A bronze plaque commemorating 28 years of service by the late U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff will be unveiled during a ceremony on Monday, Oct. 2 at the federal building and U.S. courthouse in Port Huron.
The 11 a.m. event will coincide with an open house featuring self-guided tours of the newly renovated courtroom complex in Port Huron as well as the expanded prisoner lock-up and office facility operated by the U.S. Marshals Service.
The plaque ceremony will take place in Zatkoff’s former courtroom, currently occupied by U.S. District Judge Robert Cleland.
The plaque will be displayed in the courthouse lobby. The ceremony and tours will be open to the public.
The three-story courthouse featuring Renaissance and Greek Revival styles with an octagonal cupola was completed at 6th and Water Street in 1877 at a cost of $200,000.
The building is operated by the General Services Administration and is the oldest structure in the GSA’s Great Lakes Region.
Although a courtroom was installed on the second floor, the building functioned primarily as a post office and customs house until the 1960s, when federal judges began handling some of their cases there.
That changed in 2005 when Zatkoff transferred his Detroit courtroom to Port Huron and began handling his entire civil and criminal docket there.
Zatkoff was committed to improving the Port Huron courthouse, court officials said, and led the push to persuade the GSA to embark on a
$2.4-million program to modernize and improve courthouse security; upgrade the building’s heating, cooling, fire and safety systems; and restore the lobby to its Victorian-era appearance.
Zatkoff also pushed for the installation of a prisoner lock-up operated by the Marshals Service in the basement of the building.
Zatkoff was born in Detroit in 1939, graduated with a bachelor of science degree from the University of Detroit in 1962 and received his law degree with honors from the Detroit College of Law in 1966.
He practiced law in Detroit and Roseville from 1966-78, served as a Macomb County Probate Court Judge from 1978-1982, and a Macomb County Circuit Court judge from 1982-86.
President Ronald Reagan appointed him U.S. District Court Judge for Eastern Michigan in 1986.
Zatkoff served as chief judge from 1999-2004.
He died in January 2015 at the age of 75.
Zatkoff’s widow, Kelly, and children, are expected to attend the Oct. 2 ceremony.
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