Judge extends order of protection, bars husband from job sites and orders key equipment returned to Dixon Tree Services

A Dixon County judge extended an order of protection on July 11 and ordered temporary limits on how David Dixon may interact with Dixon Tree Services LLC, including a ban on going to job sites and a requirement that a rented bucket truck and chipper be returned to the company within five days.

The order aims to preserve the business as a marital asset while the divorce and property division proceed. The judge said he would not resolve ownership or valuation now but that immediate steps were necessary to prevent further damage to the company. "Bucket truck and the chipper will go back to Dixon Tree Service on a temporary basis. His ownership interest in it will be preserved. He'll have it returned to them within 5 days," the judge said.

Why it matters: Both parties testified that equipment and invoices are tied to the business and to personal names, but the judge cited Tennessee law that property acquired during the marriage is marital property and therefore belongs to both spouses in interest until the court divides assets. He said the court—ound a factual basis to extend an order of protection to stop conduct that could "torpedo" the business while discovery and any further asset valuation proceed.

The hearing included detailed testimony about equipment invoices and ownership. The court admitted invoices into evidence that list purchases addressed to David Dixon and "David Dixon and Sabrina Smithson, d/b/a." Dixon identified multiple pieces of equipment by invoice and cost in court, including a 1,500 BC XL chipper with winch for $92,500 and a 2019 BC 1,800 XL chipper for $56,500; the parties also discussed other chippers and bucket trucks. The judge repeatedly told both sides that whose name appears on an invoice does not by itself determine ownership: "Any property that's acquired during the marriage from the date of the marriage forward constitutes marital property," the judge said.

Petitioner Sabrina Smithson testified that Dixon had taken keys and registrations from trucks, and that he had come to multiple storm contracts and sometimes disrupted crews. She told the court that when Dixon removed registrations and filed lost-title paperwork, a circuit court clerk later reversed those filings. "He apologized to everybody, and gave the keys back," Smithson said of one episode; she also testified that Dixon took registrations and attempted to gift titles to himself.

Dixon testified that some equipment is in his name, that he bought trailers and chippers, and that police allowed him to leave a job site with a bucket truck. He also acknowledged sending numerous texts and making threatening statements to his wife during the dispute. "I did threaten her to do that a dozen times because I was pissed. I did do that," Dixon told the court.

The court eclared a temporary directive to maintain the status quo for equipment: neither party may remove equipment in the other's possession, and Dixon is prohibited from going to Dixon Tree Services job sites absent court permission. The judge also noted that any party who believes items in the marital residence should be removed must file a motion or work with counsel to obtain relief; he said Smithson currently occupies the tree-service equipment needed to operate the business and that the F-350 truck and other items would be dealt with to preserve operations in the short term.

The judge instructed both parties to conduct discovery on business assets and to participate in mediation before a final hearing. He said he would prefer to hear the property division himself rather than appoint a special master but did not foreclose that option later. He also recognized an earlier amended ex parte order of protection entered by Judge Lockhart Mahesh and extended protective measures in this hearing.

The judge emphasized that temporary restrictions do not negate Dixon's ownership claims and that valuation and distribution will be decided later: "What I'm being asked to do today is ... to keep the peace between these parties and make some sort of a temporary division of personal property," he said.

Ending: The court irected return of the bucket truck and chipper within five days and warned both sides that discovery, mediation and a later property hearing will be required to resolve ownership, valuation and any requests for a special master.