1824: Supreme Court justices were term limited to four years

1835: Constitution provided that judges were appointed by the governor, with the consent of the senate for seven year terms

1850: Constitution of 1850 set terms for six years and set a requirement that judges of the five circuit courts would also be judges of the Michigan Supreme Court

1857: after some legislative restructuring, the Supreme Court consisted of a chief justice and three associate justices, who were elected for 8 year terms.

1887: the number of justices was increased to five

1903: the number of justices was increased to eight

1908: state Constitution required Supreme Court judges to be nominated at partisan conventions and elected at non-partisan elections – the same as today

1908: The Constitution divided the state into judicial courts; today there are over 50

1963: Michigan has a unified court system per the 1963 State Constitution

1963: The Michigan Constitution of 1963 created the Court of Appeals as a new intermediate level of appeal for lower court decisions

1963: Probate judges are elected for a term of six years

1968: the Constitution was amended & established a Judicial Tenure Commission

1969: the state legislature established a system of 98 District Courts and abolished many minor courts

1969: the District Courts replaced the Justice of the Peace Courts and Circuit Court Commissioners

1997: during a state-wide court reform, the legislature established a Family Division of the Circuit Court

2001: per PA 262 of 2001, the Supreme Court has been deemed responsible of maintaining a “cyber court” to deal with commercial litigation

Works Cited

Hanley, James P. Jr. Politics & Government in Michigan. Fourth Edition. McGraw-Hill’s Custom

Publishing. 2002.

National Center for State Courts. Michigan State Court Profile.

http://devlegacy.ncsc.org/WC/CourTopics/StateProfile.asp?State=MI&Major=CiviLitTopic=

mLit&Title=56. 12 January 2010.