2.6​Personal Jurisdiction in Circuit Court¹⁶

“Typically, a circuit court obtains [personal] jurisdiction over a defendant if they waive the preliminary examination in district court or have been bound over to circuit court after a preliminary examination.” People v Kennedy (On Remand), ___ Mich App ___, ___ (2024). “Personal jurisdiction can also be obtained through an indictment or information.” Id. at ___ (holding that “any error in the indictment [issued by a one-man grand jury], including those pertaining to subject-matter jurisdiction, amount to a procedural defect that defendant should have raised in the trial court or on direct appeal”). In Kennedy, the “[d]efendant never challenged the trial court’s exercise of personal jurisdiction on the indictment throughout the lengthy lower court proceedings.” Id. at ___. “Instead, he elected to engage in every stage of the proceedings, including entering a plea of not guilty at the arraignment and participating in a 15-day jury trial.” Id. at ___. “At minimum, these actions amount[ed] to implicit consent to the trial court’s exercise of personal jurisdiction.” Id. at ___ (noting that the “defendant waived any challenge to personal jurisdiction by failing to challenge the invalid indictment before trial” as required by MCL 767.76). Accordingly, “any error in the circuit court’s exercise of personal jurisdiction amounted to harmless procedural error.” Kennedy, ___ Mich App at ___.

“[J]ust as the filing of the magistrate’s return confers jurisdiction on the circuit court, . . . it has the effect of divesting the district court of jurisdiction[.]” People v Taylor, 316 Mich App 52, 54 (2016), citing People v McGee, 258 Mich App 683, 695 (2003); People v Sherrod, 32 Mich App 183, 186 (1971) (emphasis added). “Having once vested in the circuit court, personal jurisdiction is not lost even when a void or improper information is filed.” Goecke, 457 Mich at 458-459, citing In re Elliott, 315 Mich 662, 675 (1946).

“[T]here is a presumption against divesting a [circuit] court of its jurisdiction once it has properly attached, and any doubt is resolved in favor of retaining jurisdiction.” People v Veling, 443 Mich 23, 32 (1993) (citation omitted); see also People v Reid, 488 Mich 917, 917 (2010). “Moreover, any legislative intent to divest jurisdiction once it has properly attached must be clearly and unambiguously stated.” Veling, 443 Mich at 32 n 13 (citation omitted); see also Reid, 488 Mich at 917. “Having once vested in the circuit court, personal jurisdiction is not lost even when a void or improper information is filed.” Goecke, 457 Mich at 459 (citation omitted).

“[W]here the circuit court acquires jurisdiction over a defendant because of a felony charge, that jurisdiction is not lost because of a subsequent conviction of a lesser included misdemeanor.” Veling, 443 Mich at 32-33, citing People v Schoeneth, 44 Mich 489, 491 (1880). “Similarly, Michigan courts extend circuit court jurisdiction to all same transaction offenses an adult is alleged to have committed, even though the circuit court had original jurisdiction over only some of the offenses[;] [f]or example, where an adult is charged with a felony and a misdemeanor, the circuit court has jurisdiction to dispose of the entire case, even though a circuit court has no jurisdiction over misdemeanor charges alone.” Veling, 443 Mich at 33 (citations omitted). See also Reid, 488 Mich at 917 (reversing “the Court of Appeals[’] decision that the circuit court did not have jurisdiction to try the defendant’s misdemeanor charge once the felony charge was dismissed on the day of trial[]”).

Part C: District Court Proceedings