Alleged to have a personal relationship with former prosecutor Myrene Koch. Engaged in ex parte communications during People v. Loew.

Denies due process on scant evidence; sets unconstitutionally high bond on defendants to keep them in jail.

As a prosecutor, he was alleged to have taken part in a Racketeering scam in 2014.

Previously admonished in People v Pennington and People v Smith, in People v. DeLeon, the Michigan Court of Appeals vacated sentences imposed by Judge Qiana Lillard and ordered resentencing before a different judge. Lillard imposed 65-to-80-year terms despite a minimum sentencing-guidelines range of 135 to 225 months, while incorrectly stating that the top of the range was 35 years. The appellate court also characterized her immigration-related remarks as “troubling,” while the prosecution conceded they were “inflammatory,” “unnecessary,” and “inappropriate.” Although the panel did not find that ethnicity or DeLeon’s choice to stand trial drove the sentence, it reassigned the case to preserve the appearance of judicial impartiality.

Judge Richard A. Santoni oversaw the drunk driving case of former Portage City Attorney Michael Carroll. He gave him a much more lenient sentence compared to what other individuals in the same situation would receive; no probation or jail time, only a fine. He also did not report Carroll's misconduct as required by MCR 9.102(A).

ppointed March 2018, Departed June 2023
Roberts Kengis served as Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney in Allegan County for approximately 26 years before being appointed to the 48th Circuit Court bench by Governor Rick Snyder in March 2018. He did not complete a single full six-year term. Sources with direct knowledge of Judicial Tenure Commission proceedings confirm his June 2023 departure was compelled, not voluntary. The JTC closed Request for Investigation No. 2022-24774 against him solely because he had retired and the Commission no longer had jurisdiction. No public finding was ever issued. The Michigan Court of Appeals reversed him in In re DMT (February 2025), finding he wrongfully imprisoned a man for five days over constitutionally protected speech. Court records and Michigan Supreme Court filings document that Kengis maintained a longstanding ex parte relationship with Chief Judge Margaret Zuzich Bakker, including CC'ing her on prosecution briefings about pending criminal cases, coordinating political activity, and conducting documented succession discussions about the transfer of their institutional roles. He used former Allegan County Sheriff's Deputy Chris Haverdink as an enforcement mechanism, including dispatching him to individuals' homes at night in connection with cases pending before him. Multiple families who appeared before him independently report a pattern of deliberate antagonism, preferential treatment, and the use of parenting time and custody as punitive tools. Sources report he personally interviewed children in family court matters rather than using trained forensic interviewers. He now practices as a mediator and arbitrator at Lennon Miller PLC and through the American Arbitration Association, where he has been soliciting parties in active cases before Judge Bakker without disclosing their documented relationship.