Contact her at sarah.leach@hollandsentinel.com or follow her on Twitter @SentinelLeach. In the same order appointing Kengis, the Court also reappointed Judge Michael Buck to chief probate court judge for Allegan County and Judge Joseph Skocelas to chief judge of the 57th District Court. Ascension Borgess Allegan Foundation Director . Kengis was the chief prosecuting attorney when. Allegan County Circuit Judge Margaret Zuzich-Bakker (MLive File Photo)Emil Lippe | MLive.com. The incidents occurred between September 2015 and early 2018 when he perjured himself during a court hearing. The people of Allegan County are served by the Michigan Third District Court of Appeals, a circuit court, district court, and probate court. The emails from Judge Bakker were an editorial expressing discontent with the case and as inquiry as to the breakdown in police and procedure that compromised the investigation, Schikora wrote in court documents. Beginning January 1, 2022, Judge Roberts Kengis assumed the chief judge leadership of the 48 th Circuit Court. The appeal was heard by Allegan County District Judge William Baillargeon. Call, or visit the court's website if listed above. In Allegan County, the presiding judge of the Family Court is the Honorable Michael L. Buck. Message to the Board of Commissioners, Prosecutor Koch, Judge Kengis, Judge Bakker, Sheriff Baker and the people who witness unconstitutional and corrupt actions in Allegan County and do nothing.. Allegan County Circuit Court Judge Roberts Kengis was asked to disqualify himself from the case and agreed to do so in a hearing Thursday. The jury found the Defendant guilty based on that evidence. Bakker, who remains on the bench, served in the role for 11. He is being convicted of multiple sex offenses which will impact his getting teaching or counseling positions in the future., Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Pokagon Band celebrates Four Winds South Bend hotel expansion, Chamber of Commerce welcomes real estate firm to downtown Dowagiac, School safety gains, FFA students highlighted at Cassopolis Board of Education meeting, 2nd & Main coffeehouse opens in downtown Niles. .courts-header { font-size:150%;background-color:#334aab;color:white;} Ballotpedia provides comprehensive coverage of the 100 largest cities in America by population as well as mayoral, city council, and district attorney election coverage in state capitals outside of the 100 largest cities. After serving as the elected prosecuting attorney for the county, Kengis appointment to the circuit court occurred in March of 2018 by then Governor Rick Snyder when Judge Kevin Cronin resigned. He buried Aundria's body on their property, later moving her body when the Bowmans moved from Holland to the Hamilton area shortly afterward. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. The same date Kengis starts as a Circuit Judge. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. ALLEGAN Judge Roberts Kengis took over supervision of the 48th Circuit Court on Jan. 1 as chief judge after he was appointed by the Michigan Supreme Court to replace Judge Margaret Zuzich Bakker in the role. After the emails were discovered, Villar saidhe filed complaints against Koch and Bakker with the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission and Attorney Grievance Commission, respectively. Have a news tip? Judge Kengis handles all the case types that are dealt with in circuit court: criminal felonies, civil cases with a value over $25,000.00, divorce, custody, and paternity cases, personal protection order cases, child protective proceedings, guardianships, adoptions, and appeals from district court and administrative bodies. In this case, she was comfortable with the agreement. The same date Kengis starts as a Circuit Judge. It was after his arrest in November 2019 for Doyle's murder that he began asking to speak to detectives about the circumstances of Aundria'sdeath. 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Bakker was Allegan County's first female circuit court judge. Although Koch didn't directly prosecute the case for the county, she was the supervisor of the assistant prosecutor who did. After the trooper left the witness stand, Bakker emailed Koch: This trooper didnt do a very good investigation. More:Appeals court walks back new trial for man after prosecutor, judge emailed during trial. The Michigan Supreme Court will ultimately decide after agreeing to hear oral arguments in the case of Daniel Loew. Penny Brown . Judges Jon Van Allsburg, Mark Feyen and Bradley Knoll were reappointed to two-year terms as chief judges of Ottawa County's 20th Circuit Court, Probate Court and 58th District Court, respectively. Please enable JavaScript in