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Michigan Second District Court of Appeals

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Judges of the Michigan Court of Appeals

The Michigan Second District Court of Appeals is the state intermediate appellate court domiciled in Troy, Michigan. There are six seats for judges on the Second District Court of Appeals.[1][2]

Overview

The Second District office handles cases arising from the counties of Genesee, Oakland and Macomb.[3][4][5]

Published opinions of the Michigan Court of Appeals can be found here.
 
Michigan Court of Appeals
Intermediate Appellate Courts Seal-template.png
Court information
Judges:   25[6]
Founded:   1963
Salary:  Associates: $195,625[7]
Judicial selection
Method:   Nonpartisan election of judges
Term:   6 years

Judges

Judge Tenure Appointed By

Colleen O'Brien

2015 - Present

Rick Snyder

Sima Patel

March 1, 2022 - Present

Gretchen Whitmer

Adrienne Young

February 20, 2024 - Present

Gretchen Whitmer

Christopher Trebilcock

May 19, 2025 - Present

Gretchen Whitmer

Matthew Ackerman

January 1, 2025 - Present

Randy Wallace

August 12, 2024 - Present

Gretchen Whitmer

Salary

See also: Michigan court salaries and budgets

In 2025, the associate judges of the court received a salary of $195,625, according to the National Center for State Courts.[8]

Former judges

Judicial selection

The judges of the Michigan Court of Appeals are chosen in nonpartisan elections and must face re-election if they wish to remain on the court. Unlike the supreme court, candidates are placed on the ballot via nonpartisan primaries or by nominating petitions. Judges on the appeals court serve six-year terms.[9]

Qualifications

To be elected to the appeals court, a judge must:

  • be a qualified elector of his or her district;
  • be licensed to practice law in the state;
  • have at least five years of law practice experience;
  • be under the age of 70.[9]

Chief judge

The chief judge of the appeals court is selected by supreme court appointment for a term lasting two years.[9]

Vacancies

The process for filling vacancies on the appeals court is identical to that used by the supreme court. With the assistance of the judicial qualifications committee, the governor names a replacement to serve until the next general election.[9]

Elections

See also: Michigan intermediate appellate court elections, 2030


There are no official candidates yet for this election.


See also: Michigan intermediate appellate court elections, 2028


There are no official candidates yet for this election.


See also: Michigan intermediate appellate court elections, 2026


There are no official candidates yet for this election.


See also: Michigan intermediate appellate court elections, 2024

Non-incumbent

General election

General election for Michigan 2nd District Court of Appeals

Matthew Ackerman (Nonpartisan) defeated Latoya Willis (Nonpartisan) in the general election for Michigan 2nd District Court of Appeals on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Matthew Ackerman
Matthew Ackerman (Nonpartisan)  Candidate Connection
 
55.0
 
565,378
Image of Latoya Willis
Latoya Willis (Nonpartisan)  Candidate Connection
 
45.0
 
461,806

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 1,027,184
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Nonpartisan primary

The primary scheduled for August 6, 2024, was canceled. Matthew Ackerman (Nonpartisan) and Latoya Willis (Nonpartisan) advanced from the primary for Michigan 2nd District Court of Appeals without appearing on the ballot.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Incumbent

General election

General election for Michigan 2nd District Court of Appeals (2 seats)

Incumbent Adrienne Young (Nonpartisan) and incumbent Randy Wallace (Nonpartisan) won election in the general election for Michigan 2nd District Court of Appeals on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
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Adrienne Young (Nonpartisan)
 
51.7
 
703,175
✔
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Randy Wallace (Nonpartisan)
 
48.3
 
655,701

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 1,358,876
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Nonpartisan primary

The primary scheduled for August 6, 2024, was canceled. Incumbent Randy Wallace (Nonpartisan) and incumbent Adrienne Young (Nonpartisan) advanced from the primary for Michigan 2nd District Court of Appeals without appearing on the ballot.

See also: Michigan intermediate appellate court elections, 2022

Special election: Incumbent seat

General election

Special general election for Michigan 2nd District Court of Appeals

Incumbent Sima Patel (Nonpartisan) defeated Michael D. Warren Jr. (Nonpartisan) in the special general election for Michigan 2nd District Court of Appeals on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Sima Patel
Sima Patel (Nonpartisan)  Candidate Connection
 
56.7
 
467,524
Image of Michael D. Warren Jr.
Michael D. Warren Jr. (Nonpartisan)  Candidate Connection
 
43.3
 
356,424

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 823,948
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Regular election: Incumbent seat

General election

General election for Michigan 2nd District Court of Appeals

Incumbent Colleen O'Brien (Nonpartisan) won election in the general election for Michigan 2nd District Court of Appeals on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Colleen O'Brien
Colleen O'Brien (Nonpartisan)
 
100.0
 
654,634

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 654,634
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

See also: Michigan intermediate appellate court elections, 2020

General election

General election for Michigan 2nd District Court of Appeals (2 seats)

Incumbent Mark Cavanagh (Nonpartisan) and incumbent Jonathan Tukel (Nonpartisan) won election in the general election for Michigan 2nd District Court of Appeals on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Mark Cavanagh (Nonpartisan)
 
57.0
 
838,435
✔
Image of Jonathan Tukel
Jonathan Tukel (Nonpartisan)
 
43.0
 
632,060

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 1,470,495
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

See also: Michigan intermediate appellate court elections, 2018

Special election: District 2

General election

Special general election for Michigan 2nd District Court of Appeals

Incumbent Jonathan Tukel (Nonpartisan) won election in the special general election for Michigan 2nd District Court of Appeals on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Jonathan Tukel
Jonathan Tukel (Nonpartisan)
 
100.0
 
683,743

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 683,743
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Regular election: District 2

