LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — A District Court docket decide in Troy was deemed “unsafe to practice” by a psychological well being analysis, a criticism from the Michigan Judicial Tenure Fee finds.
“The All Points North report showed that as of the time All Points North evaluated respondent in May 2024, it had determined that respondent was ‘unsafe to practice’ due to disruptive behavior and personality dysfunction,” fee attorneys wrote in a 4 depend criticism in opposition to 52-4 District Court docket Choose Kirsten Neilson Hartig.
The daring portion was redacted from public view. A footnote within the criticism signifies Hartig requested the redaction from the fee.
Choose Kirsten Neilson Hartig, 52-4 District Court docket
Nevertheless, by copying the redaction from the criticism from the web posting and pasting it right into a doc in phrase processing software program, the redaction disappears and divulges the data.
The criticism accuses Hartig of withholding this psychological “report from the Fee from no less than July 25 to December 5, 2024.
A spokesperson for Hartig offered the next assertion to six Information by way of e mail:
Choose Hartig respects the necessary function of the Judicial Tenure Fee and is dedicated to totally collaborating within the course of.
After years of inquiry, the Fee has produced a criticism primarily based on disputed claims and a flawed course of. Choose Hartig has waited patiently for the chance to deal with these allegations straight and appears ahead to doing so.The general public deserves confidence in each the judiciary and its oversight. That confidence depends upon transparency grounded in truth, not fiction. Choose Hartig has served the general public and the bench for greater than a decade with integrity, transparency, and a dedication to justice. The Fee is anticipated to do the identical.
Assertion from Daniel Cherrin, Spokesperson for Choose Kirsten Nielsen Hartig (June 4, 2025)
Lynn Helland, the manager director of the JTC, tells 6 Information the improper redaction was as a result of a technical error and that the selection to redact “was a courtesy while we sort out with a judge on how to handle this, because it’s sensitive medical information.”
A spokesman for the state courts didn’t instantly reply to an inquiry concerning the redaction error. When 6 Information receives a response, this story might be up to date.
The criticism was launched on Wednesday on the JTC’s web site.
The JTC is the state’s regulator of judicial conduct. A proper JTC criticism is step one in direction of the doable elimination of a decide from the bench.
Hartig was relieved of all judicial duties besides civil, landlord, and small claims instances on Could 27 by Chief District Court docket Choose for the 52nd District Court docket, Travis Reeds, the Detroit Free Press reported. The court docket handles instances from Troy and Clawson.
Learn the criticism in opposition to Hartig:
FC 109 Hartig ComplaintDownload
The criticism comprises 4 counts. Hartig is accused of refusing to offer the report of a psychological analysis to the Fee, making false statements to the Fee, abusing workers and others within the court docket, in addition to obstructing the operations of the court docket system and improperly dismissing prison instances.
The criticism alleges Hartig made false statements about who had filed complaints in opposition to her with the JTC and claimed the investigation by the fee did not interview her employees.
The allegations of abusing workers and others in her court docket embody claims that she required a pregnant parole agent to face up throughout a Zoom assembly and present her stomach.
She’s additionally accused of refusing to acknowledge scheduling points and conflicts for the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Workplace and improperly dismissing felony instances with prejudice, that means these instances cannot be refiled.
The allegations additionally included situations of her making an attempt to regulate staffing and directing the court docket administrator to be out there always, together with when out of the workplace on scheduled days off.
