Isabella County Courts Beat Presentation

By Sean Bradley

JRN 516 Public Affairs Reporting– Ed Simpson

1/29/13

Beat Overview

Covering the Isabella County 21st Circuit Court and 76th District Court

Located at 300 N. Main Street, Mount Pleasant, Michigan (left)

21st Circuit Court Judges: Chief Judge Paul Chamberlain and Trial Judges William T. Ervin, William R. Rush and Mark Duthie

– 76th District Court Judges: Paul Chamberlain and William R. Rush

Handle Civil cases seeking damages greater than $25,000, felony criminal cases, Personal Protection Orders (PPOs) and family matters (divorce, custody, child support cases, etc).

Also handle District Court appeals.

Mission and Vision

Mission: To offer timely, fair and just resolutions to disputes while enforcing statutes and taking remedial and corrective actions and using preventative programs, ultimately protecting the public from further harm and interference.

Vision: The court's vision is to promote inter-justice system cooperation with other agencies and courts, implementing ethical standards and punctual court performance while constantly responding and reshaping itself in response to the community's needs

– From the Isabella County Court's website, www.isabellacounty.org/trial

The Money

• The Court's Budget for Fiscal Year 2013 is $6.7 million and has remained consistent for the past 5 years

• The Court's funding comes partially from county taxes, according to the Isabella County Comprehensive Annual Financial Report's Budget Comparison Schedule

– ““The General Fund is used to account for all financial transactions not properly accounted for in another fund. The transactions relating to the general governmental activities of the County, which are financed by property tax levies, by distribution of State and Federal revenues, and by revenue from various activities and services, are recorded in this fund.”

The Money, continued

Money also comes from court fees

– filing fees, ticket payments from court patrons

– Traffic tickets are among top revenue streams

– Oversight fees from those on probation Money allocated via the Court Administrator

– Contracts, grants

– Tribal Grants, Federal Grants, Specialty Grants for certain courts such as Drug Courts

– Different programs and infrastructure improvements

The Process• How a complaint becomes a criminal case

– Law enforcement investigates a complaint and, with enough evidence, a warrant request is sent to the Prosecutor's office and if the Prosecutor feels charges should be levied against the offending party, a criminal complaint and arrest warrant are established, moving the case into the judicial cycle.

– From the Court's website

• How a case is assigned

– Assignment Clerk's Office

• Decision-making

Case Flow Chart

• If case goes to trial:

– All Cases Start in District Court

– Arraignment Preliminary Hearing Pre-trial Conference Trial

• If a Felony case: Arraignment Preliminary Hearing Enough evidence for a Felony? Case goes to Circuit Court Arraignment Pre-trial Hearing (can be waived) Trial

Authority and Power • Authority

– Judges (discussed earlier)

– Isabella County Prosecuting Attorney Risa Scully

– Chief Assistant Prosecutor Robert Holmes

– Principal Trial Attorney Mark Kowalczyk

– Senior Assistant Prosecutor Stuart Black

– Isabella County Court Administrator Lance Dexter

• Power

– Roberta, Administrative Assistant

– Donna, Victim Rights Coordinator

– Deb, P/T Victim Rights Advocate

– Penny, Civil Support Staff

– Lisa, Criminal Support Staff

– Heather, Criminal Support Staff

– Brenda, Criminal Support Staff

– Colleen, Receptionist

• Friends of the Court (Provides services to parties with minor children involving divorce, family support and paternity tests)

Local Police Departments

• CMU Police Department

– CMU Police Chief William Yeagley

– Captain Fred Harris – (989) 774-7394

– Lt. Cameron Wassman (Dispatch and Support Operations) - (989) 774-7696

– Lt. Larry Klaus (Investigations and Patrol Operations) - (989) 774-7397

• Isabella County Police Department

– Sheriff Leo Mioduszewski - (989) 772-5911

• Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Police Department

– Captain Dave Crockett

– 989-775-4700 (Dispatch)

– 989-775-4775 (Tip Line)

– 989-775-4839 (Fax)

– 989-775-4701 (Records)

The Affected

• The Mount Pleasant community

– Schools (CMU, MP High School and K-12)

– Mount Pleasant residents, businesses, etc

• Residents in surrounding communities

• Surrounding Law Enforcement

• People involved in cases with the courts

– Offenders

– Those who owe money to the courts (tickets, etc)

Others Watching

• Local Media

– Print

– Television

• Local Law Enforcement

• Other courts

Bibliography

• www.isabellacounty.org/trial

• Isabella County Comprehensive Annual Financial Report

• Interview with Isabella County Court Administrator Lance Dexter

Budget Comparison Schedule (April 2012)