On April 28, 1958, Southfield became a City and Clarence A. Reid Jr. was elected as the first municipal judge. He held that position until January of 1969, when the Municipal Court was replaced by the District Court.
Municipal judges were elected for four-year terms. The Court also had an associate municipal judge. John O'Brien was the first associate judge elected in 1958. Alex Perinoff was associate judge from 1960 to 1961 and Thomas M. Costello was associate municipal judge from 1961 to 1968.
The Municipal Court started with one employee and by 1968 had nine full-time employees. Revenue for 1968 was approximately $150,000 annually and expenses were approximately $50,000 annually.
At the beginning, the Municipal Court was located on Southfield Road near Ten Mile Road and then moved into City Hall in 1965. District Court moved into its new location in at the municipal Complex in 1980.
The 46th District Court started in January 1969 and had two full-time judges elected to six-year and four-year terms, respectively. Clarence A. Reid, Jr. was elected to a six-year term and S. James Clarkson to a four-year term.
Former Southfield Mayor Norman Feder was elected in 1972 and Jessica Cooper, the District Court's first female judge, took office in 1979. The Court also has a full-time magistrate, Michael Sobel, at that time. Today the court has 3 judges and two magistrates.
In 1971, the District Court hired Margaret Clixby as its first administrator. The second administrator was Jack Kellser, who served from 1973 to 1975. The third was Jack Hawthorne (1975-1979) and the forth, Jeffrey Amram (1980-1982).