29th district judge to retire in March

Judge Laura Mack

Court will be adjourned for Judge Laura Mack who has announced her retirement effective March 1.
Governor Jennifer Granholm appointed Mack to the judicial post at the 29th District Court in Wayne on Jan. 12, 2004 to replace Judge Carolyn Archbold, who retired at the end of 2003, leaving three years on her elected term. In a mandated election in 2004, Mack was affirmed by the voters to serve out the remainder of Archbold's term that ended in 2006.  In 2006, Mack was again elected, this time to a full 6-year term and she was re-elected in 2012 and 2018.
As Mack is in the middle of her six-year term, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will appoint her replacement.

Mack said she is planning to remain a director of Families Against Narcotics NW Wayne Chapter, the Wayne 100 Club, and the Michigan Association of Treatment Court Professionals. She will also maintain memberships in the State-sponsored Mental Health Court Advisory Committee, the Wayne County Jail Diversion project, and the Michigan Diversion Council Incompetent to Stand Trial Workgroup, the Wayne County District Judges Association and the Michigan District Judges Association. She is also willing to serve as visiting judge for local courts and will be taking over as president of the Wayne Rotary Club in July. 
Mack said she is committed to ending stigma and helping people with substance use disorders and mental illnesses stay out of the criminal justice system by securing the treatment they need.  Her husband, Milt Mack, is also deeply committed to this ideal.  Milt Mack is on a task force with state court administrators, chief justices and community mental health professionals throughout the country to re-write civil commitment and forensic laws to more effectively and humanely deal with people suffering from mental illness in the court systems. 
Laura Mack said that her 16-years of experience as a judge has given her valuable insights into these mental illness issues, and she said she is looking forward to assisting and traveling with her husband.
Mack said she also plans to volunteer her time to help mental health courts throughout the state, including the Western Wayne County Regional Behavioral Treatment Court that she started at the 29th District Court 6 years ago. She said it is very important to her that the treatment court continues.
“I will help my successor continue the other outreach court programs, such as the Truancy Diversion Program, the Eviction Diversion Program, juvenile jurisdiction, the Teen Court program, Law Day and Constitution Day activities at local schools, and the informal internship program,” she said in a prepared statement.
In her “spare” time, Mack said she is looking forward to exercising regularly and learning yoga.
Mack praised the staff at the court and said that Court Administrator Linda Gable is recognized as one of the best court administrators in the state.
“The 29th District Court has an excellent staff, with very low turnover, as well and is regarded by court users (lawyers and the public) as being prompt, courteous, fair and competent,” Mack said.  She said she will do everything she can to ensure that that reputation continues after her retirement. 
“It's been a pleasure serving the people of Wayne for over 16 years, and I am looking forward to the next chapter,” she said.
Her replacement must be a lawyer in good standing who lives in Wayne and who has at least five years of experience as a lawyer. That appointed judge would then be required to be on the ballot in 2020.
If elected in November, Mack's replacement would serve until the end of her current term, 2024.