November judge race could mean more court change
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ALPENA - After several years of turnover, Alpena's court system could once again face a shake-up after Alpena County Prosecutor Cynthia Muszynski threw her hat into the ring as a candidate for the position of Alpena County probate judge.
Just before Tuesday's filing deadline, Muszynski announced her intent to oppose current probate judge Alan Curtis.
That potential shift would follow a sizable changeover in Alpena-area courts in the past two-and-a-half years.
Since November 2019, the joint circuit and district courts of Alpena and Montmorency counties have seen a half dozen changes in judgeships, a new prosecutor, turnover in the district court administrative office, and the reconfiguring of the courts' indigent defense system.
An election of Muszynski to the judgeship would add another to the string of court changes - a possibility that Muszynski called "growing pains" and Curtis said would jostle a system that's finally achieved some stability.
Curtis has filled the probate judgeship since Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in October chose him to complete a partial term of retiring Judge Thomas LaCross.
In Alpena County, the probate judge automatically serves as 88th District Court judge.
Muszynski won the prosecutor position in the 2020 election. Previous to that election, she held the role as the appointee to complete the term of then-prosecutor Ed Black when Whitmer appointed Black as 26th Circuit Court judge.
Should Muszynski win the November election, state statute dictates that Black would appoint her successor.
LaCross's retirement from the probate and district court bench in October followed the retirement of Benjamin Bolser from the Montmorency County probate judgeship in April 2021.
Bolser handled many Alpena 26th Circuit Court cases following the departure of then-judge Michael Mack, who Bolser suspended from the court docket after the Michigan Supreme Court named Bolser chief judge in November 2019.
The Michigan State Police said in 2019 that they were investigating Mack but would not explain the nature of the investigation.
Whitmer appointed Black to the 26th Circuit Court in February 2020, leaving a vacancy in the county prosecutor's office. Bolser, as chief judge, appointed Muszynski to the role in March 2020.
When Bolser retired in 2021, Whitmer appointed attorney Lora Greene as Montmorency County probate judge and the Michigan Supreme Court announced Black as chief judge of the circuit.
In addition to the judgeship shuffle, the county lost its longtime 88th District Court administrator to retirement in mid-2021.
That position is now vacant.
The formation of the Northeast Michigan Regional Defender Office, completed in 2021, also impacted local court operations.
Curtis and Muszynski will appear on the ballot for the November election. Had more people run for the position, the race would have appeared on the August ballot, according to the Michigan Secretary of State's office.
This story has been edited to reflect that the Alpena County probate judge race will appear on the November ballot. That information was incorrect in a previous version of the story.
Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693 or jriddle@thealpenanews.com. Follow her on Twitter @jriddleX.