Governor Rick Snyder will have the duty of appointing a replacement for Livingston County District Court Judge Suzanne Geddis.

Voters last month elected Geddis to the newly-created circuit court judgeship, which will be added January 1st of 2019, while a district court judgeship will be eliminated effective December 31st of this year. Geddis contacted the Governor’s office and was told she would have to resign her district court position by December 15th in order for Gov. Snyder to appoint her successor. Had she resigned after then, Governor-elect Gretchen Whitmer would have had the responsibility of making the appointment. Geddis submitted her resignation letter November 13th, making her last official day as a district court judge Friday, December 14th.

With her experience in district court and her 16 years as a prosecutor prior to that, Geddis says she’s “more than ready to take on the job of being a circuit court judge and maybe making more of a difference in the type of cases that they have”. Still, she says she will miss some parts of working in district court, specifically naming the fast-paced cases because it “never gets boring”. She hopes to continue presiding over the Intensive Treatment Mental Health Court, which she says has been very interesting and rewarding. Reflecting on the program’s participants and seeing their growth throughout recovery, Geddis says “they come alive”.

Despite having been a district court judge for 14 years, Geddis will have to attend “judge’s school” for a week prior to taking her seat in circuit court. Geddis says she will likely hear cases in district court for about a month even after becoming a circuit judge in order to keep the docket moving while the newly appointed judge gets settled in. (DK)