Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Kansas

Hello,

I have owned my home for 13 years. My municipality requires a Special Dog Permit for harboring a third dog. In compliance with the law, I recently applied for such a permit. The Community Services Officer did a home check, and her extensive report spoke very favorable of my dogs. Animal Control has never been to my home for dog related issues, and my two current dogs are registered with the city and have their city tags. One of the conditions for approval of the permit is that all my neighbors within 200 feet of my property had to approve the permit request. All my neighbors agreed, save for one neighbor down the street. I have never had any interaction or altercations with this man, but suffice it to say, he has the reputation of being "problematic". I have gone to great extents to avoid him for the 13 years I have owned my home. Consequently, the Chief of Police denied my permit based on this one objection; however, I did have the right to appeal. I appealed, and the neighbor had to appear in Municipal Court. My case was the final one on the docket. I was given an opportunity to answer questions from the judge. The judge informed me that the Community Services Officer's report was very extensive, and very positive. When my neighbor's turn came he became hostile and disruptive. He said he was mad that he had to appear in court, and that I now knew his identity. Four times the judge told him to stop being disruptive. He was told twice by the judge to step back from the bench as he was nearly in the judge's face. At one point he threw a handful of letters at the judge. The judge told him the letters were inadmissible, not pertinent to the case, and to stop throwing things at him. Twice he stepped from the right side of the bench and came towards me in a threatening manner. I retained my composure at all times and let him make a fool of himself, but I was scared he was going to assault me right there in the courtroom. To my utter shock, the Bailiff, an armed and uniformed police officer, was at the back of the courtroom leaning against the wall and cleaning his nails. The judge ruled in favor of the Chief of Police. He asked me in closing if I had anything else to say. I requested that the court allow me a grace period to place my third fostered dog into a no kill shelter. The judge gave me three weeks to do this. The dog is scheduled to be surrendered to the shelter in two weeks.

Here in lies my question. Why didn't the judge hold my neighbor in contempt of court, or at the very least, had him extracted from the courtroom for being so hostile and disruptive, and why did the Bailiff stand in the back of the room and not at least come closer to the bench seeing that my neighbor was behaving in a hostile and disruptive manner towards both the judge and I? I am totally new to the court system, and in my opinion, based on what I experienced, the judge was irresponsible and weak for allowing such misconduct in his court, as was the Bailiff cavalier or disengaged from his duties as well. Thank You, David Y.

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