BERRIEN COUNTY ELECTION UPDATE

By DEBRA HAIGHT
ST. JOSEPH – Berrien County voters will get the chance to elect a new county judge this November. Current Berrien County Trial Judge Sterling Schrock will not be running for re-election which creates an open six-year judicial seat at the district court level.
What looks to be a busy 2024 election year has kicked off with an area attorney announcing his candidacy for an open Berrien County Trial Court judgeship. That race is one of many voters will decide this year along with a number of local, county and state proposals expected to be on the ballot.
Area attorney Albert Mais has announced that he plans to run for judge and so far is the only person to express formal interest. The deadline for non-incumbent candidates to file the necessary paperwork to run is April 23. The filing deadline for incumbent judicial candidates is March 25.
Current Berrien County Trial Judge Sterling Schrock will not be running for re-election which creates an open six-year judicial seat at the district court level. Current Berrien County Trial Judges Brian Berger and Angela Pasula are up for re-election in 2024. Berger is currently a probate court judge, while Pasula is a circuit court judge.
Mais has been a lawyer in Berrien County for nearly 25 years and is currently a partner in the Mais & Sible law firm in St. Joseph. He has experience in all areas of the law including criminal law, probate law, civil law and landlord/tenant.
“My experience as a trial attorney has given me almost 25 years of first hand courtroom experience,” he said. “From 2003 – 2016, I was provided the opportunity to serve as counsel for indigent defendants in the South County Courthouse until 2016, when Berrien County created the Public Defender’s Office to handle all indigent defense work countywide.”
He noted that most recently he has been appointed as the Deputy Attorney for the City of Niles to handle prosecutions for ordinance and code enforcement violations.
“My decision to declare my candidacy came after many discussions with family, friends, and colleagues in our legal community. I am fortunate to have the unwavering support from many pillars in the legal community who have encouraged me to take this next step.”
I strongly believe that I have the right experience for the position and likewise, believe I am the right choice,” he added. “I realize that the position comes with great responsibility.”
Mais said he has learned not only from the mentorship of attorney Donald Bleich who he worked with when he first came to Berrien County to practice law, but also from current and past Berrien County judges.
“The judges … have taught me valuable lessons and shown me guidance that I intend to keep with me and apply, if elected to the bench,” he said. “If elected, I intend to continue to be a scholar of the law and to treat each and every litigant who comes before me with dignity, fairness and respect.”
Mais obtained his law degree from the University of Toledo College of Law in 1999 and was admitted to practice law in the State of Michigan in November 1999. He is 57 years old and he and his wife, Amber, are raising four wonderful daughters, Shanna, Rachel, Emily and Elliot.
Schrock has served on the bench since 2008 when he was appointed to a judgeship. He previously practiced law for 31 years including time in the United States Navy Judge Advocate Generals Corps and as an assistant prosecutor in both Illinois and Berrien County. He was a member of two Berrien County law firms from 1988 to 2008.
Filing deadlines are coming up as well for candidates for other offices, including those seeking local and county offices as well as those seeking state offices.
The deadline for candidates for partisan and non-partisan office in townships, villages, cities and counties is April 23 at 4 p.m. That is also the deadline for candidates for the state legislature. Candidates for local and community college school boards must file by July 23 at 4 p.m.
The deadlines for proposals to be on May, August and November ballots are also coming up. The ballot wording for proposals to be decided in the May 5 election must be filed by Feb. 13 at 4 p.m. Wording on proposals for the Aug. 6 ballot must be filed by May 14 at 4 p.m., while the deadline to file proposals for the Nov. 5 ballot is Aug. 13 at 4 p.m.
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