Ottawa County Circuit Court to Get Fifth Judge in 2023

GRAND HAVEN, MI (WHTC-AM/FM, Feb. 11, 2022) – Some long-awaited help for the Ottawa County Circuit Court is on its way.

On Wednesday, Governor Whitmer signed legislation that would add a fifth judge to the 20^th Judicial Circuit Court, with an eight-year term to begin on January 1^st, 2023. The combination of increased population (72,623 residents to each circuit court judge, the highest such ratio in Michigan) and a weekly average of 55.6 hours on case filings as of 2019 led the State Court Administrative Office to recommend this addition. However, the COVID 19 outbreak held up a final decision.

With this move, candidates for the vacancy can file non-partisan nomination petitions through April 19^th for consideration on the August 2^nd primary ballot.