§ 1218.Finding that Person Guilty of Contempt

Section 1218 is the penalty section for contempt generally. Once the court finds someone guilty under § 1217's hearing procedure, it can impose a fine of up to $1,000, jail time of up to five days, or both. If the contempt was a party's violation of a court order in the party's own case, the court can also order that party to pay the other side's reasonable attorney's fees and costs for bringing the contempt proceeding.

Subdivision (b) adds a specific consequence in divorce and separation cases: a party found in contempt of a dissolution, domestic partnership, or legal separation order or judgment can't enforce that order or judgment against the other party -- not by execution, and not through a separate action. That restriction has an explicit carve-out: it never blocks enforcement of child or spousal support.

Subdivision (c) builds a separate, escalating framework for contempt of a Family Code order specifically. A first finding brings up to 120 hours each of community service or imprisonment; a second finding adds both together, up to 120 hours each; a third or later finding raises both to up to 240 hours each, plus an administrative fee tied to the cost of supervision. The court has to weigh each party's work schedule when choosing between community service and imprisonment. As an alternative to any of that, the court can grant probation or a conditional sentence instead -- capped at one year for a first finding, two years for a second, and three years for a third or subsequent finding.

Subdivision (d) lets a district attorney or city attorney bring a contempt action for violating a Domestic Violence Protection Act order, with any resulting attorney's fees directed to the state's account funding domestic violence shelter services rather than to the prosecuting office.