Applying for an Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO)

You can ask the court for help to take away guns from someone you think may hurt themselves or others. The police, district attorney, or school can also ask the court for this help. This is called an Extreme Risk Protection Order case, also called ERPO for short.

If you are starting a case, you must fill out the ERPO papers and bring them to court. You need these forms:

• ERPO Application
• Request for Judicial Intervention (RJI)

Fill them out and bring them to the Supreme Court in the county where the person at risk of harming others or themselves lives. Use the Court Locator to find the Supreme Court’s address and phone number.

If the Supreme Court is closed (at night or on the weekends):

• Outside New York City, call 800-430-8457 or email: emergency@nycourts.gov.
• In Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens or Staten Island, go to the Criminal Court.

What Goes in the ERPO Application

• Petitioner/Relationship. You are the petitioner, the person filing the Application. Your name goes on the Application. To be a petitioner, you must have a close relationship to the person at risk. Relationship can be:
  • people legally married or divorced
  • people with a child in common, including adopted children
  • people related by marriage, like in-laws
  • people related by blood, like brothers, parents, cousins
  • unrelated people who live, or have lived together for periods of time
  • unrelated people in, or were in an intimate relationship (current or former), like same-sex couples and teens who are dating
  If you are related in any of these ways, this means you are a “Family or household member.”
• Index Number. You get an index number when you bring all the paper to court. Leave it blank now.
• Respondent. The person that the petition is filed against is called the respondent. Write the name of the person at risk of harming others or themselves.
• Reasons. Check all the reasons why you need an ERPO from the court. If the respondent’s social media posts talk about hurting people or themselves, check the box that says: ◻ A threat or act of violence or use of physical force directed toward self, the petitioner, or another person.
• Fact and Circumstances. Write as many details as you can about why you need an ERPO from the court. Write about recent events, like in the past 6 months. You can add sheets of papers if you need more room.
• Proof. Attach any documents that support why you need an ERPO, like letters respondent wrote, copies of social media postings, bills of sale for large amounts of ammunition, and photos.
• Disclosure of Name and Address. If you think you will be in danger if the respondent knows your name and address, you can ask the court to keep your name and contact information a secret. Check the boxes that say “disclosure” of this information puts you in danger.
• Notary. You must swear the Application is true and sign your name at the bottom in front of a Notary. The notary must sign too. You can find a notary at most banks.

Read CPLR 6341.

What Happens Next

The judge will decide whether to issue a temporary order that day. This may be done without the respondent being there. If the judge issues an ERPO, the police will bring a copy of the order to the respondent. The police will remove any guns that the respondent has. Read Basic Steps in an Extreme Risk Protection Order Case.