HOUSE BILL No. 5123

 

October 31, 2013, Introduced by Reps. Cotter and Walsh and referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

 

     A bill to amend 1961 PA 236, entitled

 

"Revised judicature act of 1961,"

 

by amending sections 518, 8115, and 8121 (MCL 600.518, 600.8115,

 

and 600.8121), section 518 as amended by 2006 PA 99 and section

 

8121 as amended by 2012 PA 37.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 518. The seventeenth judicial circuit consists of the

 

county of Kent and has 9 10 judges. Subject to section 550, this

 

judicial circuit may have 1 additional judge effective beginning

 

January 1, 2007.2015.

 

     Sec. 8115. (1) The Except as provided in subsection (2), the

 

fifth district consists of the county of Berrien, is a district of

 

the first class, and has 5 judges.

 


     (2) Beginning on the earlier of the following dates, the fifth

 

district has 4 judges:

 

     (a) The date on which a vacancy occurs in the office of

 

district judge in the fifth district, unless the vacancy occurs

 

after a judge's successor in office has been elected but before

 

that successor takes office.

 

     (b) The beginning date of the term for which an incumbent

 

district judge in the fifth district no longer seeks election or

 

reelection to that office.

 

     Sec. 8121. (1) The sixteenth district consists of the city of

 

Livonia, is a district of the third class, and has 2 judges.

 

     (2) The seventeenth district consists of the township of

 

Redford in the county of Wayne, is a district of the third class,

 

and has 2 judges.

 

     (3) The eighteenth district consists of the city of Westland,

 

is a district of the third class, and has 2 judges.

 

     (4) The nineteenth district consists of the city of Dearborn,

 

is a district of the third class, and has 3 judges.

 

     (5) The twentieth district consists of the city of Dearborn

 

Heights, is a district of the third class, and has 2 judges.

 

     (6) The twenty-first district consists of the city of Garden

 

City, is a district of the third class, and has 1 judge.

 

     (7) The twenty-second district consists of the city of

 

Inkster, is a district of the third class, and has 1 judge.

 

     (8) The twenty-third district consists of the city of Taylor,

 

is a district of the third class, and has 2 judges.

 

     (9) The twenty-fourth district consists of the cities of Allen

 


Park and Melvindale, is a district of the third class, and has 2

 

judges.

 

     (10) The twenty-fifth district consists of the city of Lincoln

 

Park, is a district of the third class, and has 2 judges. Beginning

 

April 1, 2012, the twenty-fifth district consists of the cities of

 

Ecorse, Lincoln Park, and River Rouge, is a district of the third

 

class, and has 3 judges. The additional judgeship in the twenty-

 

fifth district shall be filled by the incumbent judge of the

 

twenty-sixth district, who shall become a judge of the twenty-fifth

 

district for the balance of the term to which he or she was elected

 

or appointed. Sections 8175 and 8176 do not apply to the

 

consolidation of the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth districts.

 

Beginning April 2, 2012, the twenty-fifth district has 2 judges.

 

     (11) The twenty-sixth district consists of the cities of River

 

Rouge and Ecorse, is a district of the third class, and has 1

 

judge. Beginning on April 1, 2012, the twenty-sixth district is

 

abolished and the judge of the twenty-sixth district shall become a

 

judge of the twenty-fifth district for the balance of the term to

 

which he or she was elected or appointed.

 

     (11) (12) The twenty-seventh district consists of the cities

 

of Wyandotte and Riverview, is a district of the third class, and

 

has 1 judge.

 

     (12) (13) The Except as otherwise provided in this subsection,

 

the twenty-eighth district consists of the city of Southgate, is a

 

district of the third class, and has 1 judge. If the governing

 

bodies of the cities of Southgate, Trenton, Gibraltar, Woodhaven,

 

Rockwood, and Flat Rock and the townships of Brownstown and Grosse

 


Ile in the county of Wayne approve by resolutions the consolidation

 

of the twenty-eighth and thirty-third districts prior to January 1,

 

2016, all of the following apply beginning January 1, 2016:

 

     (a) The thirty-third district is abolished and the twenty-

 

eighth district consists of the cities of Southgate, Trenton,

 

Gibraltar, Woodhaven, Rockwood, and Flat Rock and the townships of

 

Brownstown and Grosse Ile, is a district of the third class, and

 

has 4 judges. The additional judgeships in the twenty-eighth

 

district shall be filled by the incumbent judges of the thirty-

 

third district, who shall become judges of the twenty-eighth

 

district for the balance of the term to which they were elected or

 

appointed. Beginning on the earlier of the following dates, the

 

twenty-eighth district shall have 3 judges:

 

     (i) The date on which a vacancy occurs in the office of

 

district judge in the twenty-eighth district, unless the vacancy

 

occurs after a judge's successor in office has been elected but

 

before that successor takes office.

