ADRIAN — The Adrian attorney mounting a write-in campaign for the Lenawee County Probate Court judgeship, Tamaris Henagan, believes that the county’s current probate system “is failing a lot of families.”
Henagan is trying to unseat current Probate Judge Catherine Sala, who was elected to the position in 2018. The race has taken numerous twists and turns. Earlier in the election cycle, a challenge to Henagan’s nominating petition was successful in getting her removed from the ballot. Most recently, Henagan filed a lawsuit alleging Sala does not have her primary residence in Lenawee County and is ineligible to serve. Because all of the Lenawee County judges recused themselves from the case, it was heard by a Wayne County judge. Earlier this fall, that judge declined to order Sala removed from the ballot. A second aspect to Henagan’s lawsuit sought to have Sala declared ineligible to serve as a Lenawee County judge. On that matter, Judge Patricia Perez Fresard issued a ruling on Oct. 31 that denied Henagan’s request to be allowed to challenge Sala’s eligibility, saying that Henagan’s lawsuit did not provide strong enough evidence to justify disqualification. The ruling can be read here.
Sala declined to be interviewed for this story and did not provide written information about her re-election bid, although her office did send us a copy of the Wayne County judge’s ruling.
Henagan, a private-practice attorney and former Adrian city attorney, believes that her personal story allows her to understand what many people in the probate system are going through.
The Adrian native was in high school and pregnant when she was placed in foster care, spending about the next year in various group homes or living with relatives. After she ran away from one situation at age 17, she said, she experienced homelessness, was around people who used drugs, and narrowly escaped being trafficked for sex.
And so, when it comes to many of the situations that bring people into contact with the probate system, “I’ve walked in their shoes. … so I really can relate to the people who come into the court.”
She believes that the probate court needs to be able to do more to help the families involved.
“Our system hasn’t changed much in the last 40 years,” she said. “We still have limited resources for helping families get back on track.”
Among the shortfalls she sees are a lack of foster homes for teens and a “very limited” guardian ad litem program. Guardian ad litem is the term for a person appointed by a court to look out for a child’s (or another vulnerable person’s) best interests.
Henagan said she also sees the need in Lenawee County for a diversion program “that has substance to it” to help a young person get back on track. She cited a juvenile drug court as one example of something she believes needs to be instituted.
“I do believe that a lot of these types of programs would be successful here,” she said. “We’re not doing anything to help kids get on the right path. We’re failing the families, failing the kids, failing our future community.”
She said that as an attorney who works with the public defender’s office, she already has relationships with agencies that could assist with such issues, such as Community Mental Health, that Sala does not.
“The current judge does not have positive relationships with community leaders and agencies, and that is affecting (the) effectiveness of services,” she said, adding that she knows that programs have been proposed and people are ready to write grants. “The people are there, the ideas are there,” she said.
Henagan’s campaign website is tamaris4judge.com. Sala has a campaign Facebook page at facebook.com/salaforlenaweeprobatejudge.
Note: This post was originally posted on Oct. 27, before the Wayne County judge had issued a ruling on Tamaris Henagan’s request to challenge Catherine Sala’s eligibility. It was updated on Nov. 2 to reflect the judge’s Oct. 31 ruling.
