To file a contempt of court action in Oregon, submit a completed remedial contempt complaint, a supporting declaration, and an ex parte motion for an Order to Show Cause at your local circuit court, pay the $56 filing fee, and then personally serve the signed order on the person who violated the underlying order. The process is built for enforcing an existing order a judge already issued, whether that involves unpaid support, ignored parenting time, or a property division term someone refuses to carry out.
Make Sure You’re Filing the Right Kind of Contempt
Oregon law splits contempt into two tracks, and only one of them is available to you as a private party.
Remedial contempt is the track individuals use. It’s designed to force future compliance or compensate you for harm already done by the violation.1Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 33.015 – Definitions for ORS 33.015 to 33.155 If your ex stopped paying support, keeps skipping custody exchanges, or won’t refinance the house the decree said they’d refinance, this is your path.
Punitive contempt punishes past disobedience and functions more like a criminal case. Only a district attorney, a city attorney, or the Attorney General can start one; a court can appoint a special prosecutor if those offices decline and remedial sanctions wouldn’t work. You cannot file punitive contempt yourself. The same act can produce both kinds of sanctions, and contempt doesn’t foreclose other civil or criminal remedies for the same conduct.2Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 33.045 – Types of Sanctions
Confirm You Have Standing and Time
Any party harmed by the alleged contempt can initiate a remedial proceeding, along with a district attorney, city attorney, the Attorney General, or anyone specifically authorized by statute.3Oregon Public Law. Oregon Revised Statutes 33.055 – Procedure for Imposition of Remedial Sanctions If you’re the person the order was meant to protect or benefit, you qualify.
The general deadline is two years from the act of contempt. Two exceptions matter. There’s no time limit at all for a continuing contempt, so if the violation is still happening when you file, the two-year clock doesn’t apply. And for unpaid support, the window stretches to ten years.4Oregon Public Law. Oregon Revised Statutes 33.135 – Limitations of Actions Miss the deadline and the contempt remedy is gone.
Pin Down the Order and Collect Evidence
Before you touch the packet, identify the exact order being violated: case number, date it was entered, and the specific language the other party is ignoring. A general complaint about bad behavior won’t get anywhere. The court needs to see a specific order and a specific failure to follow it.
What counts as useful evidence depends on the type of violation:
- Missed support: bank statements, payment records, or Oregon Child Support Program printouts showing the gaps.
- Custody or parenting time: text messages, emails, and a dated log of missed exchanges or refusals.
- Property division: documents showing the transfer, refinance, or other required step never happened.
Your evidence needs to point to willful non-compliance, meaning the other party knew about the order, had the ability to follow it, and chose not to. Someone who genuinely can’t comply has an affirmative defense, so aim your proof at showing that compliance was possible.
Fill Out and File the Packet
The Oregon Judicial Department publishes a remedial contempt packet built around one central document: the Complaint, Declaration in Support, and Ex Parte Motion for Order to Show Cause re Contempt.5Oregon Judicial Department. Instruction – Remedial Contempt You can download it from the OJD website or pick it up from your circuit court clerk.6Oregon Judicial Department. Instructions for Filing for Contempt of Court
In the complaint, describe the violated order precisely: case number, entry date, and the exact provisions being ignored. Then list the acts of non-compliance with dates and specifics. Your supporting declaration is signed under penalty of perjury, so keep it to what you can prove. Then say what you’re asking for: compensation for your losses, daily fines, a compliance order, attorney fees, or a combination.
File the originals with the circuit court clerk and keep at least two copies, one for yourself and one for the other party. The filing fee is $56.7Oregon Judicial Department. Circuit Court Fee Schedule If you can’t afford it, ask the clerk about a fee waiver or deferral.8Oregon Judicial Department. Fees A judge reviews the complaint, and if the allegations are sufficient, signs the Order to Show Cause requiring the other party to appear and explain why they shouldn’t be held in contempt.
Serve the Other Party
Once the judge signs the order, the complaint, declaration, and signed Order to Show Cause must be personally delivered to the other party under Oregon’s service rules.3Oregon Public Law. Oregon Revised Statutes 33.055 – Procedure for Imposition of Remedial Sanctions
Service can be done by any person who is at least 18, lives in the state where the delivery happens, and is not a party to the case. That covers a county sheriff’s deputy (for a fee), a private process server, or a qualifying friend.9Oregon Judicial Department. How to Serve or Deliver Legal Papers in Oregon If the other party has an attorney in the underlying case, the attorney must be served too.
After service, file proof of service with the court showing when, where, and how the papers were delivered. Without it, the hearing can’t go forward. If the person is dodging service, you can ask the court to authorize an alternative method, and in some situations the court can issue an arrest warrant.10Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 33.075 – Compelling Attendance of Defendant
What You Have to Prove at the Hearing
You carry the burden. For most remedial sanctions, the standard is clear and convincing evidence, higher than the “more likely than not” test used in ordinary civil cases. If you’re asking the court to jail the other party, the standard rises to beyond a reasonable doubt.11Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 33 – Contempt of Court
Three elements have to line up: a valid court order existed, the other party knew about it, and they willfully failed to comply. Bring your evidence organized. The other party will get to respond, call witnesses, and offer their own explanation.
If confinement is on the table, the court must notify the other party in advance and appoint counsel for them if they qualify financially.12Oregon.gov. Selected ORS Chapter 33 Statutes – Contempt Proceedings Even without confinement in play, an unrepresented party has to be told about the right to hire an attorney.
Sanctions You Can Ask the Court to Order
If the judge finds contempt, the court can impose one or more of these remedial sanctions:13Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 33.105 – Sanctions Authorized
- A compensatory payment covering your losses, injuries, or costs caused by the contempt.
- Daily fines of up to $500 or one percent of the violator’s annual gross income per day, whichever is greater, accruing until compliance.
- Confinement, which lasts until the person complies or six months, whichever comes first.2Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 33.045 – Types of Sanctions
- A compliance order designed to ensure the original order is followed, which can include probation.
- Attorney fees, in whole or in part, that you incurred pursuing the contempt.
Defenses to Expect
The strongest defense is inability to comply. Oregon statute makes this an explicit affirmative defense for both remedial and punitive contempt.11Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 33 – Contempt of Court Job loss, serious illness, or other circumstances that made compliance genuinely impossible can defeat a contempt finding. Note the word “impossible” rather than “inconvenient.” Courts look at whether the person tried to comply or sought a modification of the order.
Ambiguity in the order is another common defense. If the language is vague enough that reasonable people could read it different ways, the court may find the violation wasn’t willful. That’s why your complaint should point to the clearest, most specific provisions that were broken.
Lack of knowledge is a third defense. Someone who genuinely didn’t know the order existed, usually because they were never properly served with it, can’t be held in contempt for violating it. This rarely works when the person was in court when the order was entered, but it can surface with modifications made without adequate notice.
Thinking through these defenses shapes your case. Evidence that the other party had the means to comply, understood what the order required, and knew it was in effect closes off the usual exits before they open.