News & Announcements

Below is a list of press releases, newsletters and announcements from the Third Judicial Circuit of Michigan. Bookmark this page and visit for future updates. 

To request film and electronic media coverage of Court Proceedings click here.

For questions or to get in touch with our communications department, contact:

Public Information Officer
313-218-3575
media@3rdcc.org

History of Third Judicial Circuit

The history of the court includes Detroit Recorder’s Court, one of the oldest courts of record in the U.S. Detroit Recorder’s Court traces its origins to Detroit’s Mayor’s Court established in 1824 and was formally created as a separate court in 1857. It functioned as a court of limited jurisdiction for decades with exclusive authority over felony criminal cases arising within the City of Detroit, as well as traffic and ordinance violations, but it did not hear civil matters.

Pursuant to state law, Detroit Recorder’s Court was abolished and merged into the Third Judicial Circuit of Michigan effective October 1, 1997, with its judges becoming circuit court judges. Its final Chief before consolidation was the Hon. Vera Massey Jones. This merger integrated its criminal jurisdiction into Third Circuit Court, marking the end of a distinct institution that had handled many of Detroit’s most significant criminal cases for over a century.