How to File Contempt of Court in Louisiana: Hearing and Penalties

To file contempt of court in Louisiana, you draft a motion that identifies the specific court order that was violated and the facts showing non-compliance, ask the court to issue a rule to show cause, and have both documents served on the other party at least 48 hours before the hearing. At the hearing, you carry the burden of proving that the person knowingly disobeyed a clear order. If the judge agrees, the penalties range from fines up to $1,000 and jail up to six months, depending on which order was violated.

This path applies to constructive contempt, which covers violations that happen outside the courtroom. If the misconduct occurred in front of the judge (disrupting a hearing, refusing a direct order from the bench), that is direct contempt and the judge handles it on the spot without a motion from anyone.¹

When Contempt Is the Right Tool

Constructive contempt is the mechanism for enforcing an existing order when the other party ignores it. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 224 lists eleven categories, but three come up in nearly every family and civil case: willful disobedience of a court order, abusing the court’s process, and making false statements to obtain child support enforcement services.²

The typical grounds for filing:

Unpaid child support. Louisiana specifically authorizes up to 90 days of imprisonment for contempt tied to unpaid support, suspended when the obligor pays the full amount owed plus court costs.³
Custody and visitation violations. Consistently refusing exchanges, blocking access, or relocating a child without permission. A written log of missed visits and preserved texts or emails strengthens the filing considerably.
Violating a restraining order or injunction. This includes protective orders in domestic violence cases and temporary restraining orders in civil disputes.

Whatever the underlying order, you have to show a clear, specific directive existed and that the other side knowingly violated it. Vague obligations, like a custody order that only requires “reasonable visitation” without dates or times, are hard to enforce through contempt because the language leaves too much room for disagreement.

Step 1: Draft the Motion

Under Article 225 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the motion “shall state the facts alleged to constitute the contempt.”⁴ Vague allegations will not survive scrutiny. Your motion should identify:

The original court order, by date and case number, and the specific provision that was violated.
The opposing party and their relationship to the case.
The exact facts showing non-compliance: dates, missed payments, missed exchanges, specific incidents.
Any supporting documents you plan to introduce: payment records, texts, emails, photographs.

The Louisiana State Bar Association publishes a self-represented litigant form for contempt motions that walks through this information. Attach your supporting documents to the motion or bring them to the hearing.

Step 2: Get a Rule to Show Cause

Along with the motion, you ask the court to issue a rule to show cause. This is an order directing the accused to appear on a set date and explain why they should not be held in contempt. The rule can come from the court on its own or from a party’s motion.⁴

Filing fees vary by parish. Call the clerk of court where the original order was issued to confirm the fee before you file.

Step 3: Serve the Other Party

A certified copy of both the motion and the rule to show cause must be served on the accused in the same manner as a subpoena, at least 48 hours before the scheduled hearing.⁴ Service is typically handled by the sheriff’s office or a private process server. For contempt proceedings in appellate courts, notice can be sent by certified or registered mail.

Skipping or shortening service is fatal. The 48-hour rule protects the accused’s right to prepare a defense, and a judge will not proceed without proof that service was properly completed.

Step 4: The Hearing

At the hearing, you present your evidence first. Your burden is to prove two things: that the order was specific enough for the accused to understand what was required, and that the violation was willful rather than accidental. Bring the original order, your documentation of the violation, and any witnesses.

The accused then presents their side. If the judge finds contempt, the court issues an order that recites the facts, declares the person in contempt, and specifies the punishment.⁴

Penalties the Court Can Impose

Louisiana caps contempt penalties by category under Revised Statute 13:4611. These limits apply in the supreme court, courts of appeal, district courts, family courts, juvenile courts, and city courts.⁵

Violating a restraining order or injunction: fine up to $1,000, jail up to six months, or both.
Contempt involving child support, spousal support, custody, or visitation: fine up to $500, jail up to three months, or both.
Refusing to perform an act still within the person’s power: imprisonment until the person performs it.
Attorney direct contempt, first offense: fine up to $100, jail up to 24 hours, or both.
Attorney direct contempt, subsequent offense: fine up to $200, jail up to 10 days, or both.

For support, custody, or visitation contempt, the court can substitute community service or litter abatement work for jail time, as long as the combined days stay within the maximum sentence. Probation in these cases can extend up to two years.⁵

For unpaid child support specifically, a jail sentence is suspended once the obligor pays the full arrearage and court costs.³ Willful non-payment can also be prosecuted as a separate criminal offense, with a first conviction carrying up to six months in jail and a $500 fine, and a second or subsequent offense up to two years and a $2,500 fine. The same enhanced penalty applies when arrearage exceeds $15,000 and has been outstanding for at least a year.⁶

In juvenile proceedings involving visitation violations, judges have additional remedies. A court can order make-up visitation days, require parenting classes or counseling, and order the violating parent to pay the other side’s attorney fees and court costs.⁷

Attorney Fees and Costs

Louisiana requires the losing party to pay the winner’s attorney fees and costs in two categories of enforcement: past-due child support or spousal support, and enforcement of child visitation rights.⁸ The award is mandatory unless the court finds good cause to deny it. If you prevail on a support or visitation contempt, ask for fees. If you lose, expect to pay them.

For other kinds of contempt, attorney fee awards are discretionary. A court can order fees when it determines that either party caused unreasonable delay.

Defenses You Should Expect

The person you file against will typically raise one or more of the following, and knowing them helps you prepare your evidence.

The order was too vague. If the underlying order is ambiguous, a judge will hesitate to find contempt. This is why filings tied to specific dollar amounts, dates, and times succeed more often than filings tied to general language.

Compliance was impossible. RS 13:4611 limits imprisonment for non-performance to acts “yet within the power of the offender to perform.”⁵ Once you prove a willful violation, the accused has to demonstrate that compliance was truly impossible, not just inconvenient.

The violation wasn’t willful. Contempt requires intentional disobedience. A missed exchange due to a medical emergency is not contempt. You have to show the accused knew about the order and deliberately chose not to follow it.

Incarceration during the missed period. A child support order is automatically suspended when the obligor is imprisoned for 180 consecutive days or more, unless they have the means to pay while incarcerated, were jailed for an offense against the custodial parent or child, or were jailed specifically for failing to pay child support.⁹ The suspension does not erase arrears that accumulated before incarceration began, so you can still pursue those.

1
Justia Law. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 222 – Direct Contempt
2
Justia Law. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 224 – Constructive Contempt
3
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes RS 46:236.6 – Failure to Pay Support; Procedure, Penalties and Publication
4
Justia Law. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 225 – Same; Procedure for Punishing
5
Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes RS 13:4611 – Punishment for Contempt of Court; Defenses
6
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes RS 14:75 – Failure to Pay Child Support Obligation
7
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Children’s Code Title XV Article 1509 – Penalties for Contempt; In General
8
Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes RS 9:375 – Award of Attorney Fees
9
Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes RS 9:311.1 – Child Support During the Incarceration of the Obligor