Rule 812.Contempt

Rule 812 is one sentence: actions for contempt are governed by Idaho Rules of Civil Procedure 75.

Why it is a cross-reference

Rule 102 makes the civil rules apply only when incorporated by reference in these rules. Rule 812 is one of those incorporations, and contempt is a good candidate for it: the procedure carries constitutional requirements — notice of the specific conduct charged, the right to counsel where jail is possible, and a criminal standard of proof for punitive sanctions — that do not vary between a family case and any other.

What it reaches

Contempt is the general enforcement tool that sits behind most of Part VIII. Rule 811(e) names it for a judgment requiring a specific act. Rules 814, 815 and 816 each say they are separate and distinct from a contempt proceeding — meaning a party may use those routes or contempt, and the choice of one does not forfeit the other.

Elsewhere it backs the joint preliminary order under Rule 509, a parenting class ordered under Rule 1001(c), and a Rule 1002 parenting coordinator's decision once it is entered as a judgment.

One important limit

Rule 417(d)(2)(A)(vii) allows treating failure to obey a discovery order as contempt except an order to submit to a physical or mental examination. A Rule 416 evaluation cannot be enforced by contempt — the sanctions available are the other Rule 417 orders.

And one defense

Rule 1002(f) makes it an affirmative defense to a motion for contempt that the act or omission, while violating the controlling custody order, complied with a subsequent decision of a duly appointed parenting coordinator.