Archive

• Contempt: Does an Order to Show Cause have to be served by Rule 4 service?

  This entry was contributed by Cheryl Howell on January 10, 2024 at 4:31 pm and is filed under Civil Practice.

  It is a common question: when the court issues an order to show cause for contempt, how is that order served on a respondent? Is the order required to be served pursuant to Rule 4 of the Rules of Civil Procedure (generally meaning personal service by the sheriff or certified mail) or is Rule 5 service sufficient (generally meaning regular mail to the party or party’s attorney)? Unfortunately, the answer to that question is a bit murky.

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• The Clerk’s Contempt Authority

  This entry was contributed by Meredith Smith on July 27, 2016 at 12:35 pm and is filed under Contempt, Judicial Authority.

   

  **UPDATE: Effective July 21, 2017, Session Law 2017-158 expands the clerk’s civil contempt authority. The clerk now has the authority to exercise civil contempt in any instance when the clerk has original subject matter jurisdiction and issued the order that is the basis for the civil contempt in addition to any instance where a statute expressly provides for the clerk’s civil contempt authority.  See S.L. 2017-158, Sec. 11.**
  

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