Wayne County committee approves $6 million amendment to funding agreement with Third Judicial Circuit Court

The Wayne County Government Operations Committee on Jan. 15 approved Amendment 1 to a four‑year funding agreement with the Third Judicial Circuit Court of Michigan to increase pay and benefits for court employees.

County attorneys and budget staff told the committee the modification, which the committee said was budgeted in an earlier adjustment, adds roughly $6,000,000 to the court’s funding allocation to address wages and retention.

The amendment implements a budget change the commission approved last month, officials said. Greg McIntyre, deputy budget director, told commissioners the funding will cover a combination of salary and benefits; Commissioner Alan Wilson asked whether any portion would be for benefits and was told roughly 30 percent could be benefit‐related. Jim Jernigan, assistant corporation counsel, said the court’s goal is for the additional funds to go to employee costs and that “from what I understand is to have 100% of it go to wages.”

Commissioner Killeen asked about the agreement’s origin; staff and counsel said the county has had these funding agreements following litigation dating back to about 2011 that set the county’s role as the funding unit for the Third Judicial Circuit. The committee did not reopen that history during the meeting.

A motion to approve the amendment was made by Commissioner Alan Wilson and seconded by Commissioner Killeen; commissioners voted using their tablets and the motion carried.

The amendment is the formal document to implement the budgeted change and will be executed by county staff, officials said. No further details on implementation timelines or exact benefit/salary breakdowns were provided at the meeting.