Washtenaw County's 22nd Circuit Court needs 1 more judge, according to report
Washtenaw County's 22nd Circuit Court is one of 11 courts from around Michigan showing a "judicial need", according to a report released by the Michigan State Court Administrative Office Wednesday.
Ypsilanti Township also could use additional judicial help.
But one court that could stand one fewer judge is Ann Arbor's 15th District Court.
The report indicates Washtenaw County's 22nd Circuit Court needs 1 more judge to fit the needs of the area, but “due to the fiscal difficulties of the state and local funding units” the county has declined to add another judge.
The report lists the circuit court as needing .6 more judges and the 14A District Court needs .4 more judges, making up the 1 full judge need in Washtenaw County-controlled courts.
Showing a need for more judges is actually a unique designation, as the SCAO report indicated 55 Michigan counties have too many judges. The report indicated that there are 14 too many judges in Michigan and 31 are needed in other Michigan counties.
“Simply put, we have a lot of judges in the wrong places,” said Robert Young, Michigan Supreme Court chief justice, in an MLive report. “Too many in some areas of the state and too few in some others.”
Read the full MLive report by clicking here. To view a map of the counties in Michigan that were found to have too many judges, click here.
Washtenaw County's 22nd District Court was one of the few courts that were discovered to have a need for more judges. The circuit courts in Macomb County, Oakland County, Kent County, Genesee County, Livingston County, Ottawa County and Muskegon County were also shown to have a need for more judges. Macomb was shown to need an additional 6.8 judges, the most in the state.
The 36th District Court in Detroit, the 18th District Court in Westland and 37th District Court in Warren and Centerline were also shown to need an increase in judges.
The SCAO report comes 1 day after Chief Judge Julie Creal took a “likely permanent” leave of absence from Ann Arbor’s 15th District Court, due to medical issues. Creal is still technically holding the seat while she is on medical leave, but if she were to vacate her position Gov. Rick Snyder would be able to appoint a replacement.
There is speculation that Creal’s seat may not be filled. The SCAO report indicated that Ann Arbor’s 15th District Court had an excess of 1 judge position.
The state pays Creal’s salary and it is estimated that the total cost for her bailiff, senior secretary and court recorder, excluding fringes and benefits, is about $114,000.
Ypsilanti Township’s 14B District Court needs .5 more judges, according to the report.
The SCAO report indicated that the state could save $7,086,195 by eliminating all 45 judgeships deemed unnecessary.
To read the full report, click here.
Kyle Feldscher covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
David Cahill
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 1:19 p.m.
I can personally vouch for the recommendation for .4 more judges in 14A District Court. I had a trial scheduled yesterday in the 14A courtroom at Washtenaw and Hogback. It had already been postponed once because the court could not find time on the docket to handle it. Yesterday there were 114 cases on the docket! Judge Richard Conlin, who is both conscientious and efficient, told the lawyers "look at all these files". We had to postpone our trial again for a couple of months. Unfortunately, Washtenaw County has no money to fund any additional judges. So people involved in the court system will just have to reconcile themselves to delays.
Roadman
Wed, Aug 17, 2011 : 11:03 p.m.
The circuit court could use someone like Joan Lowenstein as new judge. She has made a name for herself as a media attorney for Jaffe Snyder and has the local political connections to get substantial support for a shot at a vacancy during the 2012 election.
Roadman
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 5:02 a.m.
No joke, Goofus. Joan has twice attempted to take a judicial seat. She applied to the Governor's office for an appointment to the probate judgeship held by Judge Kirkendall before he retired in 2004 and was eventually replaced by Darlene O'Brien. She ran for the 15th District Court judicial seat being vacated by the retiring Ann Matson in 2008 but finished in a distant fourth place in the August of 2008 primary. She has the ambition, political connections and ability to raise campaign funds to capture the 22nd Circuit Court seat in 2012.
Goofus
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 3:06 a.m.
This is a joke, right? Right?
Awakened
Wed, Aug 17, 2011 : 8:18 p.m.
Actual;y, the court does not pay the City. The City had been paying lease to the County. Now they won't. But the central point, that AA taxpayers will get a larger bill is still valid since the funding was based on a number of assumptions (like getting $3.5 million for a parking lot) that have not and likely will not materialize. Oh. And the citizens will not have enough cops to fill the police part either. But the art work will be stunning!
Alan Goldsmith
Wed, Aug 17, 2011 : 7:39 p.m.
"There is speculation that Creal's seat may not be filled. The SCAO report indicated that Ann Arbor's 15th District Court had an excess of 1 judge position." So the lease payments that the Court System currently makes to the City of Ann Arbor for the new space in the new Justice Center are to pay off the bonds for the project, right? So if there is a downsizing and a need for less space (and less rent) who gets stuck with the bond payments? The sucker Ann Arbor taxpayers. Thanks again for the Mayor looking ahead at court appearance trends over the last decade and completely ignoring them. We have plenty of money in the General Fund to cover yet another of his poor political decisions. Brilliant.