To file a motion for contempt in Arkansas, you prepare a written Motion for Contempt, file it with the circuit clerk in the county that issued the original order, pay a $165 filing fee, and arrange for the other party to be personally served with the motion and the court’s Order to Show Cause. The court then sets a hearing where you must prove the other person knowingly violated a specific court order. Everything below walks through each step and the decisions you’ll make along the way.
What You Need Before You File
A contempt motion rests on two things: a clear, existing court order and a clear violation of it. If the language in your decree is vague (“the parties shall cooperate”), enforcement is difficult. Concrete directives (“Father shall have custody every other weekend from Friday at 6 p.m. to Sunday at 6 p.m.”) are what judges enforce.
Common grounds in Arkansas family courts include unpaid child support or alimony, custody and visitation violations, failure to transfer property or divide retirement accounts as a divorce decree required, and violations of a restraining order. The common thread is a specific, enforceable directive the other person has the ability to follow but chose not to.
Before you draft anything, build your evidence file. Judges want specifics, not general complaints. For unpaid support, gather bank statements showing no deposits, a payment ledger from the Arkansas Office of Child Support Enforcement if your case runs through them, and any written communications where the other party acknowledges missed payments. For custody violations, save text messages, emails, and calendar entries showing the dates and times the other parent failed to appear or refused an exchange. Screenshots work as long as the sender’s name and the date are visible. If a friend or relative witnessed a missed exchange, write down what they saw while it’s fresh, because they can testify at the hearing.
Get a certified copy of the underlying order from the circuit clerk’s office in the county where your case was heard. The clerk’s stamp proves the order is authentic, and you’ll need it at the hearing.
Preparing the Motion
The document is typically called a Motion for Contempt or a Petition for Citation for Contempt. Arkansas Legal Aid offers a guided contempt form packet that generates personalized documents, including a sample demand letter, the motion itself, and a proposed order to show cause.1Arkansas Courts. Revised OP Packet Fillable Form
Your motion needs to include the case number from the original order, the full names of both parties, and the date the judge signed the order you’re trying to enforce. The core of the motion is your factual description of the violation. State exactly what the order required, then explain specifically how the other party failed. Use dates. “Respondent failed to make child support payments for March, April, and May 2026, totaling $2,400” carries far more weight than “Respondent has not been paying support.”
Filing With the Circuit Clerk
File the completed motion and supporting documents with the circuit clerk’s office in the county that issued the original order. The clerk stamps your documents with the filing date, and you pay a $165 filing fee. If you can’t afford it, you can ask the court to waive the fee by filing an in forma pauperis affidavit.
Serving the Other Party
After you file, the court issues an Order to Show Cause directing the other party to appear and explain why they shouldn’t be held in contempt. That order, along with a copy of your motion, must be personally delivered. You cannot hand it to them yourself.
Arkansas requires service through a sheriff’s deputy or a licensed private process server. Sheriff service is generally cheaper; private servers tend to be faster and more flexible with scheduling, which matters when the other party is hard to track down. Expect roughly $25 to $75 for sheriff service and $85 to $175 for a private process server, depending on distance and how many attempts are needed.
After delivery, the person who served the documents files a proof of service (sometimes called a return of service) with the court. The hearing will not move forward without this on file. If the other party is actively avoiding service, the server may need to try different times or locations. You can also ask the court for permission to use alternative service methods, but that takes a separate motion.
What Happens at the Hearing
Both parties must attend. As the filer, you go first. Walk the judge through the specific terms of the order, then show exactly how the other party violated them. Bring organized copies of everything: the certified order, your evidence, and a list of witnesses. The other party then presents their response, evidence, and any witnesses of their own.
You carry the burden of proof. Arkansas has not codified a single uniform standard for every civil contempt case, but the general expectation is that you prove the violation clearly, with concrete documentation, rather than one person’s word against another’s.
Defenses You Should Expect
Knowing what the other side will argue helps you build a stronger case. The most powerful defense in support cases is inability to comply. If the other party lost their job, became disabled, or suffered a financial catastrophe, they can argue they didn’t willfully refuse to pay. Under the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Turner v. Rogers, a court must make an express finding that the person had the ability to pay before jailing them for civil contempt of a support order.2Justia U.S. Supreme Court Center. Turner v. Rogers, et al.
Your evidence should therefore address ability to pay, not just missed payments. If the other party posts vacation photos while claiming poverty, save them. If they took a cash job to hide income, collect what you can about their spending and lifestyle. Judges see through the “I can’t pay” defense when the evidence shows otherwise, but only if you bring the evidence.
Other common defenses include ambiguity in the order, substantial compliance (they followed most but not all terms), and lack of proper notice. Each is a reason to be precise: in your motion, in your evidence, and in making sure service is completed and documented.
What the Judge Can Order
When a judge finds contempt, the remedy usually depends on whether the goal is compliance or punishment. In family law cases, judges typically focus on getting the other party to do what the order already required.
- Immediate compliance with a set deadline for a lump-sum payment, adherence to the visitation schedule, or completion of a property transfer.
- Purge conditions in civil contempt, where the judge may jail the person but give them the “keys to their own cell.” They’re released as soon as they comply, which for unpaid support often means the moment they pay.
- Fines and jail time. Arkansas classifies contempt as a Class C misdemeanor, carrying a maximum fine of $500 and up to 30 days in jail.3Justia Law. Arkansas Code 16-10-108 – Contempt4Justia Law. Arkansas Code 5-4-201 – Fines – Limitations on Amount
- Wage withholding or garnishment for ongoing support violations, ordering the other party’s employer to deduct payments directly from their paycheck.
Attorney’s Fees and Interest in Support Cases
Two financial consequences often go overlooked and can substantially increase what the other party owes. Arkansas law requires courts to award a minimum of 10% of the past-due support amount as attorney’s fees when you successfully enforce a support order.5Justia Law. Arkansas Code 9-12-309 – Maintenance and Support Enforcement That figure is a floor, not a ceiling; the court can award more depending on the complexity of the case.
Unpaid child support in Arkansas also accrues interest at 10% per year from the date each payment was due.6Justia Law. Arkansas Code 9-14-233 – Interest and Attorneys Fees Someone who owes $10,000 in back support accumulates $1,000 a year in interest alone. Include the interest calculation in your motion; it’s money you’re legally owed, and judges will add it to the total if you ask.
Federal Tools That Work Alongside a Contempt Filing
For substantial child support arrears, federal enforcement can apply pressure that a state contempt action can’t reach on its own. Once child support arrears hit $2,500, the U.S. Department of State will deny or revoke the person’s passport.7U.S. Department of State. Pay Child Support Before Applying for a Passport For someone who travels, that alone often produces payment faster than a hearing.
The Arkansas Office of Child Support Enforcement can also intercept federal tax refunds, report the debt to credit bureaus, and suspend state-issued licenses. These tools work alongside a contempt filing, not instead of it. For chronic nonpayment, running both tracks at once gives you the broadest leverage.