been modified or extended by the court, they may have added some characters to the end of your original Docket No. Generally, that new Docket No. will be your original Docket No. followed by a forward slash / followed by two numbers and one or two capital letters e.g. 34A or 34AA. So, in those cases where the Order of Protection was modified or extended, the Docket No. may look similar one of the four numbers docket formats: B-12345-18/34A, B-12345-18/34AA, BB-12345-18/34A or BB-12345-18/34AA.

In the case where the Order of Protection is extended and given a new Docket or Order of Protection number, you should re-register for notification.

When I attempt to enter the Order No. on the Order of Protection Notification System registration screen, I get the following message: “The following field must be corrected: You must Enter a valid Order of Protection Number.” What do I do?

You will need to confirm that you have entered the Order No. correctly. Please be sure to enter it exactly as it appears on the actual Order of Protection. The proper format is: a four-digit year e.g. 2018 followed by a dash – followed by a six-digit number 123456. There are no spaces in the Order No. The Order No. should look like this: 2018-123456.

How many types of notifications will I receive once I subscribe to the Order of Protection Notification System?

Once you register to receive Order of Protection Notifications, there are three types of notification that you may receive:

  1. A notification that the Order has been Advised or Served.
  2. A notification that the Order has been Cancelled or Vacated by the Court.
  3. A notification that your subscription to be notified is About to Expire. You will be allowed to renew your registration at that time. This does not renew your order, but instead just renews your subscription to the notification system.
What is the NYS Order of Protection Registry?

The “Registry,” also known as the NYS Family Protection Registry, was created as part of the Family Protection and Domestic Violence Intervention Act of 1994. It became operational in October of 1995. The Registry was developed by the NYS Unified Court System in collaboration with the New York State Police and is available to criminal justice users through the eJusticeNY portal. The Registry is a historical record; Orders of Protection remain in the database even after they expire.

Why do the Sheriffs support crime victim services like Order of Protection Notification?

All New York State Sheriffs are committed to helping and serving crime victims by providing resources, information and protection that limits any further victimization or trauma. NYS Sheriffs were the very first to provide order of protection notification services to victims. Public safety is our primary purpose and our goal is to have crime victims feel as whole as possible. For more on our commitment to crime victims, visit the Our History page located on Sheriff-Assist.org.

If I have an Order of Protection issued by a New York State Family Court or Criminal Court, but it will be served outside of New York State, can I still register for notifications?

You should always register. However, depending on how it is served, you may not receive a timely notification or any notification at all.

When issuing an Order of Protection against a person who either resides or is employed outside of New York State, the issuing Court may forward that Order of Protection to the local New York State Sheriff’s Office or local New York State law enforcement agency that serves the issuing court. In some cases, the court may give you (the petitioner) the option of arranging service on your own. HOWEVER, we strongly encourage you to have a local Sheriff’s Office or Police Agency either serve or arrange service of the Order. The Sheriff’s Office or local law enforcement agency may then forward the Order of Protection to the appropriate out of state law enforcement agency for service. Once the Order is served, the local New York State Sheriff’s Office or other New York State law enforcement agency should be notified by the serving agency that the Order was served and will make the appropriate entries in the New York State systems to generate the notification.

You will be notified

  • When a New York State Sheriff or other New York State law enforcement agency completes the Order of Protection Service Screen on the eJusticeNY/Integrated Justice Portal indicating the date and time of service.
  • When the court receives an Affidavit of Service from the serving agency and enters the service information into the court system.
  • When the court enters into the court system that they have either advised the respondent/defendant of the Order or served the Order.
Are all Orders of Protection eligible for the Notification Service?

Generally, all Orders of Protection issued by a Family Court or Criminal Court in New York State are eligible for this service once they have been entered into the NYS Order of Protection Registry by the issuing Court.

How will I be notified when an Order of Protection is served?

Once you are registered, you will be notified by email when the Order of Protection is served. Additionally, you can choose to be also be notified by phone and/or text message as well. You must register at least one email address but have the option to register as many as three emails and three phone numbers.

Where can I find the key pieces of data necessary to register for notifications?

The ORI No. is generally found at the top left corner of the Order of Protection. It is highlighted in RED. Depending upon the court issuing this Order, the field may be labeled “Court Number”, “Court ORI”, or “Court ORI Number”. The “Order Number” or “Order No.” is highlighted in BLUE and is generally found beneath the ORI No. The “Docket No.” is highlighted in ORANGE and found on the right side of the form approximately ¼ of the way down the Order.

Data for Notification Registration

What pieces of information do I need to register for notifications?

For a Family Court Order of Protection, you will need the following information all available from the top of the Order of Protection document that you received from the court:

  • ORI Number

OR…

  • Court Type[1]
  • County
  • Court Name

AND…

  • Order Number
  • Docket Number

For a Criminal Court Order of Protection, you will need the following information all available from the Order of Protection document that you received from the court:

  • ORI Number

OR…

  • Court Type[2]
  • County

[1] These three pieces of court data are all available as a selection from an interactive drop-down menu of the registration screen.

[2] These three pieces of court data are all available as a selection from an interactive drop-down menu of the registration screen.

  • Court Name

AND…

  • Protected Party First Initial
  • Protected Party Last Name
  • Protected Party Date of Birth
  • Against Party Last Name
How do I register to receive Order of Protection Notifications?

You will need an email address to use this service. It is suggested that you have the actual Order of Protection document with you at the time you register.

How do I get help to answer questions about the Order of Protection Notification System?

Contact the New York State Sheriffs’ Institute.

Monday – Friday 9am – 5pm.

By Phone: 518-434-9091

By email: [email protected]