Contempt of court in Colorado is governed by Rule 107 of the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure, which divides contempt into two tracks: remedial sanctions, which use open-ended jail time or fines to force you to comply with a court order, and punitive sanctions, which impose a fixed penalty (up to six months in jail without a jury trial) for conduct that offended the court.1Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure. CRCP 107 Remedial and Punitive Sanctions for Contempt Which track applies determines the burden of proof, the procedure, and the rights you’re entitled to. The distinction matters more than most people expect.
What Counts as Contempt in Colorado
Rule 107 sets out four categories of behavior that qualify as contempt: disruptive or disorderly conduct toward the court, behavior that obstructs the administration of justice, disobedience of or interference with any lawful court order, and any other act that a statute or court rule specifically labels as contempt.1Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure. CRCP 107 Remedial and Punitive Sanctions for Contempt The definition is deliberately broad. It reaches conduct as loud as shouting at a judge and as quiet as ignoring a child-support order for months.
Remedial vs. Punitive Sanctions
Remedial sanctions exist to force compliance. The court isn’t punishing what you did; it’s pressuring you to do what you were ordered to do. Rule 107 defines them as sanctions imposed to compel performance of an act within your present ability to perform.1Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure. CRCP 107 Remedial and Punitive Sanctions for Contempt The classic example: someone who refuses to pay court-ordered support despite having the money. A judge can jail that person until they pay, because the person holds the keys to the cell by complying.
The burden of proof is a preponderance of the evidence. The moving party has to show it’s more likely than not that you violated the order. Once noncompliance is established, the burden shifts to you to show you couldn’t comply, and the court must make a specific finding that you have the present ability to do what’s being demanded before ordering you jailed. Every remedial order also has to include a written purge provision describing exactly how you can end the sanction by complying. If there’s a way out through compliance, it’s remedial.
Punitive sanctions are punishment. They apply when someone’s conduct offended the authority and dignity of the court, and they take the form of a fixed fine, a fixed jail sentence, or both.1Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure. CRCP 107 Remedial and Punitive Sanctions for Contempt There is no purge option. You cannot undo the sentence by suddenly cooperating, because the court is responding to past misconduct rather than trying to coerce future behavior.
Because punitive contempt is criminal in nature, the charge has to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt, and you get the full criminal-defendant protections: presumption of innocence, right to present and cross-examine witnesses, right to remain silent, and right to appeal. A court also cannot suspend any part of a punitive sanction based on whether you perform some future act. If the sentence is conditional on future behavior, it’s really a remedial sanction and has to be treated as one.
Direct vs. Indirect Contempt
The direct/indirect split controls how quickly a court can act.
Direct contempt is behavior the judge personally sees or hears, and Rule 107 limits it to conduct that is “so extreme that no warning is necessary” or that continues after the court has already warned the person to stop.1Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure. CRCP 107 Remedial and Punitive Sanctions for Contempt A judge can punish direct contempt on the spot, but has to enter an order describing the conduct, finding it met the “extreme or warned” threshold, and finding it offended the court’s authority. Even in a summary proceeding, the person gets to make a statement before any sanction is imposed. The Colorado Supreme Court reinforced these limits in People v. Aleem, vacating a direct-contempt finding where the judge skipped the required warning and the conduct wasn’t extreme enough to justify skipping it.2Justia Law. In Re People v. Aleem, 06SA90 (Colo. 2007)
Indirect contempt covers everything that happens outside the judge’s direct observation: violating a protection order, ignoring a subpoena, refusing to pay support. Indirect contempt requires formal proceedings with written notice and a hearing.
How an Indirect Contempt Case Moves Through Court
The process starts when someone files a motion supported by an affidavit describing what order was violated and how, and stating whether they’re seeking remedial sanctions, punitive sanctions, or both. If the court finds enough basis, it issues a citation ordering the accused to appear and show cause.1Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure. CRCP 107 Remedial and Punitive Sanctions for Contempt The Colorado Judicial Branch publishes forms and instructions for filing a contempt citation.3Colorado Judicial Branch. Filing a Contempt Citation
The citation, motion, affidavit, and underlying order all have to be served directly on the accused at least 21 days before the hearing. “Directly” means personal service. Email doesn’t count, and neither do alternative-service methods. The fact that the court already has jurisdiction over you from the underlying case doesn’t satisfy the direct-service requirement for contempt.
At the hearing, what happens next depends on the type of sanction. For remedial sanctions, the court hears evidence from both sides and decides whether you violated the order and whether you have the present ability to comply. For punitive sanctions, you get a full advisement of your rights at the first appearance, and the proceeding functions much like a criminal trial. If the judge personally initiated the contempt charge rather than acting on another party’s motion, you have the right to have a different judge hear the case.
