Guideline 3:01
Ex parte hearings should be held as soon as practicable after the complaint has been accomplished, signed, and the appropriate record checks are completed. See Guideline 2:10 Check of Criminal History Information, Including the Statewide Registry of Civil Restraining Orders, and Other Probation Department Involvement and Guideline 2:11 Check of the Warrant Management System (WMS) and Court Files. Each court should hear c. 209A ex parte hearings expeditiously so as to minimize the time a plaintiff must wait.
The clerk’s office must notify the judge immediately when an ex parte c. 209A complaint is brought to the courtroom. Without such notice from the clerk’s office, it is possible that the c. 209A ex parte hearing will not be given the priority it should be given, especially in those courts where the c. 209A case files do not have a distinctive color.
Commentary
No plaintiff should be turned away, asked to make another trip to the courthouse, or required to wait an unreasonable period of time to be heard. Such delay could discourage a plaintiff in need of protection from remaining at the court or from returning to obtain necessary relief.
Because the Trial Courts are open to the public between the hours of 8:30 A.M. and 4:30 P.M., the court may not restrict business during those hours and must accept filings until 4:30 P.M., including c. 209A complaints, even if the business of hearing the complaint may extend past 4:30 P.M. Only judges on Judicial Response are available to hear requests made after 4:30 P.M. for these orders. See Guideline 11:00, Procedure for Response to Complaints When Court is Not in Session: Judicial Response System.
In exceptional circumstances, where the presence of the defendant can be obtained easily for a hearing that day, the court may briefly delay the hearing until the defendant is present, provided that doing so does not compromise the plaintiff’s safety. The court must be cognizant that when a matter is scheduled for a two-party hearing without the issuance of an ex parte order, the plaintiff will not have the protection of a c. 209A order in the interim between the filing of the complaint and the subsequent two-party hearing. For this reason, such practice should be used only in situations in which it is clear that the delay and notice will not present an elevated danger to the plaintiff. Two examples of such situations are: (1) when the defendant is at the court being arraigned for the same conduct which is the basis for the c. 209A complaint, and (2) where the defendant may be available (e.g., at work) a short distance from the courthouse and can be notified of the hearing by telephone. In light of the potential complications of such a practice, the court should employ it sparingly, and should consider other options for minimizing the delay between issuance of the order and the two-party hearing, including the issuance of an order with a return date of less than ten days.
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| Last updated: | October 20, 2025 |
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