3 days ago
Formal complaint accuses Metro Detroit judge of mistreating court employees
A Michigan district court judge is accused of refusing to provide a psychological evaluation to the Judicial Tenure Commission and creating a "climate of fear among court personnel" in a new formal complaint.
A complaint was filed on Wednesday against Judge Kristen Hartig, who served in the 52-4 District Court in Troy, Michigan. In a statement, Chief Judge Travis Reed said he requested that Hartig be temporarily removed from the docket.
Hartig has 14 days to respond to the complaint.
"The Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission plays a key role in maintaining the integrity of our courts. While due process is vital, accountability helps preserve public trust in the judiciary,' Reed said. "Based on the limited information available to me at the time, I removed Judge Hartig from the most serious cases within the authority I had as chief judge. Now that a formal complaint has been filed, further action may be appropriate. I believe temporarily removing her from her full docket would be in the best interest of the court and the communities we serve."
According to the complaint, the commission began investigating misconduct allegations before April 2024. The commission concluded that mental health was an issue and ordered Hartig to undergo a psychological evaluation. After receiving her results, Hartig was ordered by the commission to provide the documents; however, she refused despite the commission extending the deadline to provide them.
The complaint says that Hartig eventually submitted the documents six months after the commission requested them. The complaint included the findings from the exam, but it was blacked out as requested by Hartig, "pending a determination by presiding authorities as to whether it should be kept sealed during the pendency of the proceedings."
The complaint claims that Hartig required a court administrator to be available during scheduled absences and scolded the administrator for not answering emails when she attended a funeral. Hartig allegedly told the administrator that she must be in contact with her every day unless she was "unconscious," according to the complaint.
The commission accused Hartig of ordering the court administrator to find a substitute for a clerk, although that was not part of the administrator's duties. Additionally, Hartig was accused of directing a pregnant probation officer to stand up and show her belly during a Zoom meeting without the officer's consent.
According to the complaint, Hartig is accused of improperly dismissing felony cases with prejudice to punish Oakland County prosecutors over scheduling issues and for prosecutors opposing hearings during the COVID-19 pandemic. The commission says Hartig only had the authority to dismiss cases without prejudice.
In one of those cases, the commission says Hartig's dismissal "was not made in good faith and/or with due diligence."
Hartig became a district court judge in 2010, according to her bio on the court's website. She currently oversees the Recovery Treatment Court, which works to rehabilitate people, and has conducted town halls to educate residents on the opioid epidemic.
