2.6Automatic Waiver of Family Division Jurisdiction¹

“[Under MCL 600.606, t]he circuit court is given jurisdiction over juveniles at least fourteen years of age who commit any of the ‘specified juvenile violations,’ so that it may hear the automatic waiver cases where the prosecutor charges the juvenile as an adult. . . . Correspondingly, [under MCL 712A.2(a)(1),] the normally exclusive jurisdiction of the [Family Division] over juveniles is limited in cases where a juvenile at least fourteen years of age is charged with any of the ‘specified juvenile violations,’ so that the [Family Division] only has jurisdiction if the prosecutor chooses to file a petition in the [Family Division] instead of authorizing a complaint and warrant to proceed against the juvenile as an adult.” People v Conat, 238 Mich App 134, 141 (1999).

MCL 600.606(1) provides that “[t]he circuit court has jurisdiction to hear and determine a specified juvenile violation if committed by a juvenile 14 years of age or older and less than 18 years of age.” Although MCL 600.606(1) assigns jurisdiction to the “circuit court” and the Family Division is within the circuit court, automatic waiver cases are heard in the court of general criminal jurisdiction. See MCL 764.1f(1) (providing that the prosecuting attorney may commence an automatic waiver proceeding by “authoriz[ing] the filing of a complaint and warrant on the charge with a magistrate concerning the juvenile”); see also People v Oslund, ___ Mich ___, ___ (2024) (noting that “MCL 764.1f(2)(b) defines ‘specified juvenile violation’ as either first-degree home invasion, MCL 750.110a, or AWIGBH, but only ‘if the juvenile is armed with a dangerous weapon’”);²]MCL 712A.2(a)(1) (limiting the Family Division’s jurisdiction over “a juvenile 14 years of age or older who is charged with a specified juvenile violation” to cases in which “the prosecuting attorney files a petition in the [Family Division] instead of authorizing a complaint and warrant” for filing in the district court); see also MCL 600.1021(1)(e) (specifying that the Family Division has jurisdiction over “[c]ases involving juveniles as provided in [the Juvenile Code, MCL 712A.1 et seq.]”).

“A circuit court’s authority to exercise jurisdiction over a defendant charged with a felony committed as a minor constitutes a question of personal, not subject matter, jurisdiction.” People v Kiyoshk, 493 Mich 923, 923 (2013).³