According to Michigan law,
there is a procedure a person must follow when making comments or a complaint
about the conduct of a judge or attorney, the friend of the court operation or
employee, or other court employee. Complaints are answered within a reasonable
period of time.
About Judges
Complaint about
the conduct of a judge of the State of Michigan are filed with the Judicial
Tenure Commission.
Complaints regarding the conduct of federal judges must be filed with the U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals.
The complaint cannot be about
a judge's legal decision or an existing court order. A judge's decision can only
be changed through the appeals process.
About Attorneys
To
make a complaint about the conduct of an attorney, contact the Attorney
Grievance Commission by writing to Suite 256, 243 W. Congress Street, Detroit,
MI 48226.
About Courts or their Employees
Concerns or comments
about the administration of a specific court or the conduct of a court employee
should be made to the court administrator or chief judge of the court involved.
About Court Reporters or Recorders
Complaints or comments about
a specific court reporter or recorder should be made, in writing, to the Michigan
Court Reporting and Recording Board of Review at PO Box 30048, Lansing, Michigan
48909. See more information about the Michigan Court Reporting and Recording Board
of Review >>.
About Friends of the Court
Michigan
law provides several ways to express concerns about operations of the friend of
the court offices.
One way is a formal grievance procedure
for parties dissatisfied with the friend of the court's operations or employees.
The grievance procedure requires a grievance to first be filed with the county
friend of the court office. The grievance can be prepared on a grievance
form or in a letter that is clearly labeled a grievance to the friend of the
court office. The friend of the court must respond to the grievance within 30 days.
If parties are not satisfied with the office's response,
they may file a further grievance with the chief judge for the circuit court,
again using either the grievance
form or writing a letter that is identified as being a grievance.
See
the Trial Court Directory for the
proper chief judge address or the list of
friend of the court offices for the address of your local friend of the court
office.
If you want information about your friend of the court case, the quickest and easiest
way for you to get this information is to call your friend of the court office and
use the interactive voice response (IVR) system.
A second way to address issues relating to friend of
the court operations is to submit written comments to the chief judge of the court
in response to the annual review of the friend of the court. Each year, chief
judges are required to conduct a review of the friend of the court, normally in
June. Any comments received are included in the summary of the review and the
report is filed in July.
A third way to comment on friend of
the court operations is through a local citizen advisory committee. Each county's
board of commissioners or executive is to appoint a citizen advisory committee
for the friend of the court office. That committee is advisory only, but among
its duties is a requirement to advise the chief judge and the county board of
commissioners about the friend of the court's duties and performance and the community's
needs relating to the office's services. A citizen advisory committee can only
respond to grievances related to a business operations issue of the friend of
the court office. Contact your county commissioner or a representative of the
board of commissioners for information about your county's citizen advisory committee.
Grievances or comments cannot be used to complain about a judge's decision.
