JACKSON COUNTY, Mich. – A complaint was filed against a Michigan judge, accusing him of inappropriate conduct and abuse of power.
Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wilson is accused of being drunk in public, making multiple sexual remarks towards his coworkers, being involved in numerous conflicts of interest and delaying court cases.
Wilson has been a licensed lawyer and member of the State Bar of Michigan since 1989.
Since January 2007, he has served as a judge of the 4th Circuit Court in Jackson County.
He provided comments under oath to the Judicial Tenure Commission on Jan. 22 and April 15, 2025, regarding the multiple allegations against him.
The commission then filed a formal complaint against him on Sept. 11, 2025.
Judge accused of appearing drunk in public, at workplace
Wilson is accused of being drunk on the job between 2013 and 2015.
He allegedly appeared in public after drinking enough alcohol that others reported him smelling of alcohol, looking disheveled or appearing flushed.
Under oath on Jan. 22, 2025, he said he would sometimes leave the courthouse, drink alcohol at home and return to the courthouse.
In the summer of 2016, a chief prosecuting attorney encountered him in a courthouse elevator after regular working hours and smelled alcohol on him.
He appeared at the county election coordinator’s office during the evening of Nov. 8, 2016, which was Election Day, and he allegedly encountered several county employees, stating he had been “at the bar next door.” Witnesses stated he smelled of alcohol, and he allegedly said he was getting some Fireball whiskey and invited those present to take a shot with him.
A relative of Wilson was a defendant in a “minor in possession” case filed in 2017. In relation to the pending case, a Washtenaw County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney was approached by Wilson on Jan. 4, 2018, outside the courtroom where a proceeding in the case was about to happen. Wilson allegedly smelled of alcohol.
He also allegedly smelled of alcohol and looked disheveled at a county judges’ meeting in February 2018.
The 12th District Court Administrator encountered Wilson at a local winery during the summer of 2018, and Wilson’s speech was allegedly slurred or he was apparently asleep.
In January 2019, Wilson met a probate register and several other court staff in a funeral home parking lot and allegedly appeared to be drunk.
In March 2019, after Wilson missed a judges’ meeting, he left a Chief Judge a voicemail relating to work in which his words were allegedly slurred, and he sounded heavily intoxicated.
In May 2019, the commission asked Wilson to obtain an alcohol assessment by the State Bar of Michigan Lawyers and Judges Assistance Program.
He stated under oath to the commission on Jan. 22, 2025, that he did not obtain the assessment.
At the time Wilson had not obtained the assessment, he said he was aware that he was consuming excessive amounts of alcohol.
Sexual harassment allegations
Wilson is accused of sexually harassing several women he worked with between 2016 and 2018.
Wilson allegedly described his “sexual escapades” to women using graphic terms, including allegedly describing his genitals to a female judge in his chambers.
He also allegedly told a female judge in 2016 that he knew she was pregnant because “her boobs were bigger.”
Sometime around 2016, he allegedly told a judge that he had “been wanting to f*** [her] for a long time.”
On Aug. 2, 2018, Wilson encountered an assistant prosecuting attorney in the employee parking lot outside the courthouse, officials said. He allegedly yelled at the attorney across the parking lot.
When the attorney did not respond, he drove up to her and asked if she had heard what he said, according to court records. When she said that she had not, he allegedly stated, “Nice legs!” with a laugh.
On Jan. 22, 2025, Wilson is accused of stating under oath that he “wouldn’t doubt” that he made the remark.
On Sept. 6, 2018, Wilson allegedly leaned over a woman’s desk at an attorney’s office, lowered his voice, and said that she had lost “a ton” of weight and stated that she looked “hot—as hot as [she] used to.”
Failure to disclose conflicts of interest
Court documents state that Wilson had relationships with about seven local attorneys that he should have disclosed when the attorneys appeared before him in relation to pending cases.
Wilson stated under oath on Jan. 22, 2025, that he did not disclose the relationships or disqualify himself when the attorneys appeared before him.
Wilson also said that he owned a building in Jackson that several local attorneys appeared before him were tenants of. He said that before he became a judge, he sold the building.
According to the complaint, the landlord-tenant relationships between the local attorneys and Wilson were financial relationships that could have been grounds for his disqualification in cases the attorneys appeared before him.
Wilson allegedly did not disclose the existence of a landlord-tenant relationship with the attorneys when they appeared in cases pending before him between January 2007 and January 2022.
Wilson also co-owned investment properties with two attorneys — a car was from 2007 to mid-2017 and residential properties from 2007 through July 2016.
He allegedly did not disclose the business relationships when the attorneys appeared before him from January 2007to mid-2017.
Wilson also acknowledged under oath that not disclosing the landlord-tenant relationships and investment relationships “was wrong.”
