Rod Kloeckner Order of Protection cases in Clinton County have been on the rise in recent years. In 2018, those cases hit their apex.
Clinton County Circuit Clerk Rod Kloeckner reports 140 Order of Protection cases were filed in 2018, an all-time high for Clinton County. It’s the third consecutive year a record has been set, surpassing 2016 (128 cases) and 2017 (133 cases).
“What it represents is a trend across our circuit and really, the entire state,” Kloeckner said. “It seems most counties are seeing a spike in OPs.”
Clinton County is part of the 4th Judicial Circuit, which consists of Christian, Clay, Effingham, Fayette, Jasper, Marion, Montgomery and Shelby counties. Christian County, which is nearly identical in population to Clinton County, had 376 OPs filed while Montgomery had 268 and Marion 184.
Kloeckner thinks one of the reasons for the rise in OPs is the proliferation of social media.
“We’ve had a number of people come in wanting an OP because they are being called names or feel they are being harassed on Facebook, Twitter, by text messaging or whatever,” he said. “Orders of protection are meant to address true emergencies and true cases of abuse or harassment, not bad behavior on social media or just in general.”
Of the 140 OPs filed last year, 29 were denied Emergency Orders of Protection by the judiciary. Of the 111 that were granted on an emergency basis for 14 to 21 days, only 41 received a Plenary Order of Protection, which lasts up to two years. A Plenary Order is issued by a judge after a hearing with both the petitioner (the person seeking safety) and the respondent (the person accused of abuse).
The petitioner must be present in court to get the order. Although the person accused of the abuse must be notified about the hearing, they may choose not to show up.
“We get that quite a bit – where either the petitioner or the respondent – fails to appear at the plenary hearing,” Kloeckner said. “If the petitioner doesn’t show up, the case is dismissed. If the respondent doesn’t show up, a default judgment can be entered. OPs are serious business and should be taken as such.”
Carl Brechner Former village of Keyesport mayor Carl Brechner filed a statement of candidacy and an independent candidate petition on Nov. 14, 2018, with the intention of running for mayor of Keyesport in the election on April 2 of this year. This week, Brechner withdrew his application after a concerned citizen filed a formal complaint.
Brechner, who served 14 months as Keyesport mayor, resigned in summer 2018 after a Miscellaneous Remedy case was filed against him by Clinton County State’s Attorney John Hudspeth and Bond County State’s Attorney Christopher Bauer.
The case accused Brechner of unlawfully holding the office of mayor as he was convicted of Class 2 felony burglary in St. Clair County in 1991 and Class 3 posession of methamphetamine in 2006. Paul Bailey of the Keyesport Municipal Office Electoral Board took up the position after Brechner’s resignation.
Shortly after Brechner filed to run in the election, Keyesport resident Paul Anthony Cox stepped up to demand the board formally renounce Brechner’s ability to hold public office. Cox filed formal complaints with the Clinton County court for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief on Jan. 11. The document was filed against Brechner and Bailey, as well as village clerk Terri Rule and board member Walter Geaschel.
The complaint reminds those involved that “pursuant to 65 ILCS 5/3.1-10-5, ‘a person is not eligible to take the oath of office for a municipal office if that person ... has been convicted in any court located in the U.S. of any infamous crime, bribery, perjury, or other felony.’”
The complaint continues to state that Cox filed an objection petition regarding Brechner’s candidacy on Dec. 21. According to Illinois law, Bailey was supposed to, within 24 hours of receiving the objection, “send a call by registered or certified mail to each member of the electoral board, to Cox, and to Brechner, which call shall set out the fact that the electoral board is rewired to meet to hear and pass upon the objections, and shall state the day, hour and place at which the electoral board shall meet for such purposes.” According to the complaint, no notice was given and the meeting did not occur.
Cox’s complaint accuses the board of having “refused to perform their statutory obligation of hearing the objection petition” and requests that the Clinton County court declare officially that Brechner is ineligible for the position and remove his name as a candidate for mayor.
The Keyesport board received and approved Brechner’s withdrawal of candidacy on Monday, Jan. 14. The board believes Cox’s complaint will be dropped following the resignation.
From long range — Central senior forward Max Kampwerth eyes up a long 3-pointer in the first quarter of the Cougars’ 28-point victory over Brentwood in the Nashville Invitational on Monday. Kampwerth had 12 points and seven boards. (Photo by Jeremy Chawgo) The Central boys basketball team is putting things together as they won both of their games last week in blowout fashion over Civic Memorial and Brentwood.
The Cougars won a nonconference tilt at home with Civic Memorial last Tuesday while the won their opening round game of pool play over Brentwood on Monday at the Nashville Invitational.
Central continues play in Nashville this week with their 11-6 record.
Central 68, Brentwood, Mo. 40: The Cougars used a fast start to stun the Eagles on Monday at the Assembly Hall in Nashville.
Jackson Haag got the Cougars rolling with a 3-pointer in the first 15 seconds that spearheaded a 19-3 run to open the contest.
Logan Hamilton and Emit Jansen also had 3-pointers in the run while senior Simon Thomas added four buckets as the rout was on.
Meanwhile, the Cougars’ defense slowed down Brentwood junior Chris Hill. The guard was averaging 28.6 points per game entering the contest.
Hill had the Eagles’ only bucket in the opening frame, a long 3-pointer from the left baseline.
Central fell cold in the second quarter with just 3-of-12 shooting and four turnovers as the Eagles crept closer.
Jansen hit another 3-pointer for the Cougars while Max Kampwerth added three free throws to offset a 7-point quarter from Hill.
Jordan Mitchell hit for five points in the second quarter for the Eagles as they crept within 29-15 at the half.
“We got a little sloppy there in the second quarter,” said Central head coach Jeremy Shubert. “We had four turnovers there and we didn’t have one in the first quarter. But we stepped up and made shots. We got great minutes out of our bench tonight.”
Central got points from four players in the third quarter as their lead grew to 48-23 after three quarters.
“We talked about getting off to a good start and I think we did that tonight,” added Shubert. “We started with a zone to keep Hill covered and he still hit some shots. But I thought we guarded him well as a whole.”
Simon Thomas added five more points in the frame while Bradon Thomas came off the bench with six points. Hill had five more points for BHS.
The Cougars sealed the win with a 20-point fourth quarter behind 10 points from Jansen and a 3-pointer from Kampwerth.
Central got a career-high 16 points from Jansen on 4-of-5 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the line.
| Fri., Jan. 11 |
447.40 |
| Sun., Jan. 13 |
446.91 |
| Tues., Jan. 15 | 446.38 |
| Jan. 9 | .01" |
| Jan. 10 | .00" |
| Jan. 11 | .00" |
| Jan. 12 | .63"r, 5.9"s |
| Jan. 13 | .72"r, .9"s |
| Jan. 14 | .04"r, .2"s |
| Jan. 15 | .00 |
