EDITOR:I am writing this as a service to our community for parents that are struggling with Dickinson County Friend of the Court.

After doing some research, I discovered that Michigan law provides ways to express concerns about operations of the friend of the court offices.

The alternative ways are to submit written comments to the chief judge of the court (Honorable Richard J. Celello, Chief Judge) in response to the annual review of the friend of the court.

Each year, chief judges are required to conduct a review of the friend of the court, normally in June. All comments and grievances received are included in the summary of the review and the report is filed in July.

Another alternative to comment on friend of the court operations is through a local citizen advisory committee. Each county's board of commissioners or executive is to appoint a citizen advisory committee for the friend of the court office.

That committee is advisory only, but among its duties is a requirement to advise the chief judge and the county board of commissioners about the friend of the court's duties and performance and the community's needs relating to the office's services.

A citizen advisory committee can only respond to grievances related to a business operations issue of the friend of the court office. Contact your county commissioner or a representative of the board of commissioners for information about your county's citizen advisory committee.

Always remember that if you have filed a grievance and were not satisfied with the response or actions were taken against you, you should file the grievance again with the chief judge of the court (Honorable Richard J. Celello, Chief Judge).

Matt Edgar

Vulcan