Felony Appointments

Oakland County utilizes a roster of assigned attorneys when making appointments on felony cases. Each attorney is placed into a category based on their experience, and appointments are made by rotating through the attorneys eligible for each category.

The IDSO is also responsible for appointing attorneys on probation violation matters (VOPs), and to handle the daily arraignments conducted from the Oakland County Jail.

This system is overseen by the Criminal Assignment Committee (CAC). This committee is comprised of 11 members - the Chief Attorney of the IDSO, five attorneys appointed by the OCBA President, and five Judges appointed by the Circuit Court Bench. The five Judges are non-voting members of the committee.

The current Judicial members are: Hon. Martha Anderson, Hon. Cheryl Matthews, Hon. Yasmine Poles, Hon. Kwamé Rowe, and Hon. Victoria Valentine.

The current attorney members are: Emily Long, Michael McCarthy, Mitchell Ribitwer, Layne Sakwa, and J. Randall Secontine.

The CAC meets quarterly, or at the discretion of the chairperson, to review new applications. Questions regarding the Criminal Assignment System should be directed to idso@oakgov.com.

The CAC has established policies and procedures, which are available here:

• Criminal Assignment Committee Policy and Procedures

Attorneys wishing to be added to the felony appointment roster should fill out and submit this application form. Please note that the questions asked in this application are based on the requirements of MIDC Standard 7:

• Attorney Application

Roster attorneys wishing to have their category level changed should fill out and submit the attorney application form. Reclassifications are not consider new applications, but the information provided on the application form will help the CAC determine whether to grant the request for reclassification.

Attorneys who have been newly admitted to Oakland County's roster should review the following protocol document for a basic outline of the common progression of most felony cases in our system:

• Protocol Document for New Attorneys

Misdemeanor Appointments

For more information about how to be added to the roster of appointed attorneys in the 52nd District Court, please contact the following people:

• 52-1: Erica Perry
• 52-2: Justine Fernandez
• 52-3: Hope Dinnan
• 52-4: Brenda McGowan