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16th Judicial Circuit Court
40 N Main, Mount Clemens, MI 48043
(586) 469-7171

Honorable Diane M. Druzinski

Judge Diane M Druzinski graduated from Oakland University Summa Cum Laude and received her Juris Doctorate, Magna Cum Laude, from University of Detroit Mercy in 1994.  Judge Druzinski was elected to the Circuit Bench in 2002 and has been serving in the Civil/Criminal Division since then. Judge Druzinski is currently Chair of Community Corrections Advisory Board.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Macomb County Court Building
40 N. Main St., 2nd Floor
Mt. Clemens, MI 48043

STAFF:

Position

Name

Number

Judicial Secretary

Aileen Ciavatta

(586) 469-2571

Court Clerk

Jessica MacKenzie

(586) 469-5707

Court Officer

Deputy Jeff Haase

(586) 469-2157
Court Reporter Angela Little (586) 469-5832

Prosecutor

Steven Fox

(586) 466-4115

Probation Liaison

Karla Molly

(586) 428-9084

 

SCHEDULING DAYS & TIMES

Judge Diane Druzinski’s courtroom is now open to the public.

*** Please note the Post Pandemic/Covid 19 schedule changes, effective July 26, 2021 until further notice.  We are attempting to incorporate the efficiency of Zoom and telephone conferences where appropriate, and are open to any and all suggestions going forward. 

Thank you for your courtesy and cooperation with my staff as we work out a hearing schedule for the ‘new normal”.

CIVIL CASES

Motions - Monday at 8:30. Most motions will be decided on the briefs pursuant to MCR 2.119(E). The Court will prepare an Order and e-serve the parties.  Some motions will be held in open court or on Zoom and the parties will be notified by Thursday preceding the Monday hearing.

EDSC, Status/Settlement Conferences – Wednesday and Thursday morning at 8:00 am.  Unless notified otherwise, the conferences will be held by telephone and the Court will initiate the calls.

Oral arguments on appeals - Monday at 8:30 A.M.

Secretary of State Appeals - Monday at 8:30 A.M.

Trials - Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

CRIMINAL CASES

Effective July 26, 2021 all criminal matters (motions, arraignments*, pre trials, sentencings, probation violations, show causes, trials, evidentiary hearings) will be heard in person.  All counsel and defendants must appear in person, unless prior alternative arrangements are made.

Arraignment/1st Pre-Trial - Monday at 1:30 P.M.      *Arraignments for in custody (MCJ) defendants will be held via polycom from MCJ with defense counsel present in the courtroom.

Pre-Trials - Monday and Wednesday at 8:30 A.M.

Sentencing/Probation Violation/Show Cause/Review Hearings - Tuesday and Thursday at 8:30 A.M.

Evidentiary Hearings - Friday at 8:30 A.M.

 

 

POLICIES & PROCEDURES

ADJOURNMENTS

Adjournment requests of scheduled events are routinely handled by the Judge's judicial secretary (Aileen 469-2571).  A stipulation and order with the new date, signed by all counsel must be filed after approval of the adjournment.

Adjournment requests for motions are handled by the clerk (Jessica 469-5707)

Adjournment of trials must be brought by motion with all counsel appearing as a new trial date will be provided if the request is granted.

ALTERNATE SERVICE

Requests for alternate service must be accompanied by a verified motion, proposed order, an affidavit of the process server showing reasonable efforts to make service of process and a postal verification.

APPEALS

No stipulation for extension of time to file briefs on appeal will be accepted.  The party seeking the extension must file a motion.

FACILITATION/MEDIATION

Facilitation in lieu of case evaluation per MCR 2.403 - Counsel shall prepare a stipulated order naming the facilitator, date and time of facilitation and a Settlement Conference date, which can be obtained from Judge Druzinski's secretary, Aileen.

The Court strongly encourages all forms of Alternate Dispute resolution during the pendency of litigation and is specifically authorized by local court rule to order parties into facilitation.  Order can be found here. 

MOTIONS

All motions are heard on Monday at 8:30 A.M.

Judge Druzinski requires one courtesy copy of any motion and brief and all accompanying exhibits, as well as responses and replies, be submitted directly to the judge's chamber in paper format. 

Any exhibits must be appropriately tabbed.  Good practice requires that in appropriate cases, relevant portions of lengthy documents be highlighted. 

A printed copy of the e-filing transmission receipt must be attached to the front of the pleading to verify the document has been electronically filed.

Judge's copies of responses to motions will not be accepted after 3:00 P.M. the Friday preceding the motion hearing.

Following the Court's ruling on a motion the parties, who did not bring an order with them, must prepare an order on the computer in the court's hallway and have all counsel sign it

SCHEDULING ORDERS

The Court will generally issue a standard Discovery and Case Evaluation Order setting the schedule for discovery, witness lists, dispositive motions and case evaluation.

For the first adjournment request, the Judge will permit a 60-day extension of the dates set forth in the Discovery and Case Evaluation Order by stipulation of the parties.  The parties must then submit the stipulated order with new dates.

Any subsequent requests to extend the scheduling order dates must be made by motion and will only be granted upon a showing of good cause.

If a Case Evaluation date has already been scheduled, the parties must pay the $150 adjournment cost prior to submitting the order for entry.

SETTLEMENT CONFERENCES

Counsel, parties and persons with settlement authority are ordered to attend the settlement conference unless their attendance has been excused by the court.

If a matter is resolved and an Order of Dismissal is entered before the conference date, the attorneys and parties need not appear for the conference.

TRIAL PROCEDURES

Trial dates are scheduled by the Judge at Settlement Conference.

The Court's Trial Procedure Order can be found here.