 

     (ii) The beginning date of the term for which an incumbent

 

district judge in the twenty-eighth district no longer seeks

 

election or reelection to that office.

 

     (b) The clerks of the cities of Southgate, Trenton, Gibraltar,

 

Woodhaven, Rockwood, and Flat Rock, the clerk of the township of

 

Redford, and the clerks of the townships of Brownstown and Grosse

 

Ile shall file copies of the resolutions with the state court

 

administrator, who, as authorized by the supreme court, shall

 

notify the elections division of the department of state that the

 

consolidation has been approved under this section.

 


     (c) By proposing or authorizing the consolidation of the

 

twenty-eighth and thirty-third districts, the legislature is not

 

creating a new obligation for any affected district control unit.

 

If a district control unit, acting through its governing body,

 

approves the consolidation, then the approval constitutes an

 

exercise of the district control unit's option to increase the

 

level of activity and service offered in that district control unit

 

beyond that required by existing law, as the elements of that

 

option are provided by 1979 PA 101, MCL 21.231 to 21.244, and a

 

voluntary acceptance by that district control unit of all expenses

 

and capital improvements that may result from the consolidation of

 

the districts. However, the exercise of the option does not affect

 

the state's obligation to pay the same portion of each judge's

 

salary that is paid by the state to other district judges as

 

provided by law, or to appropriate and disburse funds to the

 

district control unit for the necessary costs of state requirements

 

established by a state law that becomes effective on or after

 

December 23, 1978.

 

     (13) (14) The twenty-ninth district consists of the city of

 

Wayne, is a district of the third class, and has 1 judge.

 

     (14) (15) The thirtieth district consists of the city of

 

Highland Park, is a district of the third class, and has 1 judge.

 

     (15) (16) The thirty-first district consists of the city of

 

Hamtramck, is a district of the third class, and has 1 judge.

 

     (16) (17) The thirty-second-a district consists of the city of

 

Harper Woods, is a district of the third class, and has 1 judge.

 

     (17) (18) The thirty-second-b district consists of the cities

 


of Grosse Pointe Woods, Grosse Pointe Park, Grosse Pointe, and

 

Grosse Pointe Farms, and the village of Grosse Pointe Shores, is a

 

district of the third class, and has 1 judge.

 

     (18) (19) The Except as provided in subsection (12), the

 

thirty-third district consists of the cities of Trenton, Gibraltar,

 

Woodhaven, Rockwood, and Flat Rock and the townships of Brownstown

 

and Grosse Ile in the county of Wayne, is a district of the third

 

class, and has the following number of judges:

 

     (a) Until the date determined under subdivision (b), 3 judges.

 

     (b) Beginning on the earlier of the following dates, 2 judges:

 

     (i) The date on which a vacancy occurs in the office of

 

district judge in this district, unless the vacancy occurs after a

 

judge's successor in office has been elected but before that

 

successor takes office.

 

     (ii) The beginning date of the term for which an incumbent

 

district judge in this district no longer seeks election or

 

reelection to that office.

 

     (19) (20) The thirty-fourth district consists of the townships

 

of Sumpter, Van Buren, and Huron in the county of Wayne and the

 

cities of Romulus and Belleville, is a district of the third class,

 

and has 3 judges.

 

     (20) (21) The thirty-fifth district consists of the cities of

 

Northville and Plymouth and the townships of Northville, Plymouth,

 

and Canton in the county of Wayne, is a district of the third

 

class, and has 3 judges.

 

     Enacting section 1. Section 8121 of the revised judicature act

 

of 1961, 1961 PA 236, MCL 600.8121, as amended by this amendatory

 


act, takes effect on January 2, 2015.