Pontiac,
Michigan
Karen D. McDonald was elected by the people of Oakland County to be their prosecutor in November 2020 and reelected in 2024. Before pursuing her legal career, Ms. McDonald was a high school English teacher. After law school, she joined the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office as an assistant prosecutor, where she prosecuted child sexual assault cases and other felonies. In 2004, Ms. McDonald began working in private practice at Jaffe Raitt Heuer & Weiss, PC, (now Taft) specializing in civil and family law. She was elected to the Oakland County Circuit Court in 2012, where she served as a family court judge with a docket of divorce/custody, child abuse and neglect, and juvenile delinquency matters. Ms. McDonald then transitioned into private practice specializing in family law matters before running for office and being elected as prosecutor. Since taking office in 2021, she has formed a Trafficking Unit, Hate Crimes Unit, and Conviction Integrity Unit and worked alongside leaders in the community and her own office to establish a Racial Justice Advisory Council, an internal Equity Team, and the Commission to Address Gun Violence, which released its Protocol for Action bringing forward solutions to this public health crisis in 2024. Governor Whitmer also appointed Ms. McDonald to the Task Force on Juvenile Justice Reform where she was instrumental in getting recommendations approved in the summer of 2022.
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