Judge accused of accepting free legal services
It’s alleged that Wilson, in some cases, did not compensate the attorneys for their services in representing him and his children.
Interference in case proceedings
The complaint claimed that Wilson “improperly” injected himself into cases involving him as a party, his family, and on one occasion, a defendant in a criminal case pending before him.
Domestic violence case
In a case assigned to Wilson, the defendant was the subject of a no-contact order with a domestic violence victim that was initially issued by a different judge in June 2018.
The defendant was arrested on March 21, 2019, for violating the no-contact order.
On March 22, Wilson set a $5,000 bond and ordered the defendant to wear a tether. The defendant was released from custody after paying the bond.
On March 24, 2019, Wilson learned the defendant was to be arrested for another violation of the no-contact order. Wilson allegedly called 911 without the knowledge of the counsel and stated he told the defendant to go to the prohibited location to pick up his medication. He also allegedly asserted that the defendant did not understand how the monitoring process worked, and there was no need to arrest the defendant.
When Wilson was asked while he was under oath on Jan. 22, 2025, whether he made that call, he said, “Yeah, I’m sure I probably did.”
According to the complaint, Wilson’s directive to let the defendant pick up the medicine violated a pending no-contact order and exceeded his authority as a judge.
“I violated it, I shouldn’t have made the call,” he said.
Divorce case
Wilson’s personal divorce case was at issue from 2013 to 2015. Wilson was the 4th Circuit Court Chief Judge while the divorce was pending and during post-judgment proceedings.
In mid-2016, the case was transferred to Ingham County Circuit Court because a judge had dismissed themselves from the case.
Wilson initially owed a balance of $2,030 in child support, according to a draft order for the transfer.
On July 7, 2016, Wilson allegedly approached the judge ex parte to obtain her signature on an edited version of the transfer order, which reflected that the child support amount was crossed out and a $0 balance was handwritten in its place.
The judge told Wilson that she could not sign the transfer order because she had disqualified herself from the case. He allegedly told her that he “stopped” the disqualification from going through.
According to the complaint, Wilson approached the judge without his now ex-wife or her attorney present and prevented the judge’s disqualification, violating numerous canon laws.
Relative’s case
Wilson’s relative was a defendant in a 2017 juvenile retail fraud case in Washtenaw County.
Washtenaw County juvenile court moved the case to Jackson County because the defendant lived in Jackson County.
The transfer was initially rejected because of the defendant’s relation to Wilson. So, the case was sent back to Washtenaw County juvenile court.
Wilson then attended the first hearing in Washtenaw County on Aug. 22, 2017. It was questioned in court whether to transfer the case back to Jackson County.
Wilson said that the transfer “might be a problem” because he was the chief judge at the Jackson County Circuit Court.
In response to his statement, the hearing was recessed, and the matter never went back on the record.
Washtenaw County Court then transferred the case back to Jackson County through an order dated Aug. 23, 2017.
At some point between Aug. 23 and Sept. 6, 2017, Wilson allegedly approached the court referee and told her the case was being transferred back to Jackson County and asked her if she would mind presiding over it. She agreed to accept the case.
Wilson then approached the judge on the case on Sept. 6, 2017, and said the Jackson County Juvenile Court was taking the case back.
Wilson allegedly tried to talk to the Jackson County Prosecutor about dismissing his relative’s “minor in possession” case and referred to the prosecutor recently dismissing three minor in possession tickets for students at Lumen Christi High School.
After the prosecutor refused to dismiss the case, Wilson made a remark that allegedly threatened retaliation.
In the same minor in possession case pending against his relative, prior to the pretrial hearing on Jan. 4, 2018, Wilson went to the Washtenaw County assistant prosecuting attorney and allegedly mentioned the names of people he knew in Washtenaw County, including the judge and another assistant prosecuting attorney.
The complaint stated that this was his effort to influence the attorney’s prosecution of the case.
Delay in decisions
Wilson, on a number of occasions, allegedly made delayed decisions in court cases.
In one case, he was given a motion for summary disposition in 2021. The motion remained pending for three months, until he went on a planned medical leave in August 2021.
The visiting judge who was assigned to cover Wilson’s docket did not decide on the motion while Wilson was absent, officials said.
Wilson returned from medical leave in November 2021, but allegedly did not decide the motion until March 2022.
Wilson said under oath on Jan. 22, 2025, that he did not promptly resolve the pending motion of this particular case.
In a divorce case Wilson presided over in 2019, he allegedly issued his decision on written closing arguments more than a year after it was submitted to him.
Wilson also said under oath on Jan. 22, 2025, that he did not promptly resolve the pending motion of this particular case.
Disciplinary action
Wilson has 14 days to respond, according to the complaint.
He could face discipline or removal from the bench.