General election

General election for Michigan 2nd District Court of Appeals (3 seats)

Incumbent Kathleen Jansen (Nonpartisan), incumbent Elizabeth L. Gleicher (Nonpartisan), and incumbent Deborah Servitto (Nonpartisan) won election in the general election for Michigan 2nd District Court of Appeals on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Kathleen Jansen (Nonpartisan)
 
34.2
 
592,091
✔
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Elizabeth L. Gleicher (Nonpartisan)
 
33.0
 
570,856
✔
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Deborah Servitto (Nonpartisan)
 
32.8
 
566,771

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 1,729,718
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Previous election results


Ethics

The Michigan Code of Judicial Conduct sets forth ethical guidelines and principles for the conduct of judges and judicial candidates in Michigan. It consists of eight overarching canons:

“
  • Canon 1: A Judge Should Uphold the Integrity and Independence of the Judiciary
  • Canon 2: A Judge Should Avoid Impropriety and the Appearance of Impropriety in All Activities
  • Canon 3: A Judge Should Perform the Duties of Office Impartially and Diligently
  • Canon 4: A Judge May Engage in Extrajudicial Activities
  • Canon 5: Applicability of the Code of Judicial Conduct to Judicial Candidates
  • Canon 6: A Judge Should Regularly File Reports of Compensation Received for Quasi-Judicial and Extra-Judicial Activities and of Monetary Contributions
  • Canon 7: A Judge or a Candidate for Judicial Office Should Refrain From Political Activity Inappropriate to Judicial Office
  • Canon 8: Collective Activity By Judges[10][11]
 ”

The full text of the Michigan Code of Judicial Conduct can be found here.

Removal of judges

Judges in Michigan may be removed in one of three ways:


History

The Michigan Court of Appeals was created by the Constitution of 1963, Article VI, Section 1, under which the State of Michigan has "one court of justice." According to the Michigan Court of Appeals website, "The judicial power of the state is vested exclusively in one court of justice which shall be divided into one supreme court, one court of appeals, one trial court of general jurisdiction known as the circuit court, one probate court, and courts of limited jurisdiction that the legislature may establish by a two-thirds vote of the members elected to and serving in each house." In 1965, when the Court of Appeals first assembled, it had nine judges: Chief Judge T. John Lesinski, Chief Judge pro tempore John W. Fitzgerald, Judge Robert B. Burns, Judge John H. Gillis, Judge Donald E. Holbrook, Judge Thomas Giles Kavanagh, Judge Louis D. McGregor, Judge Timothy C. Quinn and Judge John D. Watts. The court had offices in three cities: Lansing, Detroit and Grand Rapids. The court opened another office in Southfield in 1994, which was moved to Troy in 2004.[3]

Office address

Columbia Center, 201 West Big Beaver Road, Suite 800, Troy, MI 48084-4127[15]

State profile

Demographic data for Michigan
 MichiganU.S.
Total population:9,917,715316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):56,5393,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:79%73.6%
Black/African American:14%12.6%
Asian:2.7%5.1%
Native American:0.5%0.8%
Pacific Islander:0%0.2%
Two or more:2.6%3%
Hispanic/Latino:4.7%17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:89.6%86.7%
College graduation rate:26.9%29.8%
Income
Median household income:$49,576$53,889
Persons below poverty level:20%11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015)
Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Michigan.
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Michigan

Michigan voted for the Democratic candidate in four out of the seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, 12 are located in Michigan, accounting for 5.83 percent of the total pivot counties.[16]

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Michigan had 11 Retained Pivot Counties and one Boomerang Pivot County, accounting for 6.08 and 4.00 of all Retained and Boomerang Pivot Counties, respectively.

More Michigan coverage on Ballotpedia

See also

Michigan Judicial Selection More Courts
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Courts in Michigan
Michigan Court of Appeals
Michigan Supreme Court
Elections: 2026 • 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017
Gubernatorial appointments
Judicial selection in Michigan
Federal courts
State courts
Local courts

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Michigan Courts, "Second District Judges," accessed November 6, 2024
  2. ↑ Michigan Courts, "Case Filing District Map," accessed November 6, 2024
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Michigan Courts, "Court of Appeals History," accessed July 9, 2014
  4. ↑ Michigan Courts, "Election District Map," accessed October 12, 2015
  5. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named judges
  6. ↑ Legislation to reduce IAC judges from 28 to 24 was enacted in 2012; the reduction is to be performed by attrition over time, not by removing sitting judges from their positions.
  7. ↑ The salary of the chief judge may be higher than an associate judge.
  8. ↑ National Center for State Courts, "2025 Salaries and Rankings," accessed October 8, 2025
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 National Center for State Courts, "Methods of Judicial Selection," accessed August 27, 2021
  10. ↑ Michigan Judicial Branch, "Michigan Code of Judicial Conduct," accessed August 18, 2025
  11. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  12. ↑ State of Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission, "What the Commission CAN Do," accessed July 17, 2023
  13. ↑ Justia US Law, "Michigan Constitution Article VI - JUDICIAL BRANCH § 25 Removal of judges from office," accessed July 17, 2023
  14. ↑ JUSTIA US Law, "Michigan Supreme Court Decisions," accessed August 18, 2025
  15. ↑ Michigan Courts, "COA Clerk's Office," archived May 9, 2015
  16. ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.


Michigan courts

Federal courts:

Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Michigan, Western District of Michigan • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Michigan, Western District of Michigan

State courts:

Michigan Supreme Court • Michigan Court of Appeals • Michigan Circuit Court • Michigan Court of Claims • Michigan District Courts • Michigan Municipal Courts • Michigan Probate Courts

State resources:

Courts in Michigan • Michigan judicial elections • Judicial selection in Michigan

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