Michigan Judge Steps Down After Racist Videos Surface

Oakland County, MI – A Michigan probate judge whose voice was captured on secret audio recordings making racist, homophobic, and inflammatory remarks will not return to the bench.

Oakland County Probate Judge Kathleen Ryan is voluntarily retiring, according to WXYZ, following the release of recordings in which she openly described herself as a racist and hurled derogatory slurs at Black Americans.

WXYZ was the first outlet to publish the audio, which was recorded by a court administrator during work-related calls. In the recordings, Ryan refers to herself as a “new racist,” calls Black people “lazy pieces of s–t,” and makes disparaging comments about LGBTQ+ individuals.

In one particularly damning clip, Ryan is heard boasting that her position and political connections rendered her immune from consequences.

“I hate to say it, knock on wood. I really kind of am untouchable,” Ryan says on the recording. “They can’t touch me. … They can’t touch my salary. They can’t touch my job. All they can do is have somebody run against me. Good luck!”

Ryan was removed from the court’s docket in September 2024, but she has remained on paid leave for the past 15 months, continuing to collect her salary despite not presiding over cases.

The court’s former chief judge filed a formal complaint with the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission, the body responsible for investigating judicial misconduct and safeguarding public trust in the courts. Despite the seriousness of the allegations and the existence of recorded evidence, the commission never launched an investigation or imposed disciplinary action.

Edward Hutton, the court administrator who worked closely with Ryan, said he began recording their conversations after she repeatedly made disturbing and inappropriate comments over the years. Hutton said he filed multiple complaints, but none were meaningfully addressed.

“Nobody with that much hate in their heart for certain people — not just individuals, but groups of people — I don’t believe that they could possibly make fair, unbiased decisions regarding them,” Hutton told WXYZ.

Ryan’s attorneys confirmed that the Judicial Tenure Commission declined to take action and emphasized that her retirement was voluntary.

A judicial vacancy has now been posted for the Oakland County Probate Court, officially listing Ryan as the “vacating judge.”

As a probate judge, Ryan held sweeping authority over sensitive matters involving estates, trusts, wills, guardianships, and conservatorships — decisions that often directly affect vulnerable individuals and families.

Her departure closes a chapter that has raised troubling questions about judicial accountability, oversight, and how allegations of bias at the highest levels of the court system are handled when evidence is not only alleged, but recorded.