Court announces changes

Chief Judge Shalina Kumar announces the following changes to the Oakland County Circuit Court effective January 1, 2019:

Judicial changes –

Judge Wendy Potts will retire effective at noon on January 1, 2019, after having served as a jurist for more than 21 years.

Chief Judge Pro Tempore Martha Anderson has been appointed by the Michigan Supreme Court to the Circuit Court’s Business Court docket.  She will retain her criminal docket and will assume Judge Potts’ Business Court docket.

Judge Jeffery Matis will be assigned to the Civil/Criminal Division and will assume Judge Anderson’s civil docket and Judge Potts’ criminal docket.

Judge-Elect Julie McDonald will assume a new Family Division docket that will be created at the end of the year.

Judge-Elect Jacob Cunningham will assume the Family Division docket that is currently assigned to Judge Matis.

Due to the creation of a new docket and the judicial reassignments as referenced above, some cases will be reassigned to a different judge. You may check Court Explorer at https://courtexplorer.oakgov.com on or after December 30 to determine if your case was reassigned.

Judicial Leadership changes –

Judge Mary Ellen Brennan will become the Presiding Judge of the Family Division effective January 1, 2019.

Courtroom changes –

Judge Victoria Valentine will move to Courtroom 5A and will retain her current telephone and fax numbers.  Judge-Elect Julie McDonald will be assigned Courtroom 2F. Judge-Elect Jacob Cunningham will be assigned Courtroom W3. This will be a temporary assignment from January 1 to approximately April. The contact information for Judge-Elect McDonald and Judge-Elect Cunningham is available on the Circuit Court’s website at www.oakgov.com/courts/circuit.

Friend of the Court Referee Assignments –

As a result of the creation of a new Family Division docket, some Friend of the Court Referee assignments and locations for Wednesday morning motion call will be changed.

Judge-Elect McDonald’s Friend of the Court Referees will be Rebecca Ellis, Camille Dennis, and Geoffrey Wojcikiewicz (50%).

Judge-Elect Cunningham’s Friend of the Court Referees will be Traci Rink (50%), Lorie Savin, and Ilyssa Cimmino.

Other Friend of the Court Referee changes have been made and attorneys and litigants should check Court Explorer to determine whether any of these changes impact their cases. You may also visit the FOC website for more information at http://oakgov.com/courts/foc/staff.

Criminal Call Assignments –

The Criminal Call dates and times for the following judges will change effective January 1, 2019:

Judge Grant – Tuesday at 8:30 a.m.
Judge Warren – Wednesday at 1 p.m.
Judge Jarbou – Thursday at 1 p.m.
Judge Matis – Friday at 8:30 a.m.

All other criminal call dates and times remain unchanged.

If you have questions or need more information about any of the changes referenced above, check the Circuit Court’s website or call the Court Administrator’s Office at 248-858-0345.