Ingham County prosecutor’s thoughts on successes, controversies in her career

LANSING, Mich. — Ingham County Prosecutor Carol Siemon recently announced her retirement.

“The last official day is Dec. 30, but that’s a holiday, so it would be the 29th,” Siemon said.

She’ll retire 41 years after she started her career in the courtroom.

“When I came back to Lansing, I worked for a judge and did some work for victims of domestic violence issues, and I realized that domestic violence victims didn’t really have advocates. So, I decided I wanted to be a prosecutor and do work in that area, so in 1983, I joined the Ingham County Prosecutor’s Office and was here until 1995 as an assistant,” she said.

Later, Siemon was elected to be the Ingham County prosecutor in 2016 and then reelected in 2020.

“It just seemed like a good fit for all of my background having worked for three branches of state government, worked nationally on different issues involving justice, and I could bring the policy perspective to this job,” Siemon said.

Siemon said she has had successes in her career, but there have also been controversies.

In 2021, Siemon faced backlash after being one of 64 prosecutors across the country to push for reducing the length of the longest prison sentences, including for those who are behind bars for murder.

“Carol Siemon is just re-victimizing families by offering plea deals to these murder suspects who don’t deserve them,” said Miranda Burton whose son was murdered in 2020.

Siemon said she got involved with the effort to create fairness and second chances.

“You know if you do something wrong, you’re going to be held accountable but in a fair proportionate way that’s not based on emotion, race or gender, and there is something designed to help everyone heal,” Siemon said.

Next up, Siemon hopes to spend her retirement with family.

Back in the courtroom, the Michigan circuit court judges will pick an interim county prosecutor until her term ends in 2024.