Everything you need to know about ranked-choice voting in one spot.Click to learn more!

Michigan Court of Appeals

From Ballotpedia
Judges of the Michigan Court of Appeals, December 2015

TheMichigan Court of Appeals is theintermediate appellate court inMichigan. It is divided into four districts. The court was created by theMichigan Constitution of 1963,Article VI,Section 1, under which the State of Michigan has "one court of justice."[1][2][3]

Due to reduced filings, legislation was enacted in 2012 to gradually reduce the number of judges from 28 to 24 through attrition.[1] As of November 2024, 25 judges served on the Michigan Court of Appeals.[4]

Overview

“The judicial power of the state is vested exclusively in one court of justice which shall be divided into one supreme court, one court of appeals, one trial court of general jurisdiction known as the circuit court, one probate court, and courts of limited jurisdiction that the legislature may establish by a two-thirds vote of the members elected to and serving in each house.[5]”
—The Constitution of Michigan of 1963,[6]

In 1965, when the Court of Appeals first assembled, it had nine judges:Chief Judge T. John Lesinski, Chief Judge pro tempore John W. Fitzgerald, Judge Robert B. Burns, Judge John H. Gillis, Judge Donald E. Holbrook, Judge Thomas Giles Kavanagh, Judge Louis D. McGregor, Judge Timothy C. Quinn and Judge John D. Watts. The court had offices in three cities: Lansing, Detroit and Grand Rapids. The court opened another office in Southfield in 1994, which was moved to Troy in 2004.[2]

Court size changes

TheMichigan State Legislature first increased the size of the Court of Appeals bench to 12 judges in 1969. In 1974, the number of judges increased to 18, and then to 24 in 1988. In 1993, the number of judges was set at 28. Annual case filings ranged from 1,235 in 1965 to a record 13,352 in 1992. By the latter half of the 1990s, the court's filings averaged more than 8,000 cases annually. During the first decade of the 2000s, filings decreased to an average of 6,200, sparking legislation in 2012 to cut the number of judgeships to 24 through attrition. As of November 2024, 25 judges served on the Michigan Court of Appeals.[1][2][4]

Proposal for cuts

In 2011,Republican GovernorRick Snyder recommended that the Michigan Court of Appeals reduce its number of judges due to budgetary concerns. Two court of appeals judgeships were rumored to be cut. Chief JudgeWilliam B. Murphy called on the court to be part of the "shared sacrifice," explaining, "The Court wants to be part of the solution, not part of the problem."[7]

Published opinions of theMichigan Court of Appeals can be foundhere.
 
Michigan Court of Appeals
Intermediate Appellate Courts Seal-template.png
Court information
Judges:   24
Founded:   1963
Salary:  Associates: $195,625[8]
Judicial selection
Method:  Nonpartisan election of judges
Term:   6 years

Districts

The Court of Appeals is divided into four districts with the following offices:

Judicial selection

See also:Judicial selection in Michigan

The judges of theMichigan Court of Appeals are chosen innonpartisan elections and must face re-election if they wish to remain on the court. Unlike the supreme court, candidates are placed on the ballot via nonpartisan primaries or by nominating petitions. Judges on the appeals court serve six-year terms.[9]

Qualifications

To be elected to the appeals court, a judge must:

  • be a qualified elector of his or her district;
  • be licensed to practice law in the state;
  • have at least five years of law practice experience;
  • be under the age of 70.[9]

Chief judge

Thechief judge of the appeals court is selected by supreme court appointment for a term lasting two years.[9]

Vacancies

The process for filling vacancies on the appeals court is identical to that used by the supreme court. With the assistance of the judicial qualifications committee, the governor names a replacement to serve until the next general election.[9]

Salary

See also:Michigan court salaries and budgets

In 2025, the associate judges of the court received a salary of $195,625, according to the National Center for State Courts.[10]

Elections

To see results from Michigan Court of Appeals elections, visit theindividual district pages. For details about Michigan's judicial elections,click here.

