17th Circuit Court

Personal Protection Orders Department

180 Ottawa NW, Suite 3500
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
Phone: (616) 632-5071
General walk-in office hours: Monday-Friday from 8:00am to 5:00pm.

All PPO Forms are now processed through TurboCourt

Please follow the guided interview and submit your request for a personal protection order.
Please note if we have questions, or need more information, we will contact you. If we do not get a response back within 24 hours, the PPO will be rejected and you will need to refile.

The Personal Protection Office assists victims of domestic violence and victims of stalking in obtaining personal protection orders, assists the petitioning party with processing extensions, violations and assists restrained parties with the processing of making objections. In 2022, the Circuit Court processed over 2,942 Petitions for Personal Protection Order.

The PPO Office will assist in making the filing process go as smoothly as possible. Please remember that you have initiated your own lawsuit, you are representing yourself in this action. The PPO staff are not attorneys, investigators, enforcers or process servers.

Criteria For PPO

The petitioner and respondent:

  • Are married and an action for annulment, divorce, or support (is/not) pending
  • Were married
  • Reside or resided in the same household
  • Have a child in common
  • Have or had an intimate dating relationship
  • Have some other family relationship
  • Are in a stalking situation as defined by:

MCLA 750.411(h)
Sec. 411h. (1) As used in this section:
(a) "Course of conduct" means a pattern of conduct composed of a series of 2 or more separate noncontinuous acts evidencing a continuity of purpose.
(d) "Stalking" means a willful course of conduct involving repeated or continuing harassment of another individual that would cause a reasonable person to feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated, threatened, harassed, or molested, and that actually causes the victim to feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated, threatened, harassed or molested.

Statutory Requirements

  • Personal Protection Orders are not for civil matters such as custody and neighbor disputes. (For help in neighbor conflict, contact the Dispute Resolution Center at (616) 774-0121)
  • Petitioner must be at least 18 years old unless accompanied by someone of that age or older who will consent to be petitioner's NEXT FRIEND, preferably a parent.

Other Requirements

  • Parties filing need to present valid picture ID (includes other State driver's license, passport or school identification)
  • A signed personal protection order must be served upon the respondent and a proof of that service needs to be filed in the case.

PPO Expiration Date

Your PPO is only in effect up to the expiration date. This is located near the bottom right of the order in RED. If you need to extend your order, you must file an extension approximately three weeks before the expiration date. You may file this extension through TurboCourt.

Enforcement Of Order

If a violation occurs, do not call the PPO office -- call the police. A police report is helpful, but not required to pursue a violation of the respondent through the courts. If no arrest is made and you wish to pursue the violation, contact the PPO Office for paperwork to schedule a hearing. Please note that only the Judge may change the conditions of or dismiss the PPO.

Change Of Address

Keep the PPO office updated on any address or phone number changes for the duration of the order.

Remember:

Language Interpreters are not located in the courthouse.  Please bring a friend or relative to assist in this need. If you are unable to bring someone with you to interpret, you may contact Accurate Interpreter Service at (616) 460-3126 to arrange for an interpreter to meet you at our office. Or you may leave the PPO office a message requesting a language interpreter, remember the message must be in English.

ADA Assistance - If you require assistance due to disabilities under the ADA, please contact the PPO Office prior to coming in so arrangements can be made if necessary.

The processing of the PPO generally takes 24 to 48 hours. In most cases, the petitioner may expect to return the next business day to pick up the signed order. If the order is not signed, the petitioner will be informed of the reasons for denial.

The jurisdiction for PPOs fall under the Family Division of the Circuit Court.