your browser for a better user experience. a murder he committed in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1980, Hamilton man pleads guilty to 1980 murder of Virginia woman, Wife: Hamilton man killed their daughter in 1989, dismembered and buried body, Receive 3 months of all-access to The Sentinel's award-winning digital coverage for $1, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Judge Kengis noted that Field will be sentenced before him on Friday, Sept. 10 in Cass County Circuit Court at 8:30 a.m. http://www.allegancounty.org/Government/CC/Index.asp?pt=, The Public Access to Court Records (PACER), 36th Judicial Circuit Court Van Buren County. Allegan County, All civil cases at law over $300., Civil cases in equity., Proceedings in habeas corpus., Felonies and misdemeanors, Proceedings in quo warranto., Prohibition and certiorari cases., Appeals from magistrate court, municipal court, and administrative agenc, Phone Number: 269-673-0300 2023 www.hollandsentinel.com. Assistant Allegan County Prosecutor Emily Jipp called a state police trooper as her second witness. Is any of the above incorrect? They have four children. Bowman told detectives thaton the day he reported 14-year-old Aundria missing, March 11, 1989, he came home to find Aundria had broken into her parents' room, normally kept locked, and was getting ready to run away. Click here to contact us for media inquiries, and please donate here to support our continued expansion. The case has volleyed around the higher court system after Loew's conviction in August 2019. The half hour hearing Friday afternoon featured Field being sworn in and agreeing to the no contest pleas on the seven charges. Ms. Kochs response acknowledged the criticism and acknowledged the breakdown in procedure. The status of those grievances is unknown, as the merits of Loew's appeal are still pending. While he was a prosecutorinthe Allegan County Prosecutor's Office, he participated in discussions about the unsolved disappearance of Aundria Bowman with the Allegan County Sheriff's Office and a cold-case panel of other prosecutors and detectives in Lansing. Judges Elections Allegan County, Michigan Circuit Court 48th Circuit Court, Michigan Margaret Bakker (Chief judge) Kevin W. Cronin [1] District Court Michigan Fifty-seventh Judicial District Court William Baillargeon (Chief judge) Joseph S. Skocelas [2] Probate Court Allegan County Probate Court, Michigan Michael L. Buck [3] See also Villar, a private practice attorney, later lost the electionby a handful of votes. On Wednesday, Oct. 5, the high court announced it would hear arguments in the case, but limited the scope to the ramifications of discovered communications where the presiding judge overseeing Loew's initial trial was sharing her opinion of the case through emails with the head prosecutor. Koch said in an email to MLive: "While I respect Judge Baillargeon, I disagree with the basis of his decision in granting a new trial. Judge Kengis is an Allegan Circuit judge who was assigned the case when Cass County Circuit Judge Mark Herman recused himself. This trooper has been given additional personal training since this investigation., Bakker then wrote: One more question..this victim was not referred for a medical, do you know why?, Koch replied a few minutes later: Yes, because the prior (assistant prosecuting attorney) assigned to the case did not catch that it was missed nor did anyone else who touched the file., Lynch said that the ex parte communication, or communication with only one side, showed bias and violated the Code of Judicial Conduct. Judiciary Courts of the Stt is located at 113 Chestnut St in Allegan, Michigan 49010. Kengis replaces Judge Margaret Zuzich Bakker who had been elected to the circuit court in 2010. Beginning January 1, 2022, Judge Roberts Kengis assumed the chief judge leadership of the 48 th Circuit Court. Jury trials routinely require two to three days to decide amidst other . ", Bakker wrote back, "One more question this victim was not referred for a medical, do you know why?". The Allegan County decisions included the new appointment of the Honorable Roberts A. Kengis as chief justice of the 48 th Circuit Court, and the chief judge reappointment of the Honorable Michael L. Buck to the Allegan County Probate Court and the Honorable Joseph S. Skocelas to the 57 th District Court. Bakker, who remains on the bench, served in the role for 11 years. In a process run by a county clerk, the candidates choose slips of paper from a box that say either "elected" or "not elected".[2]. He said Field will be given the opportunity to withdraw his plea if Kengis decides to sentence him to more than a year in jail or change any other terms of the agreement.