Ethics

TheMichigan Code of Judicial Conduct sets forth ethical guidelines and principles for the conduct of judges and judicial candidates inMichigan. It consists of eight overarching canons:

“
  • Canon 1: A Judge Should Uphold the Integrity and Independence of the Judiciary
  • Canon 2: A Judge Should Avoid Impropriety and the Appearance of Impropriety in All Activities
  • Canon 3: A Judge Should Perform the Duties of Office Impartially and Diligently
  • Canon 4: A Judge May Engage in Extrajudicial Activities
  • Canon 5: Applicability of the Code of Judicial Conduct to Judicial Candidates
  • Canon 6: A Judge Should Regularly File Reports of Compensation Received for Quasi-Judicial and Extra-Judicial Activities and of Monetary Contributions
  • Canon 7: A Judge or a Candidate for Judicial Office Should Refrain From Political Activity Inappropriate to Judicial Office
  • Canon 8: Collective Activity By Judges[11][5]
”

The full text of theMichigan Code of Judicial Conduct can be foundhere.

Removal of judges

Judges inMichigan may be removed in one of three ways:

State profile

Demographic data for Michigan
 MichiganU.S.
Total population:9,917,715316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):56,5393,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:79%73.6%
Black/African American:14%12.6%
Asian:2.7%5.1%
Native American:0.5%0.8%
Pacific Islander:0%0.2%
Two or more:2.6%3%
Hispanic/Latino:4.7%17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:89.6%86.7%
College graduation rate:26.9%29.8%
Income
Median household income:$49,576$53,889
Persons below poverty level:20%11.3%
Source:U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015)
Clickhere for more information on the 2020 census andhere for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Michigan.
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the censushere.

Presidential voting pattern

See also:Presidential voting trends in Michigan

Michiganvoted for the Democratic candidate in four out of the seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted forDonald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting forBarack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won thesePivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, 12 are located in Michigan, accounting for 5.83 percent of the total pivot counties.[15]

Pivot Counties (2020)

In2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won asRetained Pivot Counties and those won byJoe Biden (D) asBoomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Michigan had 11 Retained Pivot Counties and one Boomerang Pivot County, accounting for 6.08 and 4.00 of all Retained and Boomerang Pivot Counties, respectively.

More Michigan coverage on Ballotpedia

Related:Fact check/Does a Michigan judgeship cost taxpayers $450,000 annually?

See also

MichiganJudicial SelectionMore Courts
Seal of Michigan.png
Judicialselectionlogo.png
BP logo.png
Courts in Michigan
Michigan Court of Appeals
Michigan Supreme Court
Elections:2026 •2025 •2024 •2023 •2022 •2021 •2020 •2019 •2018 •2017
Gubernatorial appointments
Judicial selection in Michigan
Federal courts
State courts
Local courts

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑1.01.11.2Michigan Courts, "About the Court," accessed October 12, 2015
  2. ↑2.02.12.2Michigan Courts, "Court of Appeals History," archived October 1, 2015
  3. ↑Michigan Courts, "Current Judges," archived January 21, 2014
  4. ↑4.04.1Michigan Courts, "Court of Appeals," accessed November 6, 2024
  5. ↑5.05.1Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  6. ↑Michigan Legislature, "Article VI § 1," 2009
  7. ↑MLive.com, "West Michigan would lose State Appeals Court judge under Gov. Snyder's plan," April 14, 2011
  8. ↑The salary of the chief judge may be higher than an associate judge.
  9. ↑9.09.19.29.3National Center for State Courts, "Methods of Judicial Selection," accessed August 27, 2021
  10. ↑National Center for State Courts, "2025 Salaries and Rankings," accessed October 8, 2025
  11. ↑Michigan Judicial Branch, "Michigan Code of Judicial Conduct," accessed August 18, 2025
  12. ↑State of Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission, "What the Commission CAN Do," accessed July 17, 2023
  13. ↑Justia US Law, "Michigan Constitution Article VI - JUDICIAL BRANCH § 25 Removal of judges from office," accessed July 17, 2023
  14. ↑JUSTIA US Law, "Michigan Supreme Court Decisions," accessed August 18, 2025
  15. ↑The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip ofAtlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.