PRESS RELEASE
Local attorney, Andrew Rogness, has filed the necessary paperwork with the State Bureau of Elections to fill the District Court Judge’s position created by the announced retirement of current District Court Judge William D. Welty, announced Campaign Treasurer, retired Sturgis police officer, John Ash.
“We’ve filed all the nominating petitions and related paperwork and opened a bank account for the committee according to the Bureau’s rules”, Ash said. “Now we’re officially authorized to begin our campaign, with the primary election coming up on August 7, 2012 and the general election taking place on November 6th.”
Rogness is a 1983 graduate of the Law School at the University of Notre Dame and a cum laude undergraduate of Michigan State University. He has served as a Judge Pro Tem in LaGrange County, Indiana and is rated “Distinguished” in legal ability by a national peer-rating directory.
He is also a published author, writing articles for the Michigan Bar Journal and a legal pamphlet produced by the St. Joseph County Bar Association. He also served 16 years as an Associate Professor at Glen Oaks Community College and on several county boards, including the St. Joseph County Commission on Aging, where he spent several years as chairman. Rogness holds a Fellowship with the Michigan State Bar Foundation, served in the State Bar’s Representative Assembly (the rule-making arm of the State Bar) and was chairman of the Michigan Legal Milestones’ White Pigeon Land Office presentation committee.
Ash noted that, in all likelihood, Judge Welty’s successor will continue to handle divorce and child custody matters as the Circuit Court Judge, by assignment, an area in which Rogness has concentrated his practice since 1988. If elected, Rogness would initiate a new procedure requiring that parties and attorneys in divorce cases complete a written property disclosure and a proposal for child custody and parenting time - which would be exchanged with the other side one week before the scheduled pre-trial; items which are presently dealt with later in the case. Utilizing that procedure would compel the parties to analyze the issues in advance rather than show-up at the pre-trial with no idea how the case is going to proceed.
He would also conduct the pre-trial from the bench with the parties present, rather than in chambers with just their attorneys. That way, he could import some judicial philosophy to the parties that custody is determined by the children’s best interests, not their parents’ wants and remind them that their child support feeds and clothes their children, it’s not a penalty for getting divorced. Rogness would also share a copy of a 2005 Michigan Bar Journal article containing 101 ways parents can prevent the stress of a divorce from overwhelming themselves and their children and how they can emerge from the process with their dignity intact, knowing that the court has made the best decision in a bad set of circumstances.
Additionally, in regard to the District Court, Rogness would implement cost-saving measures, such as eliminating the current procedure of the county paying for copies and return mail in civil suits by requiring the litigants to send copies and self-addressed, stamped return envelopes. “With approximately 22,000 new filings each year, the cost of copies and postage is significant to the taxpayers in St. Joseph County,” Ash said. “Shifting that cost onto the beneficiaries of those services takes the burden off the county taxpayers”.
In the past, Rogness had formulated the current procedure utilized in the District Court by Judge Jeffrey Middleton to combine criminal arraignments with the pre-trials in order to prevent two separate events occurring several weeks apart and reduce the workload to the courthouse staff and the costs to both the prosecuting officials and defense counsel.
“Andy Rogness really has the know-how and the experience to help out with the efficient operation of the District Court if he is elected”, Ash said. “For anyone who wants to contribute or participate in the election, they can contact us at our web-site, www.RognessforJudge.com, slated to be up soon, or they can call us at (269) 432-3036”.
Judge Welty announced his retirement on December 1st, having served 20 years on the bench, both in the District Court and as Circuit Court Judge, by assignment, in the Family Law Division. “Bill Welty has done a fantastic job for the citizens of St. Joseph County”, Rogness said, “…he’s taken the time-frame for divorce cases from several years to just 6 or 7 months”. “The person who replaces Bill will have very big shoes to fill and we all owe a debt of gratitude to Bill for the service he’s provided to St. Joseph County over the past 20 years.” “His replacement will have to pick up that mantle and move forward. I would be honored if the citizens of St. Joseph County elect me to fill that vacancy”.