City Ordered to Serve Notice to Protestors

The city's bid for arrest warrants for Six Nations protesters was put off again, after a superior court justice decided alternate measures should be tried first.

The city is attempting to have eight protesters found in contempt of court for breaching an injunction prohibiting protests at development sites in the city.

Justice Harrison Arrell said he was concerned that the men could face criminal charges if they were served with warrants and failed to appear in court.

The city's motion asks the court to fine or jail those who are found to have violated the motion and award the city punitive damages.

City lawyer Neal Smitheman said they had successfully served Steve (Boots) Powless and John Garlow. He said Dick Hill refused to accept the court documents, but is aware of the city's motion.

The other protesters named in the action -- Butch Thomas, Clyde Powless, Kevin (Whodat) Isaacs, Dwayne Maracle and Runs Through the Fire -- have not been served.

City Hires Private Process Servers to Serve Property Owners

Issuing citations for city code violations is just the first — maybe the easiest — step in trying to persuade residents to clean up and maintain their property.

But serving notice of the citation and the alleged violations officers hope residents will cure before ending up in municipal court has proven to be much more difficult.

During the past eight to 12 months, city officials have been unable to secure the service of 522 citations issued for violations ranging from overgrown yards to maintenance neglect.

City officials say that lack of service can be costly to taxpayers not only aesthetically, but financially as well. In an attempt to “close the loophole” that allows residents to elude responsibilities, officials want to test a pilot program that will allow the city to use a private process server to put property owners on notice of any violations.

City Planner Gary Garvin said code enforcement officers are charged with that responsibility right now. Because code enforcement officers work regular business hours, it is difficult to serve notice to residents who work outside the home.

A process server, Garvin said, not only has the means to secure service during the evenings and weekends, they have the authority to serve notice to property owners who live outside the city limits but within the state. Garvin said 124 of the 522 citations, nearly 24 percent, expected to be included in the proposed pilot program are designated for out-of-town service.

Justice of Peace Signs Up for E-Filing

A Williamson County justice of the peace is hoping to make the process of filing a civil case less time-consuming and save paper at the same time.

Dain Johnson of Precinct 1 is the first justice of the peace in the county to begin using the new filing method, which allows attorneys to go online to file cases seeking up to $10,000.

Johnson said there are a lot of benefits to using the new system. When documents are due, lawyers can file them until midnight. Previously, they had to wait in lines at the courthouse, and they had to go during business hours. Johnson said lawyers can also avoid sending couriers or mailing heavy boxes that could be expensive.

Once a file is entered, court clerks can access it online. The system went online this month.

Forclosure Economy Still Keeping Process Servers Busy

The crumbling housing market is bad news for homeowners who overextended themselves during the boom, but it's good news for some lawyers and associated businesses.

Law firms representing lenders, condo associations and, to a lesser extent, homeowners, have been extremely busy with foreclosure cases over the last few months.

Attorneys aren't the only ones who have been busy with foreclosure cases. Process servers, the people who go out and hand-deliver notices of foreclosures and other lawsuits, also have been swamped.

In the last year and a half, the Gissen & Zawyer service firm, for instance, has roughly doubled in size. The company had about 15 process servers 18 months ago, but now it has about 30, said co-owner Sean Zawyer.

Process Server Alerts Police of Possible Meth Lab

Police and firefighters were trying to determine Friday evening if a home in a quiet suburban neighborhood was being used to make potentially explosive methamphetamine.

Firefighters were called to the house on Lasalle Avenue near Belsay and Lapeer Roads about 4:30 p.m. after a process server, who was evicting someone at the home, called 911 to report hazardous materials in the basement and in a white cube truck parked in the driveway.

Among the chemicals were anhydrous ammonia and ether, chemicals used in the production of methamphetamine.

"If something were to ignite, we'd have a big explosion," said Deputy Burton Fire Chief Ken Gould.

Rugby Player Denies Being Served

Sonny Bill Williams insists he hasn't been served with any legal documents relating to the court case against him - but after making a successful rugby union debut in France, he remains defiant about threats to seize his assets or even jail him.

Williams, who declared in Saturday's Herald that he was willing to go to jail if necessary over his desire to switch codes, said he felt the same way about the possibility of losing his $1.3 million house at Caringbah after the NSW Supreme Court ruled he could not play for anyone other than the Bulldogs until 2013.

"Like I said before the game, if they think that I should go to jail for doing what I believe in or if they want to take my house, take my car or take whatever for standing up for what I believe in, then so be it," he told the Herald . "I stand by whatever I've done and to me there are bigger things going on in the world today. They [the NRL] should be more worried about what's going on with the game itself than me."

Asked about claims he had been served with legal papers advising of the court injunction after his match for Toulon, Williams said he had not received any court documents.

Process Server Served

A civil trial gets underway today in Arapahoe County District Court in which a man says he was severely beaten by a Denver process server who was not charged in the assault.

Ken Bernstein is suing the Denver process-server company, Checkmate Inc., for hiring Anthony Davis, a convicted felon.

According to the lawsuit, on Sept. 30, 2005, Davis was serving Bernstein with a civil subpoena and after serving it, Davis, now 39, refused to leave.

System Designed to Save Kids Works to Perfection

When 18-month-old Kenyon Brock was pulled safely from a car in Jefferson City on Tuesday, it was just four hours after he had been taken from his crib.

The Amber Alert system had worked exactly as it was designed. Moments after a Jefferson City radio station aired the alert, a motorist spotted the suspect's car and the alleged abductors were in police custody 40 minutes later.

A Jefferson City man and a Kansas City area woman have been charged in the case.

Officials said locating an abducted child within the first three hours is crucial to the child's recovery - and Amber Alerts can help speed that recovery.

Amber Alerts are voluntary programs among law enforcement and transportation agencies, news media outlets and wireless providers to inform the public about an abducted child.

When a child abduction is reported to a local law enforcement agency, that agency contacts the Missouri Highway Patrol to determine whether the case fits the criteria for an Amber Alert.

Nasser Avoids Official at Mundine Fight

A legal fight over runaway rugby league star Sonny Bill Williams turned into a farce at a boxing event in Newcastle, The Daily Telegraph newspaper reports.

The private investigator who tried to serve controversial adviser Khoder Nasser his court papers required police protection at the Anthony Mundine fight at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre, the Sydney newspaper says.

The newspaper published a photo on Thursday of the investigator but covered his face at the man's request for his own safety.

The investigator who needed protection from two police officers at the fight, told The Daily Telegraph: "I was only trying to do my job, but at the end of the day it was just too dangerous.