Kim Worthy, Wayne County prosecutor, told the committee the City of Detroit recently passed an ordinance to assume responsibility for many lower-level misdemeanors that the county prosecutor previously handled. Worthy said the change aims to preserve the county prosecutor's resources for violent felony cases and other high-priority work. She said the county will continue to handle certain misdemeanor categories that the office considers ineligible for transfer, including domestic violence, stalking and certain firearm-possession-while-intoxicated charges; a list of excluded offenses was shared with the committee in materials.

Worthy said the change took about a year and a half of outreach and that other municipalities in Wayne County already handle their own low-level misdemeanors. She told commissioners the Detroit ordinance passed city council last month, and that the transition to city-handled misdemeanors will require work: Detroit must be integrated into the county's case-management systems and complete administrative steps. Worthy estimated it will take at least a year, and likely longer, before the shift is fully operational.

Worthy also introduced Carmen Farmer, a project manager in the prosecutor's office, who outlined an 18-month plan to develop community courts (restorative justice'style community court pilots) in Wayne County. Farmer described a three-phase approach: strategic planning (project plan, metrics, steering committee and community impact panels), infrastructure planning (sourcing neighborhood facilities with wraparound services and establishing intake pathways and standard operating procedures), and training and technical assistance (restorative justice facilitation training, onboarding of partners and a pilot launch). Farmer said community impact panels would allow community members to participate in determining community-focused sanctions and service plans where appropriate, especially when there is not a single identifiable victim.

Commissioners asked about court buy-in, referrals, and data on recidivism. Farmer said the steering committee will include judges and district court representatives to enable referrals and partnerships. Worthy described an existing juvenile restorative/mediation program called "Talk It Out," run in partnership with local dispute-resolution providers, and said diversionary juvenile programs have shown high success in reducing repeat offending; she also cautioned about limits on measuring prevented offenses. Commissioners and the prosecutor discussed planning for pilot sites (expected to be three pilots in different County areas), a future bidding process for service providers, and the need for sustainable staffing and funding. Worthy said she will return during budget hearings to request additional funding to scale the program.

No formal vote was required for the informational presentation; commissioners expressed support and asked to participate on the steering committee and in future planning.