BELLAIRE — The future of judicial services in Antrim County took a dramatic turn when county commissioners voted to sever Antrim’s historic connection to the 86th District Court system.
Following more than an hour of heated debate on Thursday, the Antrim County board voted 4-1 to create a unified trial court that would combine the functions of probate and district courts into one independent entity.
The change is subject to approval by the state legislature in 2024. If approved, Antrim County will no longer share resources with the district court system with Grand Traverse and Leelanau counties.
What didn’t happen during the meeting is also notable. In a sudden change, the board rejected an earlier motion to sever ties with the 13th Circuit Court, which will continue to operate on a three-county system. To use an analogy, Antrim settled on a “partial divorce,” not a full divorce.
“I wish we had more time,” said Commissioner Jason Helwig, who was the sole vote against a new unified trial court. “I just don’t think the information we have is complete.”
His opinion was echoed by retired judge Michael Haley who spoke out against “rushing to a conclusion.”
The year-end rush was driven in part by a contractual requirement between the three counties. Antrim is required to give 365 days notice to the other two counties if it wishes to sever court ties — in part or in full.
Norman Hayes, the sitting probate judge in Antrim County, will retire by the end of 2024 because of age limits in the state constitution. That means judicial candidates in Antrim will have to run for office in 2024 not knowing if the unified trial court will happen.
Sparks flew during public comment period as five judges — four sitting and one retired — exchanged heated words over the various proposals.
“If Judge [Kevin] Elsenheimer had just picked up the phone two weeks ago, we could have settled this whole matter amicably,” said Hayes. “I’m appalled by some of the statements made in this meeting and I’m aghast by the letter we received [from two circuit court judges] yesterday. I wish it had all been done differently.”
The conversation about leaving the three-county system began more than a year ago, said Antrim County Administrator Jeremy Scott.
“We’ve had complaints from our local citizens and some public officials that the [three-county] court system is too Traverse City-centric,” he said. “The level of customer service and communications we get from Traverse City is a point of contention.
“I’m not a court expert by any means,” he added, “but I do think there’s a potential to improve customer service and reduce costs by going with a unified trial court in Bellaire.”
One estimate published in the meeting agenda suggested that Antrim County could save up to $200,000 per year by consolidating all court services (district, probate and circuit) in Bellaire.
In a three-page letter sent to the Antrim board a day before the meeting, circuit court judges Elenheimer and Charlie Hamlyn vigorously disagreed with that assessment.
“Any suggestion that there has been a diminishment of service or efficiency by the [circuit] court is in error … We disagree strongly with the premises identified in the [original] resolution.”
For his part, Chief District Court Judge Robert Cooney complained that the concerns raised in Antrim County weren’t shared with him until mid-November.
“We should bring all the parties together and discuss these issues before the board makes any changes,” he said. “I’m surprised it came this far so fast.”
Antrim County Prosecutor James Rossiter said that local residents who enter sobriety court are often forced to travel to Traverse City to appear before a judge — which is particularly difficult if their drivers’ licenses have been revoked.
“During COVID, the district and circuit court judges in Traverse City didn’t even come out to Bellaire, yet our court money went to them,” he said. “Even after COVID, they scheduled district court day in Bellaire on the same day as our local probate hearings. That made it almost impossible to juggle attorneys and cases — too many moving parts.”
Some of the complaints lodged against the current tri-county system included a lack of regular communication between Traverse City court administrators and the staff in Bellaire; inadequate court appearances in Bellaire by Traverse City-based judges, an assertion denied several of the sitting judges in attendance at the meeting; concern that the State Court Administrative Office has too much authority to determine what judicial resources each county gets or deserves; and a general feeling that Antrim is a secondary, inferior “adjunct.”
In response, the Traverse City-based judges said that the existing three-county system gives Antrim access to a much broader set of specialized resources, such as GPS monitoring systems for those on house arrest, as well as seasoned experts in judicial administration. They strongly denied that Antrim is anything other than a full partner.
Currently, Antrim County pays about 15 percent of the cost of the tri-county system. It generates 15-17 percent of the circuit court caseload and represents 17 percent of the population in the tri-county area.
In the end, the Antrim board voted against the original resolution to completely divorce its courts from the tri-county system. Instead, it settled on a partial divorce — keeping the circuit court system in place but moving all district court duties to Bellaire with one judge for both district court and probate court responsibilities.
That request will now go before a judiciary committee at the state capitol in Lansing sometime in 2024. If both houses of the legislature approve the request, it will take effect on Jan. 1, 2025.
After the meeting, several judges expressed regret that harsh words were exchanged between them.
“My heart just aches that we’ve had this disagreement,” said Elsenheimer.