Fourth district court magistrate approved

By Dana Casadei

The Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees on Monday, August 24, voted unanimously to approve a fourth magistrate be put into the rotating schedule for the 48th District Court.

Patrick Dunn, court administrator, noted that the court would not be requesting a budget amendment. 

“We are trying to be proactive,” Dunn said. “We want to make a new magistrate aware of our policies, procedures, get familiar with the staff and the court. We want to make sure this person is ready to go.”

Trustee Valerie Murray asked if there is currently enough of a caseload to justify adding a fourth magistrate to which Dunn said that there was. 

Around the middle part of last year there were a little over 15,000 cases; as of June 30, they were at 17,000, a sizable increase, Dunn said.

Adding additional magistrates may be provided by the board upon the recommendation of the judges, and before one can officially become a magistrate they must be appointed by the district’s judges. The appointments are then approved by the county board of commissioners. 

For those seeking to be a magistrate they also need to be a registered elector in the district they would be working in or in an adjoining district if the appointment is made under a plan of concurrent jurisdiction. 

“A lot of this is to be ready for the future. It could change the number of judges that we have, the number of magistrates could change,” Dunn said. “We have three long-standing magistrates that we’re very fortunate to have been with us, but they’re busy attorneys.” 

The 48th District County serves residents of Bloomfield Township, West Bloomfield, Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Keego Harbor, Sylvan Lake and Orchard Lake Village.