Title 18 — Crimes and Criminal ProcedureRelease 119-73
§3691 Jury trial of criminal contempts
Title 18 › Part PART II— - CRIMINAL PROCEDURE › Chapter CHAPTER 233— - CONTEMPTS › § 3691
Summary
If someone willfully disobeys a federal district court order and the same act is also a crime under federal or state law, they can demand a jury trial. The trial must follow the usual rules for criminal cases. The right to a jury does not apply if the misbehavior happened in the judge’s presence or so close it blocked court business, or if the disobedience was of an order in a case brought by or for the United States.
Full Legal Text
Title 18, §3691
Crimes and Criminal Procedure — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Whenever a contempt charged shall consist in willful disobedience of any lawful writ, process, order, rule, decree, or command of any district court of the United States by doing or omitting any act or thing in violation thereof, and the act or thing done or omitted also constitutes a criminal offense under any Act of Congress, or under the laws of any state in which it was done or omitted, the accused, upon demand therefor, shall be entitled to trial by a jury, which shall conform as near as may be to the practice in other criminal cases. This section shall not apply to contempts committed in the presence of the court, or so near thereto as to obstruct the administration of justice, nor to contempts committed in disobedience of any lawful writ, process, order, rule, decree, or command entered in any suit or action brought or prosecuted in the name of, or on behalf of, the United States.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on section 386, 389 of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Judicial Code and Judiciary (Oct. 15, 1914, ch. 323, §§ 21, 24, 38 Stat. 738, 739). The first paragraph of this section is completely rewritten from section 386 of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Judicial Code and Judiciary, omitting everything covered and superseded by rules 23 and 42 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. The second paragraph of this section is derived from section 389 of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Judicial Code and Judiciary, omitting directions as to the trial of other contempts which are now covered by rule 42 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. Minor changes were made in phraseology.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
18 U.S.C. § 3691
Title 18 — Crimes and Criminal Procedure
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73