3rd Circuit Judge of Circuit Court - Incumbent - 6 Year Terms
Source: app.enhancedvoting.com
What does this office do?
- Deciding trials in the county
- Ruling on evidence and setting sentences in criminal cases
- Deciding family, probate, and civil disputes
Affects: Public Safety and Crime Control, Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties, Housing Affordability,
Candidates:
Nonpartisan · Incumbent
Bradley L. Cobb has served as a Wayne County circuit judge in the criminal division since 2022, after 25 years as a county assistant prosecutor. His prosecution work included violent crimes, community prosecution, and diversion assignments.
Records: Impartiality 1 for, Legal Competence 1 for
Nonpartisan · Incumbent
Carla G. Testani has been a Wayne County family court judge since 2018, after two decades of private family-law practice covering divorce, custody, mediation, and arbitration. She has served on the Michigan Judges Association executive committee and her court's strategic planning committee.
Records: Legal Competence 2 for
Nonpartisan · Incumbent
Chandra W. Baker-Robinson is a Wayne County Third Circuit Court judge assigned to the Criminal Division. Elected in 2020, she previously spent nearly 12 years as a Wayne County prosecutor and led the office's arson unit.
Nonpartisan · Incumbent
Charlene M. Elder has served as a Wayne County civil division judge since her appointment in December 2005. She was earlier a magistrate in Dearborn's 19th District Court and practiced consumer-protection, commercial, and general litigation law.
Records: Public Safety and Crime Control 1 for
Nonpartisan · Incumbent
Chris Dingell is a Wayne County circuit judge in the family domestic division. He represented Michigan's 7th Senate district from 1987 through 2002 and holds degrees from the University of Michigan and Detroit College of Law.
Records: Legal Competence 1 for, 1 against
Nonpartisan · Incumbent
Christopher M. Blount is a Wayne County Third Circuit Court judge assigned to the Criminal Division. He joined the circuit court in 2022 after serving on Detroit's 36th District Court since 2017; before taking the bench, he practiced criminal defense, probate, and civil litigation.
Nonpartisan · Incumbent
Cylenthia LaToye Miller is a criminal division judge in Wayne County who served on Detroit's 36th District Court from 2006 to 2019. She founded Street Outreach Court Detroit, which helps homeless residents clear minor cases, and once led Detroit's employment and training department.
Records: Legal Competence 3 for, Civil Rights 2 for, Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties 1 for,
Nonpartisan · Incumbent
David J. Allen is a Wayne County Third Circuit Court judge serving in the Civil Division and on the Business Court. Appointed to the circuit bench in 2003, he has served in both criminal and civil divisions and received the Michigan Judges Association's Hilda Gage Award in 2023.
Records: Legal Competence 1 for
Don Knapp
WonNonpartisan · Incumbent
Don Knapp is presiding judge of the criminal division in Wayne County, appointed to the bench in 2018. He previously spent nine years as Livonia's city attorney, served on the Livonia City Council, and practiced municipal, commercial, and probate law.
Records: Impartiality 2 for, Legal Competence 2 for
Nonpartisan · Incumbent
Edward J. Joseph has been a Wayne County civil division judge since his appointment in 2014. He spent more than two decades in private practice handling civil, probate, juvenile, and criminal litigation, and served as a special assistant attorney general.
Records: Legal Competence 1 for
Nonpartisan · Incumbent
Helal A. Farhat is chief judge pro tem of Wayne County's circuit court and presiding judge of its family division, appointed in March 2019. He was earlier a magistrate in Dearborn's 19th District Court and spent 17 years in private practice.
Nonpartisan · Incumbent
Margaret M. Van Houten has been a Wayne County criminal division judge since her appointment in 2012. She practiced law for more than a decade, clerked for Brian Zahra on two Michigan courts, and served four terms on the Dearborn Heights City Council.
Records: Legal Competence 4 for, 1 against, Civil Rights 1 for, Impartiality 1 for
Nonpartisan · Incumbent
Mary Beth Kelly is a Wayne County family court judge who served on that bench from 1999 to 2010, including as its first woman chief judge. She was a Michigan Supreme Court justice from 2011 to 2015 and earlier a commercial litigation partner at Dickinson Wright.
Records: Legal Competence 4 for, Civil Rights 1 for
Nonpartisan · Incumbent
Nicole L. Castka is a Wayne County Third Circuit Court judge assigned to the Criminal Division. Appointed in 2025, she previously spent more than two decades as a Detroit criminal-defense lawyer and sole practitioner.
Records: Legal Competence 2 for
Nonpartisan · Incumbent
Nicole N. Goodson has served as a Wayne County circuit judge since November 2022. She previously led the Legal Aid and Defender Association as president and chief executive, representing domestic violence survivors and residents facing homelessness.
Records: Legal Competence 2 for, Civil Rights 1 for
Nonpartisan · Incumbent
Shannon Nicol Walker has been a Wayne County criminal division judge since 2015. She began as a public defender with the Legal Aid and Defender Association and later served as a Wayne County assistant prosecutor, including in the child and family abuse unit.
Records: Impartiality 7 for, Legal Competence 7 for
Sources: waynecountymi.gov2