Contempt of Court in Nevada: Types, Penalties, and Hearings

Contempt of court in Nevada is disobeying a court order or disrupting court proceedings, and a single violation can mean a fine up to $500, up to 25 days in jail, or both.¹ On top of that, the court can order you to pay the other side’s attorney’s fees, and if the contempt is civil, you can be jailed indefinitely until you do what the order required. The rules change depending on whether the court is punishing a past act or forcing future compliance, and whether the conduct happened in front of the judge or outside the courtroom.

What Counts as Contempt

Nevada’s contempt statute identifies seven categories of behavior:²

Acting in a disorderly or disrespectful way toward a judge during proceedings or at chambers
Boisterous conduct or violent disturbance in or near the courtroom that interrupts a trial or hearing
Resisting or ignoring any lawful order, writ, rule, or process issued by a court or judge
Failing to appear after being properly served with a subpoena, or refusing to be sworn in or answer questions as a witness
Rescuing a person or property from the custody of an officer acting under a court order
Speaking to or approaching a juror during a pending trial with the intent to influence the verdict
Misusing court procedures or falsely claiming to act under the authority of a court order

Disobeying a court order is by far the most common trigger. Family court generates a large share of filings, where one party claims the other is ignoring custody schedules, support payments, or property division terms.

Civil Contempt and Criminal Contempt

The purpose behind the court’s action decides nearly everything about how a contempt case plays out. If the court is trying to force you to do something you haven’t done yet, that’s civil contempt. If the court is punishing you for a completed act of defiance, that’s criminal contempt.

Civil contempt is coercive. The classic example: a court orders you to pay child support, you don’t pay, and the other parent asks the court to hold you in contempt until you do. The person bringing the action must prove the violation by clear and convincing evidence.³ You hold the keys to your own release. Once you comply, the contempt ends.

In civil contempt, the court usually sets a “purge condition,” which is the specific act you need to perform to end the finding and leave jail. If you’re jailed for unpaid support, the purge condition is making the payment. If you’re jailed for refusing to produce documents, it’s turning them over.⁴

Criminal contempt is punitive. The punishment is fixed, and complying after the fact doesn’t erase it. Because jail is being used as punishment rather than pressure, constitutional protections apply: you get notice of the charges, the right to present a defense, and the court must prove the contempt beyond a reasonable doubt.³ There is no purging criminal contempt.⁴

Direct and Indirect Contempt

Where the conduct happens changes how the court handles it. Direct contempt occurs in the judge’s immediate view while court is in session. If you shout at the judge, refuse to sit, or cause a disturbance during a hearing, the judge can punish you on the spot. The judge enters an order describing what happened, finding you guilty, and setting the punishment.⁵

Indirect contempt covers everything that happens outside the courtroom, like failing to follow a written order, ignoring a subpoena, or refusing to turn over documents. Because the judge didn’t see it, an affidavit laying out the facts must be presented before any action is taken, and the accused is entitled to notice, a hearing, and a chance to respond.⁵

Penalties and Attorney’s Fees

The baseline penalty for a single act of contempt is a fine up to $500, jail up to 25 days, or both.¹ Those numbers apply per violation, and a pattern of disobedience stacks up fast.

The real financial exposure is often much larger. When the contempt involves disobeying a court order under NRS 22.010(3), the court can order the person found in contempt to pay the other party’s reasonable expenses, including attorney’s fees, caused by the violation.¹ Fees in a contested proceeding routinely dwarf the statutory fine.

Civil contempt carries one more consequence: indefinite jail until you comply. If the contempt consists of failing to do something still within your power, you can be held until you do it, and the warrant of commitment must specify what act is required.⁶

Filing for Contempt Against Someone Else

If someone is violating a court order, the judge generally cannot hold them in contempt unless the order was written, signed by the judge, filed with the court, and previously served on the other party.⁷ You need to point to a specific provision of a specific order. Vague complaints about bad behavior won’t move the court.

The main document is a “Motion to Enforce and/or for an Order to Show Cause Regarding Contempt,” paired with a supporting declaration under penalty of perjury.⁸ The motion explains what the other person did or failed to do and how it violates the order; the declaration lays out the supporting facts. Fillable forms are available through the Nevada courts self-help website.⁹

File with the district court clerk where your case was originally filed. A filing fee is required, and the amount varies by county. Then serve the documents on the other party, typically by U.S. mail, though some judges require personal service. Check with the judge’s staff. After the opposition period ends, file a Request for Submission to let the judge know the matter is ready.⁷

What Happens at the Hearing

If the judge thinks there may be contempt after reviewing the motion, the court sets an evidentiary hearing. Both sides present evidence and testimony, and the accused gets to explain the noncompliance or dispute the allegations outright.⁷

For a contempt finding to hold up, the underlying order must have been clear enough that the person knew exactly what was required. Vague or ambiguous orders are hard to enforce through contempt because the accused can argue they didn’t know what compliance looked like.⁴ This is where many contempt actions fail. If you’re the filing party, the original order needs to spell out obligations in concrete terms.

Defenses if You’ve Been Accused

A contempt accusation isn’t a finding. Several defenses are recognized in Nevada:

Impossibility. If you genuinely cannot do what the order requires, you cannot be held in civil contempt. The court must find that performance is still within your power before jailing you under NRS 22.110.⁶
Lack of knowledge. If you didn’t know about the order, you can’t be found in contempt for violating it. The filing party must show it was served and that you were aware of its terms.
Ambiguous order. If the order doesn’t tell you clearly what to do, a contempt finding is vulnerable to reversal.⁴
Good faith. If you made a reasonable effort to comply but fell short, or had a legitimate legal basis for believing compliance wasn’t required, courts may decline to find contempt.⁴

Impossibility matters most in practice. In child support cases especially, the court will look at your finances to decide whether you actually had the ability to pay. If you didn’t, jailing you would coerce the impossible, which crosses from civil coercion into unconstitutional punishment.

Do You Get a Lawyer?

In criminal contempt, you have the right to counsel whenever imprisonment is a possible penalty.³

Civil contempt is murkier. Nevada courts have discretion to appoint counsel when the accused faces jail, but it’s not automatic. The court weighs the complexity of the legal issues, the government’s interest, and the risk of an unfair result without representation.³ In straightforward child support arrears cases, courts have generally found appointed counsel isn’t required because the facts are simple and the accused can end the jail time by paying. When no lawyer is appointed, the court must still make the proceeding fundamentally fair: tell you that your ability to comply is a key issue, let you present financial information, and make an express finding that you have the ability to do what the order requires.

1
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Revised Statutes 22.100 – Penalty for Contempt
2
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 22 – Contempts
3
Nevada Courts. How to Hold Someone in Contempt without Getting Reversed
4
Nevada Courts. Contempt – Updated March 2025
5
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Revised Statutes 22.030 – Procedure
6
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Revised Statutes 22.110 – Imprisonment Until Performance
7
State of Nevada Self-Help Center. Contempt
8
Nevada Supreme Court. Motion for an Order to Show Cause
9
State of Nevada Self-Help Center. Motions and Oppositions