Dixon County civil docket: defaults granted, multiple estates tracked to May 12, and family law temporary orders entered

At today’s civil docket call the judge ran a lengthy show-cause docket, granting default judgments in several civil matters, tracking many estate cases to May 12 while parties await administrative responses, and approving multiple temporary family-law orders and agreed visitation plans.

Several plaintiffs received default judgments after defendants failed to answer. The judge granted a plaintiff’s motion for default judgment in the access-easement matter against David Adams after counsel reported service but no answer was filed. In a separate contract action, plaintiff counsel said Valor Flex Packaging LLC (referred to in the transcript also as Veil Flex) had not filed an answer; the judge granted the motion for default judgment and discussed liquidated damages and attorney-fee provisions to be memorialized in the final order.

Multiple estates were continued for tracking. Counsel repeatedly cited delays in dealing with the IRS — "they keep telling me 60 days, 60 days," one attorney said — and the court set numerous estate matters for May 12 to allow time to resolve federal and administrative issues. The court allowed exceptions to two JPMorgan Chase Bank claims totaling $8,080.55 and $1,773.84 after no one appeared to prosecute those claims.

Family-law dockets produced several agreed temporary parenting plans and mediation orders. The parties in Salters v. Salters agreed to a week-on/week-off schedule with exchanges at an agreed midpoint, limited participation by romantic partners at exchanges, and shared responsibility for routine expenses; counsel agreed to draft the order. In a separate matter involving a 14-year-old, the parties agreed to pursue therapeutic reunification and to check insurance coverage for recommended providers; the court approved reserving certain motions and ordered mediation to be rescheduled when necessary.

Other procedural matters included a scheduling order filed in O'Sullivan v. Nesbitt removing it from the show-cause docket, a mediation schedule set for Reich v. Reich with mediation to occur before April 30, and the court’s instruction to parties to submit signed orders for cases resolved by agreement. The judge closed the docket and noted a 44-count criminal docket scheduled for the next day.

What happens next: written orders for defaults, estate continuances and temporary parenting plans will be submitted to the clerk; several matters are set for tracking on May 12 and mediation dates were ordered or left to be agreed and filed.