Complaint: Oakland County Judge Kirsten Nielsen Hartig created 'climate of fear'
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
An Oakland County district court judge is facing a public misconduct complaint with accusations that she failed for months to produce a report on a psychological exam she underwent, bullied court staff, created a climate of fear and improperly dismissed cases.
Judge Kirsten Nielsen Hartig of 52-4 District Court in Troy was formally accused in a complaint announced June 4 by the Judicial Tenure Commission, the state's judicial oversight body.
The complaint is the first step in a court-like process, after which the Michigan Supreme Court could decide to suspend or remove a judge, at the most severe.
Hartig could not immediately be reached for comment, but a spokesperson, Daniel Cherrin of Royal Oak-based public affairs and communications firm North Coast Strategies, issued a statement on her behalf, saying the judge respects the 'important role' of the commission and has patiently waited for the chance to address the allegations against her.
'After years of inquiry, the Commission has produced a complaint based on disputed claims and a flawed process," he said in the statement, later adding: "The public deserves confidence in both the judiciary and its oversight. That confidence depends on transparency grounded in fact, not fiction.
'Judge Hartig has served the public and the bench for more than a decade with integrity, transparency, and a commitment to justice. The Commission is expected to do the same.'
Hartig has 14 days to issue a formal response to the commission.
A public complaint itself is a rarity for the tenure commission. Even when judges are found to be at fault, their misconduct cases are most often resolved behind closed doors. The process can also take years.
Hartig, however, is the third Michigan judge in recent months to have a formal, public complaint issued against them.
The 52-4 District Court handles cases in Troy and Clawson.
More: Taylor judge called chief judge names, flipped off security cameras, complaint says
The chief judge of Hartig's court ordered that she be restricted to civil, landlord-tenant and small claims cases as of May 27.
Following the chief judge's order but before the announcement by the commission, Bill Mullan, public information officer for Oakland County, said in an email that it would let the order speak for itself.
"The order was issued to ensure fairness in the courtroom," Mullan said at the time. "We refer any future questions to the Judicial Tenure Commission."
Hartig had been under scrutiny by the commission in recent years, the Free Press previously reported. A former chief judge asked the commission to investigate in 2020, according to a filing in federal court by the county amid a lawsuit by a former court administrator.
The court administrator in the lawsuit claimed she had been wrongfully terminated after making complaints about Hartig mistreating staff and the public. It came after she cooperated with the commission amid interviews of more than 40 people, she said in the lawsuit.
More: Troy court worker who claimed judge was bully, abusive accepts $100K secret settlement
More: 'No teeth': Cases of 2 embattled Michigan judges highlight concerns with accountability
More: Visitors from Norway, fan pages, gifts: How judges' online fame affects Michigan courts
Though Hartig denied the allegations of creating a hostile work environment and said the administrator was doing a poor job, the county settled the lawsuit in 2023 with a $100,000 payout.
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald also sparred with the judge in recent years, accusing her in 2022 of dismissing criminal cases because of a grudge with prosecutors regarding scheduling. In a court filing, the prosecutor's office said Hartig was frequently reversed on appeal and 'has a long-standing practice of seeking to impose her own personal view of what the law should be via the criminal cases before her.'
Hartig, at the time, said prosecutors knew she wanted them to appear in person, and they did not heed the law.
"They didn't do their job and now they'd like to blame the judge for enforcing the law,' she said.
Hartig was first elected to the bench in 2010 and was elected to her third six-year term in November 2022.
Reporter Dave Boucher contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Complaint: Oakland County Judge Hartig created 'climate of fear'
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