Nearly two decades after he first took the bench, embattled Jackson County Circuit Judge Thomas Wilson is retiring at the end of the month.
“Although I have greatly enjoyed my service to the public, I have now decided it is the opportune time for me to retire,” Wilson wrote in a letter to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer dated Feb. 10.
The news comes about five months after the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission filed a public complaint against him, alleging widespread misconduct.
Whitmer will appoint a replacement to finish his 6-year term, which ends in 2030. The vacancy is listed on the governor’s website. The deadline to apply is Friday.
Wilson was first elected in November 2006 and succeeded in 2007 the late Charles Nelson, who retired. Wilson was last elected in 2024, when he ran unopposed.
In September, the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission issued a public complaint against Wilson. It alleges Wilson was drunk in public on several occasions, sexually harassed court employees and did not disclose business relationships with attorneys who appeared before him.
Further, the complaint contends Wilson meddled in cases involving himself and his relatives and, in some instances, allowed cases to linger for more than a year without rendering decisions or taking action called for by a higher court.
The complaint is still listed as pending on the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission website, but in the past, complaints have been dropped when a judge resigns or retires.
At the close of a commission proceeding, any penalty deemed appropriate, like suspension, removal or censure, is typically related to judges’ positions in office.
A message left Wednesday afternoon for the interim director of the tenure commission was not immediately returned.
Efforts Wednesday to reach Wilson and the lawyer representing him in the complaint, Thomas Cranmer, were unsuccessful.
In a response to the allegations, Wilson denied sexual harassment claims, but admitted to making a comment about a colleague’s breasts.
He said he drank heavily from about 2013 to about 2021, but stopped drinking in 2020 or 2021 and now limits his consumption.
Wilson admited he did not disclose business relationships with attorneys or disqualify himself when they appeared before him and conceded he failed to report civil case delays to the State Court Administrator’s Office, noting he has his own system in place to track the matters. He denied it was to conceal delays, stating he did it so he “would have time to get the stuff done without it showing up as being late.”
Wilson said he did not improperly interject himself into a case involving a family member, but did admit to interjecting himself in another case, for which he was the sitting judge, according to his response.
Wilson has been subject to many controversial relationships and complaints over the years, including the 2007 beau of elections complaint alleging a Personal and Professional Business relationships that included Diane Rappleye, and the Jackson county prosecutors office that constituted not only conflict of interest but also illegal partisan "umbrella's" that also constituted election fraud.
read that full story here about Election Fraud
in 2019 Petitioner also complained on Judge Wilson and Judge Rappleye to the JTC and then again in a Complaint for Petition for Certatori to the Supreme Court.
In Oct 2024 Judge Diane Rappleye announced she would not be resuming the bench at all, and that will no longer be her office after November. Because after November, she would not be a probate judge anymore. Jennifer Kelly was elected that Nov. and now resides Bench at Probate and Family Court.
A judge's retirement is a personal, voluntary decision regarding their employment status, and does NOT automatically constitute a right to ask for reversal, even if the judge is disgruntled. A reversal is a legal determination by a higher court that a lower court's ruling was incorrect. Retirement does not nullify previous rulings, nor does it imply a mistake was made, making them entirely distinct actions. A judicial reversal due to Judical behavior occurs when a judge's actions, such as demonstrated bias, prejudice, improper ex parte communications, or severe abuse of discretion, deny a party a fair trial and affect their substantial rights. Reversal typically requires proving the misconduct influenced the outcome, not just that the behavior was inappropriate
Behaviors that would warrant reversal are:
Actual Bias or Prejudice: Evidence of personal bias against a party or attorney, or a financial interest in the case, warrants reversal.
Abuse of Discretion: Decisions that are arbitrary, unreasonable, or unjust—such as improperly admitting prejudicial evidence or excluding crucial evidence—can lead to reversal.
Ex Parte Communications: Private, off-the-record, or improper communication with one party or their council, violating the fairness of the proceedings.
Misapplication of the Law: A judge failing to properly interpret or apply the law to the facts.
Appearance of Impropriety: When a judge fails to adhere to judicial codes of conduct, creating a reasonable perception of bias that impacts due process.
Reversal is rare, but not unheard of; results are often difficult to argue due to the limited scope - the error must generally affect the substantial rights of the parties or the overall fairness of the proceedings.
A retired federal judge can be RECALLED TO PERFORM JUDICAL DUTIES
Retired federal judges may be recalled to perform judicial duties, meaning they continue to act as judges even after retirement. Some judges have historically timed or reversed their retirement decisions based on political changes, this is a procedural choice, not a legal reversal of their judicial decisions
Retirement is a voluntary end to active service, often to allow a successor of a preferred political party to be appointed, or to move to senior status. Its already been announced Gov. Whittmer will be appointing a successor soon. Whitmer is constitutionally required to fill judicial vacancies, and her administration frequently draws from a pool of qualified candidates, including those with backgrounds in public service and labor advocacy. In March 2023, Whitmer signed legislation backed by the AFL-CIO to repeal Michigan's 2012 "right-to-work" law, a major, long-term goal for the union. Whitmer
has maintained a very close, collaborative, and heavily endorsed partnership with the Michigan AFL-CIO, focusing on strengthening unions, increasing worker pay, and expanding training. Whitmer has stated she is "focused her judicial appointments on appointing judges with diverse, labor-friendly backgrounds to state courts, including the Michigan Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. The partnership ensures that the judicial appointments reflect a commitment to worker-friendly policies and legal interpretation and also aims to shape the judiciary's approach to labor issues and worker rights."
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