Richard D. Kuhn, Jr., Chief Judge

Education

Experience

Involvement

Jodi R. Debbrecht Switalski, Chief Judge Pro Tempore

Judge Jodi Debbrecht Switalski won election in 2012 to the 51^st District Court in Waterford after being appointed in 2010 by the Governor of the State of Michigan.  She currently serves as the Chief Judge Pro Tempore for the District Court.  Before assuming her judicial seat, she served as an appointee to the 45A District Court in Berkley, Michigan as a Magistrate and Court Administrator.  She earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Missouri after pursuing her master’s degree in Human Development, Family Studies and Public Policy.

While serving as Judge in the Waterford District Court, Judge Debbrecht Switalski serves as Vice President of the Executive Board for the Waterford Youth Assistance, is a Board Member for the Waterford Breakfast Optimists and initiated a public response to the Spice/K2 (synthetic marijuana) epidemic in the tri-county area through a series of Townhall forums the first being in Waterford.  She has extended this education into the schools and is currently partnering with Families Against Narcotics to start an Oakland County chapter based in Waterford.  She is an active member of her community serving as a youth mentor, coaching Little League, sponsoring Movies Under the Moonlight, Miles for Mason, Christmas in Action, Concert in the Park and delivering the oath to the new cadets at the Oakland Community College Law Enforcement Academy.  She was recently named a Foundation Fellow with the Oakland County Bar Association which consists of fewer than 5% of the practicing attorneys in Oakland County.

Judge Debbrecht Switalski is a member and sponsor of the Waterford Coalition for Youth, Founder and Coach of the Waterford High Schools Mock Trial Program, a member and sponsor of the Waterford Chamber of Commerce, and also a member of the Michigan Center for Civic Education where she was selected as Presiding Judge over the State Final Competition for the Michigan Mock Trial Competition for 2012 and 2013.  She is also an active member in the following organizations:  Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the Oakland County Bar Association, the Michigan Drug Court Professionals, the State Bar of Michigan, the Michigan Association for Justice, the Oakland County District Judges Association, and the Michigan District Judges Association.  She serves as an advisory board member for Childsafe of Michigan and was given the highest endorsement by the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan – Outstanding – of which she is also an active member.   

She is currently working on implementing a Veteran’s Track/Court in the 51^st District Court that provides wrap around services to men and women who have honorably served in the armed forces and who now find themselves in the court system.   She is also implementing a county wide substance abuse education program for youth.