On April 13, The Kalamazoo Press sent formal requests for comment to every member of the Kalamazoo County Friend of the Court office, court administration, and family division bench regarding leaked audio of Friend of the Court Enforcement Officer Benny Clark Jr.
Each recipient was given 48 hours to respond.
Not one person replied.
The audio, first reported by The Kalamazoo Press on April 12, captured Benny Clark Jr telling a father "the feds did it" while discussing the seizure of the father's bank account. The seizure was carried out without the ability-to-pay hearing required under Michigan law since October 2021.
Comment requests were sent individually to the following 18 officials at the Gull Road Justice Complex:
Friend of the Court Leadership
- Matthew J. Semenczuk, Friend of the Court Director
- Benny Clark Jr, Domestic Case Enforcement Officer
Family Division Referees
- Robin V. King, Referee
- Denise E. Noble, Referee
- Kate M. Procunier, Referee
- Melissa M. Sytsma, Referee
- Paul J. Yancho, Referee
Court Administration
- Chad A. Kewish, Circuit/Probate Court Administrator
- Nigel Crum, Deputy Court Administrator
- Ruth Gruizenga, Chief Court Clerk
- Amanda Morse, Finance Services Administrator
- Scott D. Coffey, District Court Deputy Administrator
- Kevin M. Tatroe, District Court Administrator
- Suzette Joseph, Family Division Administrator
Family Division Judges
- Hon. Namita Sharma, Presiding Judge, Family Division
- Hon. Rebecca J. D'Angelo
- Hon. G. Scott Pierangeli
The Friend of the Court general inbox was also contacted. Total silence.
A Pattern, Not an Incident
Benny Clark Jr earns $68,744 per year. That is 41.2 percent above the average salary of his fellow enforcement officers in the same Friend of the Court office. Public payroll records show an unusual dip in his compensation between 2019 and 2021 that has not been explained by Kalamazoo County.
He is not an outlier. He is a product of the system that employs him.
The Kalamazoo County Friend of the Court has denied 100 percent of parent grievances for five consecutive years, from 2020 through 2024. In 2022, the office classified 83 percent of complaints as "nongrievable," meaning they were rejected before they could even be reviewed. The statewide average that year was 23 percent. The Kalamazoo County Friend of the Court was dismissing complaints at 3.6 times the state rate.
No corrective action has ever been taken. No employee has ever been disciplined. No policy has been changed.
Seventy-three of Michigan's 75 Friend of the Court offices have no independent Citizen Advisory Committee. Kalamazoo County is one of them. The only place a parent can file a complaint about the Friend of the Court is through the Friend of the Court Bureau, the same bureau that oversees the office being complained about.
The Question No One Will Answer
Benny Clark Jr's recorded remarks raise questions that extend beyond a single phone call. If a Friend of the Court enforcement officer is on tape telling a father "the feds did it" about a bank seizure conducted without a legally required hearing, how many other cases were handled the same way?
The Kalamazoo Press is calling for a full public review of every case Benny Clark Jr has managed since 2019, the same year his pay records show an unexplained shift. Parents in Kalamazoo County deserve to know whether their cases were handled lawfully.
Benny Clark Jr's salary, the audio, the grievance data, and the silence from 18 officials all point in the same direction: a Friend of the Court office that has operated without accountability for years and has no intention of explaining itself now.
What Happens Next
The 48-hour comment window has closed. The record now reflects that every official listed above was given a direct, individual opportunity to respond and chose not to.
If you have encountered or know anyone who has dealt with any of the people on this list, we want to hear from you.
This article is part of The Gull Road Files, an ongoing investigation by The Kalamazoo Press into the operations of the Kalamazoo County Friend of the Court.
Tips: press@thekalamazoopress.com