Act No. 8

Public Acts of 2022

Approved by the Governor

February 9, 2022

Filed with the Secretary of State

February 9, 2022

EFFECTIVE DATE:  February 9, 2022

state of michigan

101st Legislature

Regular session of 2022

Introduced by Senator Bumstead

ENROLLED SENATE BILL No. 694

AN ACT to amend 1961 PA 236, entitled “An act to revise and consolidate the statutes relating to the organization and jurisdiction of the courts of this state; the powers and duties of the courts, and of the judges and other officers of the courts; the forms and attributes of civil claims and actions; the time within which civil actions and proceedings may be brought in the courts; pleading, evidence, practice, and procedure in civil and criminal actions and proceedings in the courts; to provide for the powers and duties of certain state governmental officers and entities; to provide remedies and penalties for the violation of certain provisions of this act; to repeal all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with or contravening any of the provisions of this act; and to repeal acts and parts of acts,” by amending sections 504, 511, 515, 521, 803, and 8154 (MCL 600.504, 600.511, 600.515, 600.521, 600.803, and 600.8154), section 504 as amended by 2014 PA 59, section 511 as amended by 2018 PA 6, section 521 as amended by 2001 PA 256, section 803 as amended by 2012 PA 36, and section 8154 as amended by 2012 PA 20.

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

Sec. 504. (1) The third judicial circuit consists of the county of Wayne and has the following number of judges:

(a) Until 12 noon, January 1, 2015, 60 judges.

(b) Beginning 12 noon, January 1, 2015, 56 judges. The 4 judgeships eliminated from this circuit at 12 noon, January 1, 2015 shall be the judgeships of 4 of the judges who are not eligible to run for reelection in 2014 due to constitutional limitation on March 27, 2014.

(2) Subject to section 550, this judicial circuit may have 1 additional judge effective January 1, 2023.

Sec. 511. The tenth judicial circuit consists of the county of Saginaw and has 5 judges.

Sec. 515. (1) The fourteenth judicial circuit consists of the county of Muskegon and has 4 judges.

(2) Subject to section 550, this judicial circuit may have 1 additional judge effective January 1, 2023. If this judgeship is added to the fourteenth judicial circuit, the initial term of office of the judgeship is 8 years.

Sec. 521. (1) The twentieth judicial circuit consists of the county of Ottawa and has 4 judges.

(2) Subject to section 550, this judicial circuit may have 1 additional judge effective January 1, 2023. If this judgeship is added to the twentieth judicial circuit, the initial term of office of the judgeship is 8 years.

Sec. 803. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, each county that is not part of a probate court district created by law has 1 judge of probate.

(2) Each probate court district created by law has 1 judge of probate.

(3) The county of Sanilac has 1 judge of probate. Under section 15 of article VI of the state constitution of 1963, the office of probate judge for the county of Sanilac is combined with the office of judge of the seventy‑third‑a judicial district.

(4) The county of Huron has the following number of judges of probate:

(a) Beginning April 1, 2012, under section 15 of article VI of the state constitution of 1963, the office of probate judge for the county of Huron is combined with the office of judge of the seventy-third-b judicial district, and the county of Huron shall have 2 judges of probate. The judgeship added under this subdivision must be filled by the incumbent judge of the seventy-third-b judicial district, who shall become a probate judge for the county of Huron for the balance of the term to which he or she was elected.

(b) Beginning the earlier of the following dates, the county of Huron has 1 judge of probate:

(i) The date on which a vacancy occurs in the office of probate judge in this county.

(ii) The beginning date of the term for which an incumbent probate judge in this county no longer seeks election or reelection to that office.

(5) The county of Chippewa has 1 judge of probate. Under section 15 of article VI of the state constitution of 1963, the office of probate judge for the county of Chippewa is combined with the office of judge of the ninety‑first judicial district.

(6) The counties of Berrien, Genesee, Ingham, Macomb, Monroe, Muskegon, Saginaw, St. Clair, and Washtenaw each has 2 judges of probate.

(7) The county of Kalamazoo has 3 judges of probate.

(8) The county of Kent has 4 judges of probate. Subject to section 805, the county of Kent may have 1 additional judge beginning January 1, 2023.

(9) The county of Oakland has 4 judges of probate.

(10) The county of Wayne has 8 judges of probate.

(11) When 1 or more new judges of probate are authorized in a county under this section, the new judgeship or judgeships must appear on the ballot separate and apart from other judicial offices of the same court in the primary and general election.

Sec. 8154. The eighty-ninth district consists of the counties of Cheboygan and Presque Isle, is a district of the first class, and has 1 judge.

This act is ordered to take immediate effect.

Secretary of the Senate

Clerk of the House of Representatives

Approved___________________________________________

____________________________________________________

Governor