LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — The Michigan Judicial Tenure Fee has filed a proper criticism accusing Jackson County Circuit Choose Thomas D. Wilson of sexual harassment, abusing alcohol, undisclosed conflicts of curiosity and utilizing his workplace to affect instances.
The 23-page criticism says Wilson admitted underneath oath that he abused alcohol from between 2013 and 2015 till 2020 or 2021. It alleges he at occasions appeared in public smelling of alcohol, trying matted or showing flushed, together with encounters on the courthouse and on Election Night time in 2016 when he advised county workers he had been “at the bar next door” and invited them for pictures of Fireball whiskey.
The sexual harassment allegations embrace a number of situations through which Wilson described sexual encounters to ladies utilizing graphic phrases. The criticism says he advised one feminine choose her breasts have been greater, which he admitted underneath oath in January 2025, and advised one other he had been eager to have intercourse together with her for a very long time.
In a 2018 car parking zone encounter with an assistant prosecuting lawyer, the criticism says he drove as much as her and stated, “Nice legs!” and later advised her she seemed “hot” after shedding pounds.
The criticism additionally alleges undisclosed conflicts of curiosity with legal professionals who appeared earlier than him. It says Wilson owned a Jackson constructing the place a number of attorneys who appeared in his courtroom have been tenants between 2007 and 2022, co-owned investments with two attorneys and acquired authorized providers for himself or a member of the family with out fee in some issues.
The submitting says he didn’t disclose these relationships or step other than their instances as required.
Individually, the criticism alleges Wilson interfered in instances by calling police dispatch in 2019 throughout a home violence case to attempt to stop an arrest; by privately approaching one other choose ex parte, with out the opposite events current, throughout his personal divorce to get an order modified and by pressuring prosecutors a few “minor in possession” case involving a relative. The submitting says Wilson launched himself as a choose to a prosecutor and talked about native officers by title.
The fee additionally cites a number of delays in issuing rulings, together with a divorce resolution that took a few yr, a summary-disposition movement that sat for months earlier than and after a medical depart and a prison case the place the Court docket of Appeals ordered a conviction reinstated however no motion was taken for 23 months.
The criticism says Wilson additionally didn’t act on dozens of private safety order petitions inside required timeframes.
Lastly, the fee alleges Wilson directed workers as early as 2007 to not use a required case-tracking code for issues “under advisement,” which saved delayed selections from showing on State Court docket Administrative Workplace studies.
Underneath oath in April 2025, Wilson didn’t dispute giving that instruction and, in January, stated he wished time to complete issues “without it showing up as being late,” in accordance with the submitting.
A proper criticism initiates the disciplinary course of and isn’t a discovering of misconduct. Wilson has 14 days from service to file a verified reply.
Wilson’s lawyer, Thomas Cranmer, responded to the criticism in a cellphone assertion: “Judge Wilson is a respected and trusted jurist in Jackson County, and it’s not appropriate for us to try this case in the media. But I can tell you that we look forward to clearing his name as we move forward with the judicial tenure commission process.”
This story has been up to date to incorporate an announcement from Wilson’s lawyer.
