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Arkansas Motion for Contempt

Arkansas has no mandatory contempt form and no statute capping how long a person can be confined for civil contempt, so the required ability-to-pay finding is what limits the court's power to jail someone for noncompliance.

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Introduction

In Arkansas, this procedure is called a Motion for Contempt, sometimes filed as a Petition for Contempt, and it is brought inside your existing domestic relations case in circuit court rather than as a new lawsuit, since Arkansas has no separate family court. There is no mandatory or official statewide contempt form. The one statewide document required for every domestic relations filing, including contempt, is the Domestic Relations Cover Sheet required by Arkansas Supreme Court Administrative Order No. 8, which classifies the filing as case type Contempt-Domestic Relations; it is not the pleading itself, so your motion must still meet Arkansas's general pleading requirements. This guide does not state a fixed number of days' notice before a civil family contempt hearing or a required method for serving the motion and hearing notice, so ask your circuit clerk what your court requires before you schedule a hearing. If the court finds contempt, jail is a possible outcome, but it is never automatic and never the filer's choice; the court decides after a hearing. Arkansas's general contempt statute, which makes contempt a Class C misdemeanor and requires release after 30 days for a person jailed for not paying a contempt fine, applies only to criminal contempt, not to this civil family-court remedy, so no statute limits how long a person can be confined for civil contempt; confinement is coercive, meant to end once the person meets a purge condition the court sets, such as paying the arrears or resuming compliance, and the circuit court must first find that the person has the present ability to comply. In an action to enforce payment of support, the circuit court must award the movant a minimum of ten percent (10%) of the support amount due, or a reasonable fee, as attorney's fees, and once support arrears are reduced to judgment, the court's contempt jurisdiction to enforce that judgment is expressly preserved by statute. Do not withhold child support because the other parent denied parenting time, and do not deny parenting time because support is unpaid; either one can itself expose you to a contempt finding. This motion does not modify the underlying support or custody order; use DocDraft's child support modification and parenting plan pages for that, and if there is domestic violence or a safety risk, use DocDraft's getting a restraining order guide instead of confronting the other parent directly. The Arkansas Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE), part of the Department of Finance and Administration, uses its own administrative tools first and can itself pursue contempt once a parent owes support, is not complying with an approved payment plan, and all administrative remedies are exhausted, an alternative to filing your own motion; for denied parenting time, Arkansas has no separate enforcement agency, so a motion for contempt or a motion to enforce in the same case remains the primary route. Attorney review is available before you file.

Key Things to Know

  1. 1

    Arkansas calls this a Motion for Contempt, also filed as a Petition for Contempt, brought inside your existing domestic relations case in circuit court, not as a new lawsuit. There is no mandatory statewide form; a Domestic Relations Cover Sheet under Administrative Order No. 8 must accompany the filing and classify it as case type Contempt-Domestic Relations (Ark. Sup. Ct. Admin. Order No. 8; Ark. Code Ann. Sec. 9-14-104(a)).

  2. 2

    Before you schedule a hearing, ask your circuit clerk how much notice the other party must receive and how the motion must be served; this guide does not state a fixed number of days' notice or a required service method for a civil family contempt hearing.

  3. 3

    Arkansas's general contempt statute, Ark. Code Ann. Sec. 16-10-108, makes contempt a Class C misdemeanor and requires release after 30 days for a person jailed for not paying a contempt fine, but it applies only to criminal contempt; subsection (d)(2) excludes proceedings that enforce a civil right or remedy like this one. No statute limits how long a person can be confined for civil family contempt; confinement is coercive and must end once the person meets a purge condition the court sets.

  4. 4

    Before jailing someone for civil contempt of a support order, the circuit court must expressly find that the person has the present ability to comply. The Arkansas Supreme Court reversed a contempt incarceration where the record did not include that finding (Stehle v. Zimmerebner, 2016 Ark. 290).

  5. 5

    In an action to enforce payment of support, the circuit court must award a minimum of ten percent (10%) of the support amount due, or a reasonable fee, as attorney's fees, and this fee may be collected through contempt proceedings among other remedies (Ark. Code Ann. Sec. 9-14-233(b)-(c)).

  6. 6

    Do not withhold child support because the other parent denied parenting time, and do not deny parenting time because support is unpaid; either one can itself expose you to a contempt finding.

  7. 7

    The Arkansas Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) uses its own administrative tools first and can pursue its own contempt action once a parent owes support, is not complying with an approved payment plan, and all administrative remedies are exhausted. For denied parenting time, Arkansas has no separate enforcement agency, so a motion for contempt or a motion to enforce in the same case is the primary route.

Key decisions before you file

Before you file a Motion for Contempt in Arkansas, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Motion for Contempt guide walks through them.

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Arkansas Requirements for Motion for Contempt

  • Motion Filed in the Existing Domestic Relations Case

    A Motion for Contempt (also filed as a Petition for Contempt) is brought inside the pending domestic relations case in circuit court, not as a new lawsuit, and a Domestic Relations Cover Sheet under Administrative Order No. 8 must accompany the filing, classifying it as case type Contempt-Domestic Relations (Ark. Sup. Ct. Admin. Order No. 8; Ark. Code Ann. Sec. 9-14-104(a)).

  • No Mandatory Statewide Contempt Form

    Arkansas has no mandatory or official statewide contempt form. The motion must be drafted to meet the circuit court's general pleading requirements rather than filled out on a standardized form.

  • Confirm Notice and Service With the Circuit Clerk

    This guide does not state a fixed number of days' notice before a civil family contempt hearing or a required method for serving the motion and hearing notice. Confirm the notice period and service method with the circuit clerk before scheduling a hearing.

  • No Statutory Cap on Civil Confinement, But an Ability-to-Pay Finding Is Required

    Arkansas's 30-day release rule, Ark. Code Ann. Sec. 16-10-108(b), covers a person jailed for not paying a criminal contempt fine; subsection (d)(2) excludes civil-remedy contempt like this one, so no statute caps civil confinement. Confinement is coercive and must end once the person meets a purge condition, and the court must first find the person has the present ability to comply (Stehle v. Zimmerebner, 2016 Ark. 290).

  • Minimum 10 Percent Attorney's Fee When Enforcing Support

    In an action enforcing payment of support, the circuit court must award a minimum of ten percent (10%) of the support amount due, or a reasonable fee, as attorney's fees, and this fee may be collected through contempt proceedings among other remedies (Ark. Code Ann. Sec. 9-14-233(b)-(c)).

  • Contempt Preserved as a Support Enforcement Tool After Arrears Are Reduced to Judgment

    Once support arrears are reduced to judgment, the circuit court's jurisdiction to enforce that judgment through contempt proceedings is expressly preserved by statute (Ark. Code Ann. Sec. 9-14-234(j)).

  • Identify the Order, Each Violation, and the Relief Requested

    The motion should identify the order allegedly violated and the court that issued it, the specific acts of noncompliance with dates and amounts, and a request that the court find contempt and order relief such as a purge condition, fees, or a money judgment.

  • Arkansas Office of Child Support Enforcement as an Alternative

    The Arkansas Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE), part of the Department of Finance and Administration, may itself pursue contempt once a parent owes support and is not complying with an approved payment plan and administrative remedies are exhausted, an alternative to filing a private motion.

Frequently Asked Questions