Oakland County circuit, probate judges urge more judges, resources as caseloads rise

The Oakland County Board of Commissioners heard back-to-back "state of the court" reports on May 14 from the circuit court's chief judge and the chief judge of the probate court, who described heavy caseloads, growing specialized dockets and the need for additional judges and support staff.

"We have 20 elected circuit court judges and we're moving the dockets," Judge Mattis told the board, summarizing circuit statistics and data-driven staffing needs. He reported 6,427 pending civil/criminal cases at the start of the year and 12,334 new filings; the court disposed 12,982 cases during the year. Mattis said a recent statewide judicial-resources study initially recommended 15 new judges for the county and was revised to recommend four; he said the court believes the data support adding judges but acknowledged budget and courtroom space implications.

Mattis also described a multi-phase case-management upgrade, noting the current system is aging and in "end of life" status. He said the court has completed discovery and is working on gap closure with the state court administrator’s office.

Chief Probate Judge Jennifer Callahan outlined similar pressures in probate, where the court has four seats and has seen a 36% increase in trust-and-estate filings since 2019 and a 66% increase in mental-health petitions. Callahan said requests for evaluations (emergency mental-health filings) rose 42% from Jan. 1–Apr. 27 compared with the same period last year and that the court has been implementing statewide e-filing requirements that have stretched staff and resources.

Callahan asked the board to approve a probate clerk coordinator position, parallel to a position in the circuit court, to help with workflows, staff training and the MyFile e-filing transition. She also noted upcoming judicial retirements and an appointment earlier in April that will affect the bench.

Commissioners asked about use of visiting judges, courtroom capacity, and whether caseload growth tracked regional trends; Mattis and Callahan said they would follow up with comparative data. Both judges emphasized the need to protect confidential information in certain dockets and the cost and complexity of additional hearings generated by changing U.S. Supreme Court rulings on juvenile sentencing.

The board took no immediate staffing votes at the May 14 meeting but heard that these items will factor into upcoming budget and legislative requests.

Context and next steps

Both courts described operational needs that have budget and legislative implications: requests for additional judges require state approval or legislation, and staffing or courtroom expansions will appear in the county’s budget conversations. The probate court's request for a clerk coordinator was scheduled for committee consideration after the presentation.

Quotations are taken from the judges' presentations to the board during the May 14 meeting.