County Judge Timothy R. Collins, Division C

INSTRUCTIONS

• Criminal Cases – All criminal cases will be held in person. All attorneys and defendants must appear in person at the Clay County Courthouse.
• Juvenile Cases – All juvenile cases will be held in person. All attorneys and defendants must appear in person at the Clay County Courthouse.
• Civil Traffic Tickets – All civil traffic tickets (except those involving serious bodily injury or death) will be held by Zoom unless the defendant requests in writing an “in person” hearing fourteen (14) days prior to the scheduled trial date.
• Civil Cases – All civil cases will be set for hearing in person. This Court allows appearance by Zoom on any hearings scheduled for thirty (30) minutes or less and where evidence is not presented. Any other requests to appear by Zoom must be made by motion accompanied by a proposed order.

• Claim of Exemptions – Claim of exemption hearing may be held by Zoom.
• Landlord/Tenant – All landlord/tenant cases will be in person. Attorneys ONLY may contact the JA to
  request permission to attend by Zoom.
• Family Cases – All contested evidentiary hearings shall be in person. Uncontested Final Hearings may be
  scheduled by Zoom.
• Ex Parte – All ex parte hearings will be held via Zoom

CALENDARS AND ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS

• Family Law Cases – Judge Collins
• Small Claims – Judge Collins
• Civil Traffic Tickets – Judge Collins
• Remote Court Appearances & Hearings (General information about using Zoom)

SUBMITTING PROPOSED ORDERS AND FINAL JUDGMENTS

All proposed orders and Final Judgments are to be submitted by email to Judicial Assistant Michele (Shelly) Hatalski at shellyh@clayclerk.com in Word format.

EX PARTE
Because of COVID-19 restrictions, Ex Parte matters must be scheduled by Judge Collins’ Judicial Assistant (JA), Michele (Shelly) Hatalski. Please contact her by email at shellyh@clayclerk.com. Ex Parte matters include brief uncontested matters.

SCHEDULING
All scheduling is conducted by email.  Motions must be docketed prior to requesting hearing date. Hearings over one hour require a motion to set. Potential dates will be provided for you to coordinate with opposing counsel.  Please coordinate among yourselves and provide your final agreed upon date to the JA.  Prospective dates are not held or guaranteed until a confirmation email is received.  Once a date is agreed upon, the JA will coordinate your hearing and provide the Zoom link (for video hearing) or phone number (for telephonic hearing) at which time counsel may prepare a notice of hearing.  Courtesy copies of Notices of Hearings should not be sent to the Court.  They should be filed in advance so the Court may access them on the docket.

EXHIBITS
ALL documents intended to be used at trial must be filed with the Clerk ten (10) days prior to trial and listed as “Plaintiff’s (or Defendant’s) Trial Exhibits.”  Accordingly, a paper copy of the documents must be mailed to the Court and the opposing party and post-marked ten (10) days prior to trial.  Failure to comply will result in the documents being ruled inadmissible. Each exhibit must be marked Plaintiff’s A, B, C, etc. or Defendant’s A, B, C, etc.  If introduced into evidence, the exhibit will be numbered by the Court.

EVICTION
The Clerk of Courts sends matters directly to Judge Collins’ Judicial Assistant when they are ready for court action. The Judge will sign eviction orders, judgments, and set hearings when appropriate. Special COVID-19 rules apply to evictions until further Order of the Florida Supreme Court. Any Count II actions for money judgments will be referred directly to our Mediation Department only when proper Service of Process has been filed with the Clerk.

SMALL CLAIMS

What to file when Defendant is served, but fails to appear for Court Ordered Mediation:

File the Disposition of Mediation Notice, Motion for Default Final Judgment and all supporting
documents;

Prepare a proposed Default Final Judgment as follows:
This cause came before the Court after the Defendant was properly served with process and having thereafter failed to appear at the Court Ordered Mediation, it is
ORDERED AND ADJUDGED