Isabella County Courts Beat Presentation By Sean Bradley JRN 516 Public Affairs Reporting– Ed Simpson 1/29/13

Beat Overview Covering the Isabella County 21 st Circuit Court and 76 th District Court Located at 300 N. Main Street, Mount Pleasant, Michigan (left) 21 st Circuit Court Judges: Chief Judge Paul Chamberlain and Trial Judges William T. Ervin, William R. Rush and Mark Duthie – 76 th District Court Judges: Paul Chamberlain and William R. Rush Handle Civil cases seeking damages greater than $25,000, felony criminal cases, Personal Protection Orders (PPOs) and family matters (divorce, custody, child support cases, etc). Also handle District Court appeals.

Mission and Vision Mission: To offer timely, fair and just resolutions to disputes while enforcing statutes and taking remedial and corrective actions and using preventative programs, ultimately protecting the public from further harm and interference. Vision: The court's vision is to promote inter-justice system cooperation with other agencies and courts, implementing ethical standards and punctual court performance while constantly responding and reshaping itself in response to the community's needs – From the Isabella County Court's website,

The Money The Court's Budget for Fiscal Year 2013 is $6.7 million and has remained consistent for the past 5 years The Court's funding comes partially from county taxes, according to the Isabella County Comprehensive Annual Financial Report's Budget Comparison Schedule – ““The General Fund is used to account for all financial transactions not properly accounted for in another fund. The transactions relating to the general governmental activities of the County, which are financed by property tax levies, by distribution of State and Federal revenues, and by revenue from various activities and services, are recorded in this fund.”

The Money, continued Money also comes from court fees – filing fees, ticket payments from court patrons – Traffic tickets are among top revenue streams – Oversight fees from those on probation Money allocated via the Court Administrator – Contracts, grants – Tribal Grants, Federal Grants, Specialty Grants for certain courts such as Drug Courts – Different programs and infrastructure improvements

The Process How a complaint becomes a criminal case – Law enforcement investigates a complaint and, with enough evidence, a warrant request is sent to the Prosecutor's office and if the Prosecutor feels charges should be levied against the offending party, a criminal complaint and arrest warrant are established, moving the case into the judicial cycle. – From the Court's website How a case is assigned – Assignment Clerk's Office Decision-making

Case Flow Chart If case goes to trial: – All Cases Start in District Court – Arraignment Preliminary Hearing Pre-trial ConferenceTrial If a Felony case: Arraignment Preliminary Hearing Enough evidence for a Felony? Case goes to Circuit Court Arraignment Pre-trial Hearing (can be waived) Trial

Authority and Power Authority – Judges (discussed earlier) – Isabella County Prosecuting Attorney Risa Scully – Chief Assistant Prosecutor Robert Holmes – Principal Trial Attorney Mark Kowalczyk – Senior Assistant Prosecutor Stuart Black – Isabella County Court Administrator Lance Dexter Power – Roberta, Administrative Assistant – Donna, Victim Rights Coordinator – Deb, P/T Victim Rights Advocate – Penny, Civil Support Staff – Lisa, Criminal Support Staff – Heather, Criminal Support Staff – Brenda, Criminal Support Staff – Colleen, Receptionist Friends of the Court (Provides services to parties with minor children involving divorce, family support and paternity tests)

Local Police Departments CMU Police Department – CMU Police Chief William Yeagley – Captain Fred Harris – (989) – Lt. Cameron Wassman (Dispatch and Support Operations) - (989) – Lt. Larry Klaus (Investigations and Patrol Operations) - (989) Isabella County Police Department – Sheriff Leo Mioduszewski - (989) Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Police Department – Captain Dave Crockett – (Dispatch) – (Tip Line) – (Fax) – (Records)

The Affected The Mount Pleasant community – Schools (CMU, MP High School and K-12) – Mount Pleasant residents, businesses, etc Residents in surrounding communities Surrounding Law Enforcement People involved in cases with the courts – Offenders – Those who owe money to the courts (tickets, etc)

Others Watching Local Media – Print – Television Local Law Enforcement Other courts

Bibliography Isabella County Comprehensive Annual Financial Report Interview with Isabella County Court Administrator Lance Dexter Budget Comparison Schedule (April 2012)