Grosse Pointe Woods Municipal Judge Ted Metry, left, with club President Fred Ollison III, was the guest speaker at the Monday, March 7, luncheon meeing of Rotary of Grosse Pointe. Judge Metry was first elected in 2009 and ran unopposed for his second term in 2013.
 
The Grosse Pointes have the last four municipal courts in Michigan. Judge Metry believes they could be consolidated into one district court due to the somewhat light workload, cost, and some of the limitations imposed on these courts, but he does feel there is a benefit to having such a local system handling Grosse Pointe cases. One of the limitations is that civil suits cannot exceed $3,500 while districts courts can go up to $10,000.
 
Judge Metry is concerned about the increased number of crimes and drug use he is witnessing.  He believes that marijuana is a gateway to harder drugs and that medical marijuana makes it easier to obtain and that being sold in an edible form makes it more potent.
 
His court operates three days a month handling traffic citations, zoning offenses, landlord-tenant cases, and arraignments and probable cause hearings for felonies.  Although only in session 36 times a year, he estimates that he was in court an extra 50 times last year to handle warrant requests and arraignments.
 
Judge Metry believes that an important part of his job is working with kids who get in trouble.  He tries to avoid incarceration and prefers counseling and probation to deter further incidents. 
 
(Photo by George R. McMullen Jr.)