Michigan Court of Appeals

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Michigan Court of Appeals
Court information
Judges:	28
Judicial selection
Method:	Non-partisan election of judges
Term:	6 years
Active judges
Karen Fort Hood  •  Kirsten Frank Kelly  •  Christopher Murray  •  Michael Talbot  •  Kurtis Wilder  •  Mark Cavanagh  •  Pat Donofrio  •  E. Thomas Fitzgerald  •  Elizabeth Gleicher  •  Kathleen Jansen  •  Henry Saad  •  Jane Beckering  •  Joel Hoekstra  •  Jane Markey  •  William B. Murphy  •  David Sawyer  •  Deborah Servitto  •  Stephen Borrello  •  Patrick Meter  •  Peter O'Connell  •  Donald Owens  •  William Whitbeck  •  Amy Krause  •  Cynthia Stephens  •  Michael Kelly  •  Douglas Shapiro  •  Michael Riordan  •  Mark Boonstra  •

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The Michigan Court of Appeals is the intermediate appellate court in Michigan. It is divided into four districts with 28 judges altogether. The court was created by the Michigan Constitution of 1963, Article VI, Section 1, under which the State of Michigan has "one court of justice."

Overview

The judicial power of the state is vested exclusively in one court of justice which shall be divided into one supreme court, one court of appeals, one trial court of general jurisdiction known as the circuit court, one probate court, and courts of limited jurisdiction that the legislature may establish by a two-thirds vote of the members elected to and serving in each house.

When it first began operation in 1965, the bench of the Court of Appeals had nine judges: Chief Judge T. John Lesinski, Chief Judge pro tempore John W. Fitzgerald, and Judges Robert B. Burns, John H. Gillis, Donald E. Holbrook, Thomas Giles Kavanagh, Louis D. McGregor, Timothy C. Quinn, and John D. Watts. Ronald L. Dzierbicki was Clerk of the Court. Offices were originally located only in Lansing, Detroit and Grand Rapids. The Southfield office was opened in 1994, and was moved to Troy in 2004.

Judges

Judges of the Court of Appeals serve six-year terms.

Current Judges

Judge	Term	Division	Appointed by	Party
Judge Karen Fort Hood	2002-present	District 1
Judge Kirsten Frank Kelly	2000-2019	District 1		Republican
Chief Judge Pro Tem Christopher Murray	2002-present	District 1		Republican
Judge Michael Talbot	1998-2015	District 1
Judge Kurtis Wilder	1998-2017	District 1	Gov. John Engler
Judge Mark Cavanagh	1988-present	District 2		Democratic
Judge Pat Donofrio	2002-present	District 2		Republican
Judge E. Thomas Fitzgerald	1990-present	District 2
Judge Elizabeth Gleicher	2007-2019	District 2		Democratic
Judge Kathleen Jansen	1989-2019	District 2
Judge Henry Saad	1994-2015	District 2
Judge Jane Beckering	2007-2019	District 3	Gov. Jennifer Granholm	Democratic
Judge Joel Hoekstra	1994-present	District 3		Republican
Judge Jane Markey	1994-2015	District 3		Republican
Chief Judge William B. Murphy	1988-2019	District 3
Judge David Sawyer	1986-2017	District 3		Republican
Judge Deborah Servitto	2006-2019	District 2	Gov. Jennifer Granholm
Judge Stephen Borrello	2003-2019	District 4
Judge Patrick Meter	1999-present	District 4
Judge Peter O'Connell	1994-2019	District 4
Judge Donald Owens	1999-present	District 4
Judge William Whitbeck	1997-2017	District 4
Judge Amy Krause	2011-2015	District 4	Gov. Jennifer Granholm
Judge Cynthia Stephens	2008-2017	District 4
Judge Michael Kelly	2008-present	District 4
Judge Douglas Shapiro	2009-2019	District 3	Gov. Jennifer Granholm
Judge Michael Riordan	2012- 2019	District 1	Gov. Rick Snyder
Judge Mark Boonstra	2012-2015	District 3	Gov. Rick Snyder	Republican

Court Size Increases

In 1969, the Legislature increased the size of the bench to 12 judges, and further increases occurred in 1974 (18 judges), in 1988 (24 judges), and in 1993 (28 judges). During this same period, annual filings ranged from a low of 1,235 in 1965 to a high of 13,352 in 1992. By the latter half of the 1990s, the Court's filings averaged more than 8,000 cases annually.

