Isabella County Courts Beat
Presentation
By Sean Bradley
JRN 516 Public Affairs Reporting–
Ed Simpson
1/29/13
Beat Overview
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Covering the Isabella County 21st
Circuit Court and 76th District Court
Located at 300 N. Main Street, Mount
Pleasant, Michigan (left)
21st Circuit Court Judges: Chief Judge
Paul Chamberlain and Trial Judges
William T. Ervin, William R. Rush and
Mark Duthie
–

76th 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
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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,
www.isabellacounty.org/trial
The Money
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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
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Money also comes from court fees
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filing fees, ticket payments from court patrons
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Traffic tickets are among top revenue streams
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Oversight fees from those on probation
Money allocated via the Court Administrator
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Contracts, grants
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Tribal Grants, Federal Grants, Specialty Grants for
certain courts such as Drug Courts
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Different programs and infrastructure
improvements
The Process
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•
How a complaint becomes a criminal case
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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
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•
Assignment Clerk's Office
Decision-making
Case Flow Chart
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If case goes to trial:
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All Cases Start in District Court
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Arraignment
Preliminary Hearing
Pre-trial Conference
Trial
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
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Authority
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Judges (discussed earlier)
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Isabella County
Prosecuting Attorney Risa
Scully
–
•
Chief Assistant Prosecutor
Robert Holmes
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Principal Trial Attorney
Mark Kowalczyk
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Senior Assistant Prosecutor
Stuart Black
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Isabella County Court
Administrator Lance Dexter
•
Power
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Roberta, Administrative
Assistant
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Donna, Victim Rights
Coordinator
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Deb, P/T Victim Rights
Advocate
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Penny, Civil Support Staff
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Lisa, Criminal Support Staff
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Heather, Criminal Support
Staff
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Brenda, Criminal Support
Staff
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Colleen, Receptionist
Friends of the Court (Provides
services to parties with minor children
involving divorce, family support and
paternity tests)
Local Police Departments
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CMU Police Department
–
CMU Police Chief William
Yeagley
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Captain Fred Harris – (989)
774-7394
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Lt. Cameron Wassman
(Dispatch and Support
Operations) - (989) 774-7696
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Lt. Larry Klaus (Investigations
and Patrol Operations) - (989)
774-7397
•
Isabella County Police Department
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Sheriff Leo Mioduszewski (989) 772-5911
Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Police
Department
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Captain Dave Crockett
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989-775-4700 (Dispatch)
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989-775-4775 (Tip Line)
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989-775-4839 (Fax)
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989-775-4701 (Records)
The Affected
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The Mount Pleasant community
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Schools (CMU, MP High School and K-12)
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Mount Pleasant residents, businesses, etc
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Residents in surrounding communities
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Surrounding Law Enforcement
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People involved in cases with the courts
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Offenders
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Those who owe money to the courts (tickets, etc)
Others Watching
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Local Media
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Print
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Television
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Local Law Enforcement
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Other courts
Bibliography
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www.isabellacounty.org/trial
•
Isabella County Comprehensive Annual
Financial Report
Budget Comparison Schedule (April 2012)
•
Interview with Isabella County Court
Administrator Lance Dexter