Child welfare, youth justice key issues for open Ingham County judge seat

LANSING — More people are running for an open judge position in Ingham County's 30th Circuit Court than any judicial election in at least the past 20 years in the county.

Judicial seats don't open often; Judge Janelle Lawless, who will retire at the end of this year, has been on the bench in Ingham County since 2002. Chief Circuit and Probate Court Judge Richard Garcia has served since 2000. 

The opening has drawn interest from a court administrator, an Ingham County commissioner, an assistant prosecuting attorney, an administrative law judge, the litigation manager for the Michigan Department of Corrections and a family law attorney.

Family court — which is where the newly-elected judge will likely serve — handles child abuse and neglect cases, adoptions, domestic matters, emancipation, juvenile justice, name changes and personal protection orders. 

Whoever is elected will be partially responsible for the welfare of children and families in the county. 

Six people are running for the open seat:

• Ingham County Probate Court Administrator and Registrar Morgan Cole, age 34
• Family law attorney Colline Cheltenham, 47
• Ingham County Commissioner Carol Koenig, 56
• Ingham County Assistant Prosecuting AttorneySteve Kwasnik, 45
• Michigan Administrative Hearings System administrative law Judge Landis Lain, 58
• Michigan Department of Corrections Litigation Manager Brandon Waddell, 36

All six candidates have their own children and said they know the challenges that come with being a parent. All project a passion to protect Ingham County's children from harm. 

Child welfare problems to overcome

All six candidates acknowledged there are shortcomings in the existing child welfare system. And while it may not be a judge's job to reform the system, there are actions that can be taken from the bench. 

Accountability from Child Protective Services employees and caseworkers is essential in making sure cases are fair and in the child's best interest, Cole, Kwasnik and Waddell said. 

"Those folks need to be held accountable, to make sure they are giving families a shot at staying together," Kwasnik said.

Cole, who works closely with family court as the probate court administrator and registrar, said the fact that family court staff is overworked and the system is underfunded can cause problems. Those issues may lead to shortcuts, like relatives filing for guardianship instead of opening a CPS case, which never gives parents a chance to fix their issues, he said. 

"We have a caseload like no other," Cole said. "Oftentimes, we push things through...We can't do that. We need to read every paper, dive into everything."

Waddell said often people and cases get erroneously swept under the rug because of a high case load and underfunding. 

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Cheltenham and Lain both said they would like to see more services and programs available to families during their rehabilitation. Substance abuse recovery programs, counseling, mental health treatment and rehabilitation after physical or sexual abuse are key, Cheltenham said. 

For Koenig, making sure people understand the court's purpose is key. Information on the family court processes should be readily available, and the courts should be easy to access. She wants to make it clear: The court is there to serve the people, and no one should feel like they've been left behind or tossed out in the cold, Koenig said. 

Experience with family law

Both Cheltenham and Cole cited personal reasons for why they are drawn to family law and this position. Cheltenham lived in an abusive household and watched her parents divorce, she said. She handles mostly family law cases, which take up about 90% of her time, she said. She's been licensed to practice law since 2014. 

"It's vital for this particular court in recognizing this is not your everyday criminal docket or civil docket," Cheltenham said. "It's highly emotional, highly sensitive and people are in the worst time of their life."

Cole's parents also divorced, and her mom was a drug addict. While she did not interact with the court as a child, she knows what it's like to struggle with family issues, she said. She's worked on the bench as the probate registrar, as well as in the Friend of the Court, the county clerk's office and as a law clerk for Judge Rosemarie Aquilina. With this work, Cole said, she has not fought for one side or the other, but remained neutral. She obtained her law license in 2011. 

Koenig said she "brings more to the table" than the average attorney running for judge. As a county commissioner, she has already worked to change the criminal and civil justice system, she said. She's handled divorce and custody cases, she said. She's been licensed since 1995. 

Kwasnik is on his fourth rotation through family court as a prosecutor in Ingham County. He's been with the county prosecutor's office for 15 years, where he has tried many sexual assault and child abuse cases. He's had a law license since 2004. 

As an administrative law judge, Lain said she knows how to handle a docket, understands the rules of evidence and has worked with children her entire life. She has taken in teenagers who have nowhere else to go, she said, and has a family of her own. She's had cases in both civil and criminal court. She's been practicing law since 1988. 

Waddell said he's dealt with family issues quite a bit as a prosecutor. He's tried family criminal cases, but said he does not have experience with cases inside family court aside from handling several criminal juvenile cases. Waddell said he's already been studying and doesn't think he'll have a problem hitting the ground running. He's been licensed since 2017. 

"A lot of times, (cases) are about compassion, about being there and being selfless to make sure this person's life and family life is better," Waddell said. 

Juvenile justice reform

The only matters involving crime handled in family court are juvenile cases. Kids 16 and under can be charged as a juvenile. 

Cheltenham, Cole, Koenig and Lain all advocate for earlier interventions that may mean kids never have to step foot into the courthouse. Cheltenham said the focus should be on abolishing the school-to-prison pipeline, making changes before kids even walk into the courthouse.

That means reducing racial disparities in arrests and suspensions, she said. 

Kwasnik said judges should be monitoring why minorities may have extra scrutiny put on them, seeing why the contacts were made. 

People need to believe the racial disparities exist before steps can be taken to reduce them, Lain said. That means looking at sentencing guidelines, finding out how certain crimes are and aren't enforced and seeing where the problem lies in the community. 

Cole, Kwasnik and Lain all also stressed the importance of restorative justice. Cole said she wants to see more of it done in juvenile cases to help show the kids the harm done by their actions.

Kwasnik said the same kids often keep coming back to court and are well known. They're generally nice kids, but struggle when they lose the structure of court programming, he said. He's seen restorative justice "reach kids in a way that isn't being done now."

When it comes to keeping kids in detention centers and pulling them from the community, Cole, Koenig, Cheltenham all agreed, for the most part, it should not happen except as a last resort. 

"We think young people grow up way faster than they do," Koenig said. "They don't have the resources or tools to manage crises (like adults do)." 

One of those tools could be mental health counseling, Lain said. 

"There need to be more programs developed so they can be taught to help themselves," she said. "(The court) could hopefully provide some sort of structure for their lives so they can follow up and ultimately be successful on their own." 

Waddell said he has never worked in juvenile court and would not want to guess what reforms were needed without having more interactions with the system. 

Contact reporter Kara Berg at 517-377-1113 or kberg@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @karaberg95.