After nearly 15 years as the center of the courtroom’s intensity, the District and Probate Court judge steps aside as of midnight Sunday, ready for a slower pace.

“As of Monday, I’m officially done, done, done, done,” LaCross said on Tuesday as he sat in his office, cleared of the family photos that formerly decorated its walls and shelves.

Relaxing in jeans and sweater in place of his usual black robe, LaCross described the whirlwind of presiding over Alpena courts.

Local voters originally elected him to serve as probate and family court judge. The pace quickened when the state in 2015 changed Alpena’s judgeships, removing the solitary District Court position and “dumping it on me,” he said.

News Photo by Julie Riddle Retiring Judge Thomas LaCross chats with a lawyer as he prepares to step down from the bench in Alpena’s 88th District Court on Tuesday.

After he steps down for good, LaCross plans to write a letter to the state’s Supreme Court, with a copy to the governor and state legislators, asking that a separate District Court judgeship be restored in Alpena for the sake of his successors and the people of the county.

LaCross recalled one rapidfire day in which he presided over 65 cases on the District Court bench, rushing through the presentation of evidence and attorneys’ arguments to keep up with the court’s hectic docket.

“That’s just not fair,” he said. Litigants are entitled to a judge’s ear, “and not to hear, ‘Next, next, next.'”

Still, he believes the American judicial system is the best in the world, and he’s been able to use his position on Alpena’s bench to witness crime trends in Northeast Michigan and try to find ways to create solutions for them.

Criminal behavior, he said, is “the tip of the iceberg,” bearing evidence of bigger problems looming beneath.

If the community could do away with the abuse and neglect of children, it would see the end of crimes related to drugs and alcohol, LaCross believes.

He’s seen an increase in addiction leading to assaults and thefts and witnessed mental health issues landing local people in jail instead of in treatment.

He’s also seen a rise in innovative thinking by local organizations and individuals trying to stem the tide of drug abuse and to address the underlying issues that lead to crime.

With 8th-grade educations and 10 kids to raise, his parents “worked their tails off,” in the process teaching him to dive cheerfully into hard work, LaCross said.

The president of his church youth group in high school and on student council in college, he has always loved to work in the community, serving on boards and volunteering.

“You get involved and do stuff,” his parents taught him, he said. “Joyfully, happily.”

When no longer a judge and no longer obligated to remain neutral, he’ll volunteer more and throw his efforts into causes in which he believes, starting with a give-if-you’d-like fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Club of Alpena at his retirement party on Saturday.

Lady Justice wears a blindfold as she holds her scales. As the robed representative of justice, a judge, also, must see each person as equal, whether they have come to court for the first time or the 15th, LaCross said.

Though he couldn’t speak of it from the bench, his Christian faith helped him to treat each person with dignity, no matter who they were or what they had done, he said.

“In each person, God exists,” he said. “Always.”

He plans to return to private practice, probably with a law firm — although he’s keeping mum about the details — and practice law at a comfortable pace.

He wants to learn to talk more slowly and take his time, his 65-cases days behind him.

He’s not leaving the area any time soon, LaCross said.

“Of all the places in the world, Alpena’s it,” he said affectionately. “Perfect? No. But a good, good place.”