Court Opinion

ID: 9692965
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 16:14:20.179512+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:19:38.468462
License: Public Domain

R. M. Maher, J.
(concurring). I concur with the result reached by the majority, except with the holding that a probate judge has the inherent right to set the salaries of the court employees in the first instance. I believe that the use of inherent power of a court should be exercised with caution and only when implicated by necessity to preserve the court’s ability to discharge its constitutional function, a statutory function, or ability to continue the overall operation of the court.
Judicial autonomy does not require the abrogation of the current statutory scheme for setting compensation of probate court employees. I believe each funding dispute which invokes the use of inherent power analysis must be decided on a case-by-case basis, while recognizing and respecting the inherent power and authority of each co-equal branch of our tripartite form of government.
For an example of what I deem to be an appropriate method of resolving this type of dispute, see 17th District Probate Court v Gladwin Co Bd of Comm’rs, 155 Mich App 433; 401 NW2d 50 (1986).