Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission elects officers

The Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission, responsible for helping Michigan judges remain ethical and addressing complaints they have acted unethically, held its biannual election of officers on Jan. 11.

Hon. Karen Fort Hood, who sits on the Michigan Court of Appeals, was elected chairperson.  An alumna of Detroit College of Law, she is past president of the Association of Black Judges of Michigan and is a member of the Wolverine Bar Association, State Bar of Michigan and the Michigan Judges Association; and a lifetime member of the Detroit NAACP.

In November 2002, Judge Hood became the first Black woman to be elected to the Michigan Court of Appeals; and is now the first Black woman to chair the Judicial Tenure Commission. 

Hon. Jon Hulsing, who sits on the Ottawa County Circuit Court, was elected vice-chairperson. A summa cum laude graduate of Cooley Law School, Judge Hulsing is a member of the Criminal Law and Family Law Sections of the State Bar of Michigan. He is active in the Michigan Judges’ Association and represented that entity on the Eye Witness Identification Task force of the State Bar of Michigan. He is also a member of the General Civil Michigan Court Forms Committee.

James Burdick, Esq., a University of Michigan Law School alum who specializes in complex criminal litigation and health care licensing, discipline and reinstatement, was elected secretary.

In addition to his practice, he has been appointed by chief federal judges to chair, and to be a member of, federal panels evaluating applicants for the position of United States Magistrate Judge, and for sitting Magistrate Judges applying for renewal of their tenure. He has chaired an Attorney Grievance panel since the 1980’s, hearing and deciding a multitude of complaints.

In 2017 he was elected to the position of commissioner of the JTC; his term started in January, 2018.

The officers serve for a two-year term.