03/04/2019- There will soon be a pair of openings in Menominee County’s Court System. The Menominee County Board and the County Prosecutor, Bill Merkel, have jointly announced that Prosecutor Merkel has tendered his Notice of Retirement, effective April 5th. Merkel’s retirement is one piece of the settlement of a lawsuit filed by Merkel against the county claiming he was promised continued participation in the County’s Defined Benefit Pension Plan, rather than the Defined Contribution Plan, after he took the Office of the Prosecutor in September of 2015. Menominee County’s Circuit Judges will make the appointment to fill the Prosecuting Attorney vacancy.
Also, Judge Jeffery Barstow has officially announced his retirement, effective April 1st. He’s been serving as a Menominee County District Court Judge for the past 34 years. A 2012 state decision has Barstow’s position scheduled to be eliminated by the end of March, but legislation currently working its way through the Michigan House and Senate seeks to reverse that.