On Thursday, November 13, 2025, the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission filed a complaint against Kenneth J. King, judge of the 36th District Court, City of Detroit, County of Wayne, following an incident where he allegedly detained and handcuffed a high school student during a court field trip. The complaint stems from an event that occurred on August 13, 2024, when Judge King was hosting a group of students visiting his courtroom to learn about court functions and operations.

The case is entitled “In the Matter of Kenneth J. King,” with case number 111.

During the presentation, Judge King reportedly stepped down from the bench and removed his judicial robe while addressing the students. Approximately 45 minutes into his presentation, he noticed a teenage girl had fallen asleep. According to the filing, King approached the sleeping student, woke her, and questioned if his presentation was uninteresting.

Later, the same student fell asleep again. Judge King then instructed a court security officer to escort the girl out of the courtroom for a walk. Following this, he allegedly told the remaining students that the girl might need to see where individuals disrespectful to the court are held.

The student returned to the courtroom as King concluded his presentation. After resuming his position on the bench and donning his judicial robe, King, without prior warning of potential contempt of court, ordered the girl to be taken into custody. He mandated that she be dressed in a jail uniform and detained, similar to defendants held in contempt of court, stating that he found her in contempt.

Court documents quote King as saying, “If you fall asleep in my courtroom one more time, I’m putting you in the back understood? You don’t care? Soon as we bring the prisoner out she can step back there. We got a uniform for her too. She can put on the whole thing. The uniform.” He also allegedly said, “One thing you’ll learn about my courtroom is that I’m not a toy. I am not to be played with,” and “Far as I’m concerned, she in contempt of Court.”

The complaint alleges that King did not assign counsel to the girl, make any official findings on the record, or cite any legal basis for his contempt ruling and subsequent detention order. The Judicial Tenure Commission emphasized that the court was not in session during the time the student was sleeping, as King was standing at the gallery rail, not on the bench or in his judicial robe, answering questions from the students.

The Judicial Tenure Commission stated in its complaint that the girl’s sleeping was not disruptive to the presentation or any court proceeding.

Despite this, the student was taken to a detention area, where she was forced to wear a standard jail uniform and was handcuffed. She was detained for nearly two hours until King ordered her return to the courtroom after completing the scheduled court matters.

Upon her return, while the court proceedings were still being livestreamed on YouTube, King allegedly made further statements, including, “I have a young lady here, that’s with these students, who has been pretty disrespectful to the Court this morning, and I’m contemplating on putting her or holding her in contempt of Court,” and “I’m tempted to give her some days in jail, as a lesson.”

King also questioned the girl about her disrespect, to which she replied, “How am I being disrespectful? For falling asleep?” King confirmed this and added that he didn’t like her attitude. The complaint notes that King never specified on the record what actions constituted the alleged disrespectful attitude.

During the livestream, King also disclosed the girl’s personal information, including her name, age, grade, and school. He also graphically described the juvenile detention facility, suggesting she could spend the night there.

King then conducted what the complaint describes as a mock hearing, lacking due process, to determine if the girl should be jailed overnight. He appointed a defense lawyer present in the courtroom to represent her but allegedly provided no advance notice of the hearing, the evidence to be presented, or the issues to be decided.

Furthermore, King allegedly did not allow any evidence to be submitted, did not disqualify himself from the hearing, and had the other students vote on whether the girl should be jailed. The complaint alleges that this voting process was designed to scare and embarrass the girl and that King disregarded the law by using a student vote to determine punishment for contempt.

The adult chaperone advised King that the field trip had ended, to which King allegedly responded, “You might be leaving her,” which the documents claim was another threat to continue detaining the girl.

The complaint against King alleges multiple instances of misconduct, including unlawfully finding the teenager in contempt, ordering her to be dressed in a jail uniform, detaining her, exhibiting her in handcuffs on a public livestream, threatening to jail her overnight, and using a student vote to determine her punishment.

A copy of the original filing can be found here.