Attendance Will Be Taken For Judges At Detroit's 36th District Court

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - Are the judges in? Attendance is being taken at Detroit's long-troubled 36th District Court.

The Michigan Supreme Court wants regular updates on the court, which was recently returned to local management after severe financial problems and other woes were fixed.

The reports will cover much ground, from caseloads to finances. The court also must disclose the daily arrival time and attendance of judges.

The 36th District Court handles a variety of matters, including traffic tickets, lawsuits up to $25,000, landlord-tenant disputes and initial hearings in major felonies.

The second largest court in the state, Detroit's 36th District Court handles 1 million cases each year.

In May, 2013, the court was found to be $5 million over its $31 million annual budget (according to the Associated Press), and a special administrator was assigned to tackle a major reorganization. The National Center for State Courts found the court to be rife with financial mismanagement, a severely backlogged docket and bloated payroll, and that officials had failed to collect on $279 million in driving tickets, ordinance violations and misdemeanor fines.

In 2009, a former top attorney for the city famously lost her job after using the word "ghetto" in a conversation with a court employee to describe the 36th District Court as inefficient and poor in serving the public.

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