Tagged: Oakland County

L. Brooks Patterson, County Executive of Oakland County, has been hospitalized since he was involved in a car crash on August 1o.

He had surgery to repair broken bones and a gash on his scalp. The Oakland Tribune reported Patterson suffered from two broken wrists, broken ribs, a broken femur, and the injury on his head.

He's been moved to a hospital rehabilitation unit at McLaren Oakland Hospital and is in good spirits, reports the Associated Press.

Patterson and his driver, Jim Cram, were not wearing seatbelts in the crash.

Two people in the other vehicle were also injured in the crash. The driver of that vehicle has been charged.

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard says releasing more than 200 prisoners from the overcrowded  County Jail could have been avoided,  if judges had used alternative sentencing.

He  tells The Detroit News he sent a letter to judges earlier this month, notifying them of the "jail emergency and asking for cooperation to help avoid it."

Michigan law requires sentence reductions if prisoners don't pose a high risk.

Bouchard says beds are being used by inmates who don't need to be in jail, and could have been punished differently, avoiding the problem.

Some officials from Oakland County are trying to turn up the heat on Lansing to pay for a special election.

That election was called to replace Congressman Thaddeus McCotter, who resigned last month.

Lieutenant Governor Brian Calley called for the September 5th special election to fill out just the few remaining weeks of McCotter’s term. State officials maintain it’s required by law.

But that leaves local governments in suburban Detroit’s 11th district to pick up the tab.