Penalties You Can Face
Remedial penalties are open-ended by design. A court can impose daily fines or jail time that continues until you comply. In support cases, courts often set a payment schedule they believe you can meet, then schedule follow-up hearings with jail as the backstop if you fall behind again. The sanctions end when you do what you were ordered to do.
Punitive penalties are fixed. The maximum jail term is six months unless you’ve been advised of your right to a jury trial.1Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure. CRCP 107 Remedial and Punitive Sanctions for Contempt That ceiling reflects the U.S. Supreme Court’s holding in Bloom v. Illinois, which established that criminal contempt carrying more than six months of imprisonment is a “serious” offense that requires a jury trial.4Justia U.S. Supreme Court Center. Bloom v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 194 (1968) Fines are also available. Each separate violation of a court order can be charged as its own contempt, so someone who has missed multiple support payments could face stacked charges, each carrying up to six months. Before sentencing, the accused has the right to make a statement in mitigation.
Defenses to a Contempt Charge
The strongest defense is inability to comply. You cannot be held in contempt for failing to do something genuinely impossible. A parent who was two hours late for a custody exchange because the highway closed after a crash did not willfully disobey the order.
Inability is an affirmative defense, meaning you carry the burden of proving it. In support cases, once the other side shows you didn’t pay, it’s your job to show you couldn’t, not just that paying would have been inconvenient. Colorado appellate courts read “ability to pay” broadly. In one decision, a court upheld a contempt finding against someone who lacked cash on hand but had enough available credit to make the required payment.
Other defenses attack the underlying order or the procedure. An order too vague to understand can’t be violated. Improper service of the contempt citation, including a failure to meet the 21-day rule, undermines the whole proceeding. So does the court’s failure to give the required advisement of rights before pursuing punitive sanctions. Procedural failures often survive as issues on appeal even when the underlying conduct looks bad.
Your Rights If You’re Accused
In a punitive contempt proceeding, you get essentially the same protections as a criminal defendant. At your first appearance, the court has to advise you of the right to a lawyer, the right to appointed counsel if you’re indigent and jail is a possibility, the presumption of innocence, the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard, the right to present and cross-examine witnesses, the right to subpoena witnesses, the right to remain silent, and the right to appeal.1Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure. CRCP 107 Remedial and Punitive Sanctions for Contempt If the potential sentence exceeds six months, you have the right to a jury trial.4Justia U.S. Supreme Court Center. Bloom v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 194 (1968)
Remedial proceedings carry fewer formal protections, but you still have the right to notice and a hearing, and the court must find you have the present ability to comply before jailing you. When the case involves nonpayment and possible incarceration, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Turner v. Rogers requires adequate notice that ability to pay is the key issue, a fair chance to present evidence on that point, and an express finding on whether you can actually pay.5Justia U.S. Supreme Court Center. Turner v. Rogers, 564 U.S. 431 (2011) A court that skips this inquiry and jails someone who simply doesn’t have the money violates due process.
Attorney Fees and Costs
Rule 107 lets the court award reasonable attorney fees and costs in remedial contempt proceedings.1Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure. CRCP 107 Remedial and Punitive Sanctions for Contempt The party who had to file the motion can recover legal fees if the other side is found in contempt. This is where contempt gets expensive quickly. Even when the underlying violation involves a modest sum, the fees to prosecute or defend a contempt action can run into thousands of dollars, and the losing side may end up paying both. Separately, C.R.S. 13-17-102 allows fee awards in any civil action where a claim or defense lacked substantial justification.6Justia Law. Colorado Code 13-17-102 – Attorney Fees
Contempt in Family Law Cases
Family law drives most contempt filings in Colorado. Missed child support is the common trigger, but contempt also reaches violations of custody schedules, property-division orders, and maintenance obligations.
The Rule 107 framework applies the same way, though family courts tend to lean on remedial sanctions. The goal is usually to get the money flowing or the parenting schedule followed, not to lock someone up for its own sake. A court typically finds contempt, orders a payment schedule the person can realistically meet, and sets review hearings. Jail remains available if the person continues to violate the order while having the ability to comply. Punitive sanctions are also available, and because each missed payment can be treated as a separate violation, exposure can climb well beyond a single six-month sentence.
If you receive a contempt citation, the most important thing you can do is show up. Failing to appear virtually guarantees a finding of contempt and removes any chance to present evidence of inability to comply.