After 30 years on the bench in Ottawa County Probate and Juvenile Court, Judge Kathleen Giesler has announced on Facebook that she will not run for re-election again in 2020. According to her post, she is announcing her decision long before her retirement in February 2021 to “give my potential successors the opportunity to make some pretty significant decisions. Running for election can consume well over a year of your life.”

Judge Giesler also posted that she wanted the opportunity “to spend much of the time saying thank you to so many who have been so kind to me over the years; working with a great staff; and finally, assuring that I leave the Ottawa County Probate and Juvenile Court in the best possible conditions for years to come.”