A Motion Is Not An Order
ORC 2705.02 — what binds while a request waits, and what disobeying it can cost
A motion is a request that a court do something. An order is what the court decided. The contempt section punishes disobedience of or resistance to a lawful writ, process, order, rule, judgment or command of a court. A request somebody has filed is not on that list; the order it asks to change is.
Filing to change an order does not change it. The custody section is a clear example. A court shall not modify a prior custody decree unless it makes the findings that section requires, so until it does the decree stands, and a motion asking for a modification is a request for those findings.
- Disobeying or resisting a lawful writ, process, order, rule, judgment or command of a court or officer.
- Failing to obey a subpoena that was properly served, or refusing to be sworn or to answer as a witness when lawfully required.
- A witness bound by a recognisance to appear failing to appear on its terms.
- Willfully failing to submit to genetic testing, or to submit a child to it, as a court ordered in a parentage case.
Those are among the acts the section says may be punished as a contempt. Before anyone is, a written charge is filed with the clerk, an entry is made on the journal, and the accused is given an opportunity to be heard, in person or through counsel. The court may still bring the person in, or hold them, while that happens.
| Offence | Up to |
|---|---|
| OffenceFirst | Up toA fine of two hundred fifty dollars, thirty days in jail, or both |
| OffenceSecond | Up toA fine of five hundred dollars, sixty days in jail, or both |
| OffenceThird or later | Up toA fine of one thousand dollars, ninety days in jail, or both |
In every contempt proceeding the court shall hold a hearing, investigate the charge, and hear any answer or testimony the accused makes or offers before it decides.
Support and parenting time orders have their own route in. Anyone with a legal claim to ordered support may start a contempt action for failure to pay it, and any parent or person subject to a parenting time or visitation order may start one for a failure to comply with or interference with that order. The accused must appear on the summons, which has to say that not appearing may lead to an order of arrest, that there is a right to counsel, and that an accused who is indigent must apply for a public defender or appointed counsel within three business days after receiving it.
How motions are made, served and answered in a particular court is set by the rules of court and by each court's local rules, not by these sections. What a subpoena may require someone to bring, and how to object to one, is on the page about being a witness. Whether particular conduct disobeyed a particular order is decided at the hearing, and a licensed Ohio attorney reads a specific case.
Sources for this section (5)
- ORC 2705.02 — Acts that may be punished as a contempt of court
- ORC 2705.05 — The contempt hearing, and the penalties by offence
- ORC 3109.04 — Allocating parental rights and responsibilities, and the best interest of the child
- ORC 2705.03 — The written charge and the hearing before contempt is punished
- ORC 2705.031 — Contempt for unpaid support or interference with parenting time
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Talk to a licensed Ohio attorney about your situation.