Lapeer County Clerk v. Lapeer Circuit Judges, ___Mich App___ (2000) (Court of Appeals No. 225025, September 12, 2000)
Juvenile Review MenuThe Lapeer County Clerk and the Michigan Association of County Clerks filed an original action which sought a writ of superintending control. Plaintiffs requested the Court of Appeals to declare unlawful the Lapeer County Circuit Court administrative order which outlined family court operations. That order left clerical duties for matters formerly handled by probate court with the family court staff. Plaintiffs also requested an order directing the circuit court to permit the county clerk to perform duties as clerk for the family division.
The Court of Appeals first held that it did have subject matter jurisdiction to issue the writ of superintending control, and, next determined that the Michigan Association of County Clerks could not be a party because the clerk's association had not demonstrated "an actual injury or likely chance of immediate injury to establish standing." (Emphasis by court of Appeals). The Court of Appeals did find merit in part of the Lapeer County Clerk's complaint. Her office was directly affected by the administrative order, and she was an "independently elected county official whose duties are prescribed by the Michigan Constitution, statutes, and court rules." The Court of Appeals noted that Michigan Const 1963, art 6 sec 14 states that the county clerk "shall be the clerk of the circuit court", and that legislation creating the family division "provides by its plain and unambiguous terms that the county clerk shall be the clerk of the court for the family division. . ." [MCL 600.1007].
MCL 600.571 provides that the county clerk shall be the clerk of the circuit court and:
"(f) Have the care and custody of all the records, seals, books and papers pertaining to the office of the clerk of such court, and filed or deposited therein, and shall provide such books for entering the proceedings in said court, as the judge thereof shall direct.Top of Page"(g) Perform such duties as may be prescribed by court rule. Whenever in any statute of this state, the designation 'register of chancery' occurs, it shall be deemed to apply to the clerk of the circuit court."
Defendants argued that the phrase "as the judge thereof shall direct" in MCL 600.571(F) authorized the judges to displace the clerk from family court matters. Defendants also cited a letter from SCAO which accepted the local administrative order. The Court of Appeals rejected both arguments:
"First, the statutory directive that the county clerk, as the clerk of the circuit court, shall perform her duties 'as the judge thereof shall direct' pertains to how the county clerk shall perform her duties. The statute does not affect who is authorized to perform the duties of the clerk of the court. It is clear the . . . [circuit court administrative order] completely displaces the county clerk as the clerk of the court for the family division. . . The circuit court has not directed the method of performance of the county clerk's duties but rather has prohibited plaintiff from acting as clerk of the court.However, the Court of Appeals qualified these findings:"Second, the letter from the State Court Administrative Office is not an order of the Supreme Court. This letter does not purport to rule on the constitutional and statutory issues raised in plaintiffs' complaint. The technical, ministerial compliance noted by the Supreme court's administrative office has no bearing on the issues raised in the present case."
"While we find that the county clerk is the clerk of the court for the family division of the circuit court and, as such, has the right and duty to perform certain functions for the court as provided in statute and court rule, those mandated functions do not encompass all of the clerical type duties which are necessary to process juvenile, child protective, name change, adoption and ancillary proceeding cases in the family division of the circuit court. Some, but not all of the duties traditionally performed by juvenile court staff, and not reserved to the county clerk by statute or court rule, include drafting petitions based on oral or written complaints, preparing summonses and subpoenas, preparing and mailing notices of hearing and notices of right to appeal, preparing orders and mailing same to all interested parties, drafting and arranging for publication of notices of hearing, and, in some courts, electronically recording court hearings and preparing transcripts thereof. Those duties may lawfully be assigned by the judges to family court staff rather than to the county clerk.The Court of Appeals directed the circuit court to allow the county clerk to perform those duties assigned to her by statute and court rule, but declared lawful those sections of the administrative order which "delegate to family court staff duties other than those assigned to the county clerk by statute or court rule.""Therefore, we hold that the judges . . . must permit . . [the clerk] to perform her legally authorized duties as clerk of the court for the family division of the circuit court, but are not required by the constitution, statute or court rule to permit her to perform other duties (such as, but not limited to, those listed above) that are not reserved to the clerk of the court by statute or court rule."
[Ed note: Because of the importance of this issue to all courts, I have let the Court of Appeals' language speak for itself, without further comment from me.--Faye]
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