The Michigan Courts were created by the Constitution of 1963, Article VI, and Section 1, under which the State of Michigan has “one court of justice.”
Courts are branch of government established to administer the civil and the criminal law. A seven-member supreme court heads the judicial system. Members are popularly elected to eight-year terms and the judge is elected by the court to serve a two-year term as chief justice. The state’s intermediate appellate court, the court of appeals, consists of 24 popularly elected judges.
Michigan has been divided into judicial districts, each with a circuit court, which acts as the primary criminal trial court. Other courts include county probate courts and a statewide system of district courts, which replaces justices of the peace and municipal courts. Most of the judges are elected through a nonpartisan ballot.
The courts at Michigan deal in different matters of the citizens. The court of the FOC (friend of the court) handles cases involving domestic relations consisting of divorce, paternity, child/spouse support, parenting time, which is also known as visitation, and primary child custody. The main objective of the Court is to maintain and improve quality services to the public, utilizing human resources, and technology in a manner that enhances and promotes access, fairness, and accountability.
The work of the Wayne County Probate Court is to manage justice with fairness, equality, and honesty, to resolve matters before the court in a timely manner with trained and aggravated staff, and to provide courteous and prompt service in a manner that inspires public trust and self-assurance. The Michigan Courts have proved, justice is by no means concrete. It often takes on a new form, according to new laws, new customs, and, most of all, according to the men and women who are called on to define it.
