Florida Statutes

Fla. Stat. § 38.23 (2025)

Contempt defined.

✓ 2025 Florida Statutes — current through the 2025 Regular Session
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section FL-LEGleg.state.fl.us JustiaFla. Statutes CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar
38.23 Contempt defined.A refusal to obey any legal order, mandate or decree, made or given by any judge relative to any of the business of the court, after due notice thereof, is a contempt, punishable accordingly.
History.s. 2, Nov. 23, 1828; RS 976; GS 1346; RGS 2535; CGL 4162; s. 8, ch. 2013-25.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 29 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1945–2022 · leading case: Moakley v. Smallwood, 826 So. 2d 221 (Fla. 2002).
Moakley v. Smallwood, 826 So. 2d 221 (Fla. 2002). · cites it 2× “"); § 38.23, Fla. Stat. (1997) (providing for exercise of contempt power where a party has failed to abide by "any legal order, mandate or decree, made or given by any judge").”
Gibson v. Bennett, 561 So. 2d 565 (Fla. 1990). · cites it 2× “Section 38.23, Florida Statutes (1987), defines contempt as [a] refusal to obey any legal order, mandate or decree, made or given by any judge either in term time or in vacation relative to any of the business of said court, after due notice thereof, shall be considered a…”
Bouie v. State, 784 So. 2d 521 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001). · cites it 2× “NOTES [1] Section 38.23, Florida Statutes (1997), defines contempts as: A refusal to obey any legal order, mandate or decree, made or given by any judge either in term time or in vacation relative to any of the business of said court, after due notice thereof, shall be…”
Amend. to Rules of App. Proc., Civ. Proc., 887 So. 2d 1090 (Fla. 2004). · cites it 2× “§ 38.23, Fla. Stat. Contempts defined. § 733.”
South Dade Farms v. Peters, 88 So. 2d 891 (Fla. 1956). · cites it 2× “By Section 38.23, Florida Statutes, F.S.A., contempt of court is defined as follows: "A refusal to obey any legal order, mandate or decree, made or given by any judge either in term time or in vacation relative to any of the business of said court, after due notice thereof,…”
In Re Amend. to Fla. Rules of Cr. Proc., 606 So. 2d 227 (Fla. 1992). · cites it 2× “, section 38.23, Florida Statutes), since these statutes deal with substantive rather than procedural law.”
Dep't of Revenue v. Jackson, 846 So. 2d 486 (Fla. 2003). “See § 38.23; § 61.14(6)(b)(1)d, (6)(d), Fla. Stat.”
Cordova v. State, 675 So. 2d 632 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996). · cites it 2× “The central issue presented by this appeal is whether a trial court may judicially notice the fact that a defendant was served with an injunction where he is charged with indirect criminal contempt for violating its provisions.”
M.J. v. State, 202 So. 3d 112 (Fla. 5th DCA 2016). · cites it 2× “There must be proof beyond a reasonable doubt that (1) the contemnor had notice of the order, (2) the order was directed at the contemnor, and (3) the contemnor unequivocally and intentionally disobeyed the order or acted in gross dereliction of the order- to such an extent that…”
Dep't of Child. & Families v. RH, 819 So. 2d 858 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002). “3d DCA 1982) (holding contempt order is void because it did not contain findings that the alleged contemnors had the present ability to comply with the underlying order); see also § 38.23, Florida Statutes (2001) ("A refusal to obey any legal order, mandate or decree, made or…”
Rykiel v. Rykiel, 838 So. 2d 508 (Fla. 2003). “Abrams, Family Law § 38.23(2)(d) (1999), citing Temp. Treas.”
Amendments to the Florida Prob. Rules, 848 So. 2d 1069 (Fla. 2003). · cites it 2× “§ 38.23, Fla. Stat. Contempts defined. § 733.”
— 38.23(2)(d) — 2 cases
Rykiel v. Rykiel, 838 So. 2d 508 (Fla. 2003). “Abrams, Family Law § 38.23(2)(d) (1999), citing Temp. Treas.”
Almodovar v. Almodovar, 754 So. 2d 861 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000).
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.

This Florida statute resource is curated by Florida Bar member Graham W. Syfert, a Jacksonville, Florida personal injury and workers' compensation attorney (Florida Bar No. 39104). For legal consultation, call 904-383-7448.