§ 814-A Uniform forms

This rule sets up standard forms for orders of protection used in family court cases across New York State. The person in charge of running the state's courts must create these forms, and every court in the state has to use the same versions. This applies to both temporary orders of protection and final orders of protection.

The goal is to make sure every court uses the same paperwork, no matter where a case is filed. This also means the forms need to work properly with the state's computer system that tracks orders of protection. That statewide registry helps police, courts, and other agencies quickly check if someone has an active order of protection against them, so having matching forms across the state makes that system work correctly.

For someone going through a family court case, this means the order of protection they receive will look the same whether they're in New York City, Buffalo, or a small town upstate. It also means the information on that form can be easily entered into and found in the statewide registry, which helps law enforcement enforce the order if it's violated.