Quick Facts
Glenn J. Page is Interim Executive Director and General Counsel of the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission (JTC) effective February 1, 2026.
Page’s return to leadership follows the abrupt retirement of longtime Executive Director Lynn Helland and represents a notable leadership shift at Michigan’s judicial oversight agency.
Not via press release — the change appears first on the JTC’s updated public staff page.
Monday, February 2, 2026 Brings a Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission Staff Update.
The Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission (JTC) has quietly updated its official staff directory to reflect a leadership change. As of February 1, 2026, Glenn J. Page is listed as the Interim Executive Director and General Counsel of the Commission. The update quietly appeared without fanfare on the JTC website’s staff page.
The Commission has yet to issue any kind of press announcement.
This comes on the heels of Lynn Helland’s abrupt retirement, and just before Kirtsen Nielsen Hartig’s Judicial Tenure Commission Trial, scheduled for this week.
Page does not appear to have any Oakland County ties, unlike that of Chairperson Thomas J. Ryan.
Clutch has reached out and is awaiting comment from the JTC as well as Interim Director Page.
Who Is Glenn J. Page?
Page is a veteran of Michigan’s judicial oversight apparatus:
- Previously served as a staff attorney with the JTC.
- Served in past leadership roles, including Deputy Director and Interim Executive Director.
- Retired from the Commission in July 2023 before returning to lead the agency again in an interim capacity.
Page’s return to leadership brings institutional continuity at a moment of transition.
Background: Helland’s Retirement
This leadership shift follows the departure of Lynn Helland, who had served as Executive Director and General Counsel of the JTC for years. Helland’s retirement, effective January 31, 2026, was detailed in a January Clutch Justice report that flagged broader questions about the Commission’s internal culture and turnover.
That piece noted concerns among stakeholders about staffing changes and institutional memory at the Commission, including the potential implications for how judicial discipline cases are managed and prosecuted.
A Question the Commission Has Yet to Answer
The timing of this leadership change raises an unavoidable question: what does this mean for how the Judicial Tenure Commission will handle cases involving judicial capacity and cognitive decline?
Under prior leadership, the JTC faced sustained criticism for its handling of Lisa Gorcyca, a case that many observers viewed as an example of institutional protection outweighing accountability. Despite documented concerns about conduct and capacity, the Commission ultimately allowed Gorcyca to remain on the bench, reinforcing a perception that judicial impairment is treated as an internal matter rather than a public one.
That history now matters as questions mount around Hartig and whether similar patterns are repeating.
Glenn Page’s return as Interim Executive Director and General Counsel brings deep institutional memory. But institutional memory cuts both ways. It can stabilize an agency, or it can preserve precedents that have already eroded public trust.
The core issue is not personalities. It is policy.
If judges who show signs of cognitive compromise are quietly managed, reassigned, delayed, or shielded rather than formally evaluated, disciplined, or removed, the precedent is clear. The bench becomes a place where impairment is tolerated so long as it is inconvenient to confront.
That precedent has consequences. It affects litigants, defendants, families, and victims who never consented to being part of an experiment in institutional avoidance. It also raises a broader governance question: does Michigan have a meaningful mechanism to address judicial capacity before harm occurs, or only after public confidence has already been damaged?
With new interim leadership in place, the Commission has an opportunity to clarify its standards, thresholds, and willingness to act. Silence, however, will be read as continuity.
And continuity is exactly what many court-watchers are worried about.
Why This Matters
The Judicial Tenure Commission is Michigan’s constitutionally established agency responsible for investigating and prosecuting allegations of judicial misconduct. Leadership changes at the agency — especially when they occur quietly — can affect public confidence and internal operations.
Having an interim director with deep institutional experience may stabilize the agency temporarily. At the same time, the lack of an external announcement raises questions about transparency and strategic communication from the JTC.
Legal reform advocates and court-watchers will likely be watching closely for how leadership transitions affect disciplinary priorities, case handling, and the Commission’s public engagement.
Sources
- Judicial Tenure Commission Staff Directory
- Clutch Justice: analysis and reporting on JTC leadership turnover and broader trends.
