Criminal Contempt in New York: Violating an Order of Protection

Criminal contempt is what New York charges when someone violates an order of protection, and it is one of the most common crimes in Nassau and Suffolk County District Court — over 700 cases a year across the two degrees. A text message can be the whole case. If you have been charged, call Hochhauser Criminal & DWI Defense at 516-939-1529.

Criminal contempt penalties

The jump from misdemeanor to felony is smaller than most people expect. Under PL 215.51(b)(v), striking, shoving or kicking the protected person — or attempting or threatening to — while an order is in effect is a felony. No injury is required. No actual touching is required.

What criminal contempt requires

Criminal contempt in the second degree under PL 215.50(3) is intentional disobedience of a lawful court mandate. Three things must be true: a valid order existed, you knew about it, and you disobeyed it on purpose.

That middle element decides an enormous number of these cases. The felony version is stricter still: PL 215.51(b) applies only where the order was duly served on you, or where you had actual knowledge of it because you were physically present in court when it was issued. Those two routes are the whole universe. A defendant who was never personally served and was not in the courtroom has a genuine attack on the felony.

What actually violates an order

Orders come in two shapes, and which one you got is the most consequential thing that happens at arraignment. A full stay-away order bars all contact and usually forces you out of a shared home. A limited order lets you have contact but bars harassment, threats and intimidation.

Conduct that routinely gets charged as contempt includes calls, texts, emails, social media messages and follow requests, going to the residence, workplace or school, and third-party contact — asking a friend or relative to pass along a message counts.

One hard thing clients need to hear plainly: the fact that the protected person invited the contact is not a defense to the charge. The order binds you, not them. It is significant mitigation, it bears on whether the disobedience was intentional, and it matters enormously to how a prosecutor evaluates the case — but it does not make the contact lawful.

Defenses to a criminal contempt charge

• Service and knowledge. Get the order, the affidavit of service and the arraignment minutes. On the felony, a failure of service or presence is often dispositive.
• The order’s actual terms. Full stay-away versus refrain-from, whether the residence was carved out, whether custody exchanges were permitted. Orders are frequently narrower than everyone assumes.
• The contact was not intentional. An unplanned encounter in a shared building, at a child’s event, or at a workplace neither party controls.
• No physical contact and no true threat — which drops a PL 215.51(b)(v) felony to the misdemeanor.
• Justification under Penal Law Article 35 remains fully available; defensive contact is not contempt.
• Facial insufficiency of the accusatory instrument, which must allege non-hearsay facts for every element rather than tracking the statute.

Two courts, one incident

Most contempt cases grow out of a family offense, and New York gives Family Court and the criminal courts concurrent jurisdiction over those. A complainant may proceed in criminal court, in Family Court, or in both at the same time. That means two proceedings, two orders of protection, and two sets of consequences from one set of facts.

The two are not equivalent. Family Court is civil, uses a preponderance standard and produces no criminal record. Criminal court requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt but carries jail, a record and collateral consequences. Statements made in one can be used in the other, which is why they have to be handled together rather than separately. See also our page on domestic violence charges.

A related point worth stating precisely, because it is often gotten wrong: criminal contempt is not itself a family offense. It is the enforcement mechanism for the order that a family offense proceeding produces.

Where contempt cases are heard on Long Island

We handle these cases across Nassau County and Suffolk County, in both the criminal and Family Court tracks.

Criminal contempt frequently asked questions

She asked me to come over. Is that a defense?

Not to the charge. The order restricts you regardless of what the protected party wants. It is powerful mitigation and it can bear on intent, but the safe course is to have the order modified in court rather than rely on an invitation.

Can an order of protection be changed or dropped?

Only by the judge who issued it. The complaining witness cannot lift it. A modification application is a real option and is often the most useful early motion in the case.

What if I was never served with the order?

On a felony charge under PL 215.51(b), service or courtroom presence is an element. If neither happened, the felony fails.

How long does an order last?

A temporary order runs while the case is pending. A final order issued on conviction can run for years, with the length tied to the level of the offense. Ask your attorney for the specific expiration date on your order — the durations are set by statute and are scheduled to change.

Speak with a Long Island criminal contempt lawyer

Richard Hochhauser has defended order of protection cases in Nassau and Suffolk County for years, on both the misdemeanor and felony sides. These cases move fast, they carry immediate consequences for where you can live and whether you can see your children, and the first appearance matters more than almost any other.

This page provides general information about criminal contempt in New York and is not legal advice. Every case turns on its own facts. Contacting our firm does not create an attorney-client relationship.