Senate Bill 215 Summary

• Establishes Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs) allowing courts to temporarily restrict firearm access for individuals posing imminent danger to themselves or others, with clear and convincing evidence as the standard.

• Permits petitions from family/household members, law enforcement, health care providers, and current/former intimate partners; requires respondent to surrender all firearms, ammunition, and permits to the sheriff within 24 hours or court orders seizure.

• Ex parte ERPOs may be issued same day or next day without prior notice if imminent danger found; final ERPOs require a hearing within 10 days and are effective for up to one year with renewal allowed.

• Violation of an ERPO constitutes a Class A1 misdemeanor; false statements when petitioning are Class 1 misdemeanor; sheriff may charge reasonable storage fees and is protected from liability for firearm damage.

• Amends Chapter 15C to include ERPO petitioners in the Address Confidentiality Program to protect their identities; modifies domestic violence protective order provisions to require court-ordered seizure of firearms if defendant fails to surrender within 24 hours.