Kent County

Kent County Michigan is home to Michigan's second largest city Grand Rapids. There has been a remarkable renaissance in the City of Grand Rapids that began many years ago. Since this time, Grand Rapids has grown into a world class city. Kent County itself has grown too, and now has a population of more than 600,000 persons.

Kent County also has an excellent location within the State of Michigan as its residents enjoy short travel to such popular destinations as the beaches of Lake Michigan, Torch Lake and the City of Chicago. Another popular and significant landmark is the Frederik Meijer Gardens. Kent County, and the Greater Grand Rapids area is the economic powerhouse of West Michigan which is served by the Gerald R. Ford International Airport.

The Criminal Courts of Kent County

Due to its size, there are five different District Courts, each of which covers different geographic areas. If you are charged with a crime in Kent County, including drunk driving, it will originate in one of the following courts:

The 59^th Judicial District Court has two locations, one in Walker and one in Grandville.

The 61^st Judicial District Court is located within the City of Grand Rapids and has jurisdiction over all criminal cases occurring within the City.

The 62^nd Judicial District Court is divided into 62A and 62B District Courts, located in and covering the Cities of Wyoming and Kentwood respectively.

The 63^rd Judicial District Court is located 1950 East Beltline NE, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and has jurisdiction over the rest of the County.

If you have been charged with a misdemeanor in Kent County Michigan, then your case will be handled entirely within one of these district courts. If you have been charged with a felony crime, then your case will start in one of these courts but is likely to be continued at the Circuit Court.

After being sent from the District Court, all felony cases are handled at the Kent County Circuit Court. Also known as the 17^th Judicial Circuit Court, the Kent County court is located at 80 Ottawa Avenue NW, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. There are 14 Circuit Court Judges, and your case will be randomly assigned to one of these Judges for all pretrial procedures and if not resolved through plea negotiations, for trial.

If you have a misdemeanor or felony criminal case pending in Kent County Michigan, you may want to discuss the judicial assignment with your attorney. There can be some big differences in the outcome of your case based only on the judge presiding over it. The reason this is true is each judge is autonomous and each judge has a great deal of independent discretion in deciding things like the amount of bond money you'll be required to pay, the conditions that will be added to your bond, how plea and sentence negotiations are handled, and of course, the type of sentence you will be looking at if convicted.

The criminal defense attorneys at the Barone Defense Firm are frequently in all the courts in Kent County and will be happy to discuss all these factors with you. The Firm has an office in Grand Rapids, and attorney Michael Boyle, a partner with the Firm, grew up in the area.