*****EMERGENCY NOTICE*****

To help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and to protect the health of our citizens and county employees, Saginaw County has implemented several service changes. In accordance with Governor Whitmer’s Executive Order to “Stay Home, Stay Safe” and guidance from the Michigan Supreme Court’s Administrative Orders, the Saginaw County Circuit, Probate, and District Courts continue providing services on essential hearings, despite physical access to the Courthouse being closed to the public, except by appointment.  As Courts transition to scheduling pending matters remotely, the following intermediate steps remain in effect until further notice:

1)            ALL civil cases are adjourned and will be rescheduled by the courts.

2)            ALL Jury trials in all courts will be adjourned until further notice and no potential jurors will be required to report until further notice.

3)            ALL citizen and/or student group courtroom field trips will be suspended until further notice.

4)            Participants in specialty court programs will still attend hearings and sessions by video conferencing set up and scheduled by the individual judge in charge of the program. However, they will no longer appear in court in person until further notice.  

5)            ALL non-custody Friend of The Court show-cause hearings are adjourned until further notice. All trials, pre-trials and settlement conferences set for May are adjourned until further notice. 

6)            Effective May 4^th, attorney represented motions and hearings set before Judge Borchard will be conducted via Zoom technology. Pro per motions and hearings are adjourned. Parenting Time Investigations are suspended until further notice.

7)            The Friend of The Court payment window will be closed, and Walk-Ins are suspended until further notice.  Payments can still be made online at misdu.com or by mail to MiSDU, P.O. Box 30351, Lansing, MI 489097581.  Bond amounts may be paid at Saginaw County Jail utilizing the kiosk.

8)            Friend of The Court Referee Hearings will be conducted via Zoom. However, parties may choose to appear by phone or may request an adjournment by emailing foc@PROTECTED 

9)            Probate Court is adjourning all contested cases until further notice and will be proceeding on other scheduled cases if all necessary parties and attorneys appear by Zoom or some other technology.  Any questions should be referred to Cheryl Alden at (989) 790-5325 or by email at calden@PROTECTED

10)       Probate Conferences with the Probate Registrar may be held by telephone by calling (989) 790-5323 and asking for Terry Beagle. 

11)       Circuit Court Family Division will be conducting ALL hearings through the use of Zoom or other technology. Which includes:

1. All Abuse/Neglect hearings, except trials;
2. Delinquency hearings—covering preliminary hearings for children lodged in detention, pickup order hearings, emergent probation violations, pre-trial hearings for youth in detention, dispositional reviews on children in residential facilities, Juvenile Personal Protection Orders;
3. Juvenile Probation meetings

12)       District Court Probationers should continue to report to their Probation Agents by phone or email on their report dates until further notice.  And there will be no walk-in report dates until further notice. 

13)       Payments           to            District Court     can         be           made     on-line at: https://www.saginawcounty.com/i_want_to/pay/pay_court_traffic_fines__ _restitution/index.php or by mail, or by using the drop box located at the front of the Saginaw County Governmental Center.  Personal checks are not accepted.

14)       Personal Protection Order Petitions will continue to be accepted

15)       Certain hearings may require a party to appear, but only under exigent circumstances. The Judicial staff will contact anyone with a hearing scheduled to provide instruction on how it will proceed.

16)       Do not come to court but communicate with the court by phone if:

• You are sick or have a cough fever
• You have been exposed to someone infected by COVID-19
• You have been out of the country in a place currently experiencing a     COVID-19 outbreak

If you have questions, please CONTACT US BEFORE COMING TO COURT at  (989) 790-5596.

17)       For both Circuit and District Courts, pre-trials for civil and criminal proceedings, pleas, sentencings, motions and arraignments for in-custody criminal defendants may be set by individual judges and held via Zoom or other technology. 

REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION may be made by calling the following numbers, or by email. 

For 10^th Circuit Court:

(989)-790-5470  pbecker@PROTECTED

For 70^th District Court:

Civil Division (989) 790-5381 jschmoyer@PROTECTED

Criminal Division (989) 790-5386 jroggow@PROTECTED

Traffic Division (989) 790-5590  jstewart@PROTECTED

Probation Dept. (989)790-5492 jbooker@PROTECTED

Administration (989) 790-5596 lvasold@PROTECTED

Probate Court: (989) 790-5279  bmiller@PROTECTED

Friend of The Court: (989) 790-5300 foc@PROTECTED

10^th Circuit – Family Division (989) 799-2821

Somers, Carol csomers@PROTECTED Metivier, Jenna jmetivier@PROTECTED

Darnell Jackson

Judge Darnell Jackson

Chief Judge Saginaw County Trial Courts

May 1, 2020