A lawsuit filed by Livingston County against embattled 53rd District Court Judge Theresa Brennan has been dismissed.

The civil lawsuit, which claimed Brennan abused her authority for personal gain, sought in excess of $25,000 to compensate for wages that she allegedly misused. The lawsuit suggested Brennan had employees under her supervision perform personal tasks for her during working hours and that the employees’ reported time worked was paid for by taxpayer funding. Brennan denied the allegations.

While the county’s lawsuit was filed August 10th, County Administrator Ken Hinton tells WHMI the county delayed serving Brennan with the summons and complaint while waiting for the outcome of the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission hearing, which is in regards to various misconduct charges. Hinton says when the county’s complaint was filed, it was anticipated that the Judicial Tenure Commission proceedings would be concluded and that a decision would be reached before the November 8th, 2018 expiration of the summons.

However, the Judicial Tenure Commission has not published a decision, as proceedings continued Monday after wrapping up the first phase of testimony last month in Livonia. Members of the Michigan House of Representatives have filed impeachment articles against Brennan as well. Hinton says because these matters are not resolved, the county has decided to allow the initial summons to expire. As a result, the complaint was dismissed without prejudice by operation of the Michigan Court Rules.

Monday’s JTC hearing presented the final round of testimony in the proceedings. The JTC will make a recommendation to the Michigan Supreme Court whether discipline against Brennan is warranted. (DK)