Proposed budget cuts

In 2011, Gov. Rick Snyder recommended that the Court of Appeals reduce its number of judges due to budgetary concerns. 28 Court of Appeals judgeships were rumored to be cut. Chief Judge William B. Murphy called on the court to be part of the "shared sacrifice", explaining "The Court wants to be part of the solution, not part of the problem."

Districts

The Court of Appeals is divided into four districts with the following offices:

• Michigan First District Court of Appeals - Detroit
• Michigan Second District Court of Appeals - Troy
• Michigan Third District Court of Appeals - Grand Rapids
• Michigan Fourth District Court of Appeals - Lansing

Organization

Since its inception, the Michigan Court of Appeals has distinguished itself as an innovative institution. Its central staff of research attorneys was the first of its kind in the United States. Its mainframe docket computer system was a national prototype when it was implemented in 1978. That legacy system was retired in July 1999, in favor of a client/server browser system that will allow the Court to take full advantage of electronic filing and other technological advances during the next decade.

Organizationally, the Court has continued to evolve as well. Originally, all filings were processed through the Lansing office of the Court, and new files were only distributed among the outlying district offices of the Clerk after jurisdiction was confirmed in mandatory cases and leave was granted in discretionary matters. In 1998, this process was decentralized, and the district offices of the Clerk are now capable of fully processing all cases. Case management has been substantially streamlined and each case is now moved towards final disposition as quickly as possible under the timelines set by the court rules.

The Court's Internal Operating Procedures were first published during this same period. (See 231 Mich App.) The IOPs have proven to be of great value to the bar and their use by attorneys and individuals appearing before the Court in pro per has also improved the Court's ability to resolve each case smoothly and quickly.

The Court of Appeals' mandate drives its continued evolution as a critical element of the justice system in Michigan: "To secure the just, speedy, and economical determination of every action and to avoid the consequences of error that does not affect the substantial rights of the parties." (Michigan Court Rule 1.105.)

See also

• Michigan
• Michigan Supreme Court
• First District - Detroit
• Second District - Troy
• Third District - Grand Rapids
• Fourth District - Lansing

External links

• Michigan Court of Appeals
• Dolan Media
• Michigan Court of Appeals Annual Report 2005
• The Detroit News, "Editorial: Governor wisely refrains from filling vacancies on appellate bench," April 4, 2011

References

This State Intermediate Appellate Court article needs to be updated

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2012 election

First District

To organize the columns, click on the arrows in the column heading.

Candidate	Incumbency	Primary Vote	Election Vote
KellyKirsten Frank Kelly   A	Yes		100%   A
RiordanMichael Riordan   A	Yes		100%   A

Second District

To organize the columns, click on the arrows in the column heading.

Candidate	Incumbency	Primary Vote	Election Vote
ServittoDeborah Servitto   A	Yes		100%   A
GleicherElizabeth Gleicher   A	Yes		100%   A
JansenKathleen Jansen   A	Yes		100%   A

Third District

To organize the columns, click on the arrows in the column heading.

Candidate	Incumbency	Primary Vote	Election Vote
ShapiroDouglas Shapiro   A	Yes		100%   A
BeckeringJane Beckering   A	Yes		100%   A
BoonstraMark Boonstra   A	Yes		100%   A
MurphyWilliam B. Murphy   A	Yes		100%   A

Fourth District

To organize the columns, click on the arrows in the column heading.

Candidate	Incumbency	Primary Vote	Election Vote
KrauseAmy Krause   A	Yes		100%   A
O'ConnellPeter O'Connell   A	Yes		100%   A
BorrelloStephen Borrello   A	Yes		100%   A