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Stuart John Dunnings III (born October 29, 1952) is an attorney who served for 19 years as the prosecutor for
Ingham County, Michigan Ingham County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 284,900. The county seat is Mason. Lansing, the state capital of Michigan, is largely located within the county. (Lansing is the onl ...
, and was the second African-American to be elected to such office in Michigan.In 1948, Percy J. Langster was the first African American ever duly elected as a prosecuting attorney in the United States. This was in Lake County, Michigan.


Career

Prior to seeking elected office, Dunnings got his start at his father's law firm, Dunnings and Frawley, where he was a
partner Partner, Partners, The Partner, or, The Partners may refer to: Books * ''The Partner'' (Grisham novel), by John Grisham, 1997 * ''The Partner'' (Jenaro Prieto novel), 1928 * ''The Partners'' (book), a 1983 book by James B. Stewart * ''Partner'' (m ...
for 16 years. From 1987 to 1996 he was a member of the bar for Michigan's Standing Committee on Character and Fitness, and from 1989 to 1998 served as
adjunct Adjunct may refer to: * Adjunct (grammar), words used as modifiers * Adjunct professor, a rank of university professor * Adjuncts, sources of sugar used in brewing * Adjunct therapy used to complement another main therapeutic agent, either to impr ...
Professor of Law at
Thomas M. Cooley Law School Western Michigan University Cooley Law School ("Cooley") is a private law school in Lansing, Michigan and Riverview, Florida. It was established in 1972. At its peak in 2010, Cooley had over 3,900 students and was the largest US law school by en ...
. Dunnings was first elected Ingham County Prosecutor in November 1996, beating incumbent Donald Martin. He was most recently reelected for a fifth term in 2012. He had built a reputation of cracking down especially hard on prostitution, sexual assault, domestic abuse, and sex trafficking.


Legal issues

On March 14, 2016, Dunnings was charged with one count of pandering, which is a felony, and 14 misdemeanor counts; ten of engaging a prostitute and four of willful neglect of duty. Following the charges, he was placed on "medical leave" with his duties being taken over by Chief Assistant Prosecutor Lisa McCormick. He announced his resignation effective July 2, 2016. In May 2016,
Gretchen Whitmer Gretchen Esther Whitmer (born August 23, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 49th governor of Michigan since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she served in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2001 to 2006 an ...
was appointed as interim Ingham County Prosecutor, assuming Dunnings' role until the end of his term, which expired January 1, 2017. On August 2, 2016, Dunnings pleaded guilty to one count of misconduct in office (a five-year felony) and a misdemeanor count of engaging the services of a prostitute, as a part of a plea agreement with the office of
Michigan Attorney General The Attorney General of the State of Michigan is the fourth-ranking official in the U.S. state of Michigan. The officeholder is elected statewide in the November general election alongside the governor of Michigan, governor, Lieutenant Governor of ...
Bill Schuette William Duncan Schuette ( ; born October 13, 1953) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 53rd attorney general of Michigan from 2011 to 2019. He was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for Senate in 1990 and for Governor of Mi ...
. In exchange for a guilty plea, Schuette's office will dismiss a total of 14 charges related to prostitution, including a pandering charge, which carried a maximum of 20 years in prison. His law license was subsequently suspended. In November 2016, Dunnings was sentenced to three years of probation, with the first year served in jail. While still serving his prison sentence, the Michigan Attorney Discipline Board formally disbarred him on July 11, 2017 and on July 18 the U.S. District Court and U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan banned him from practicing. To avoid any conflicts or safety concerns at the Ingham County Jail, where he sent countless defendants over his two decades in office, Dunnings served his time in the Clinton County Jail. Due to good behavior, Dunnings was released from jail two months early just after midnight on September 24, 2017.


Personal life

Dunnings was born to lawyer and activist Stuart John Dunnings, Jr., and Janet Taylor Dunnings. He has two siblings; Shauna, who is a judge, and Steven, who is also a lawyer. Dunnings married Cynthia Dunnings in 1977. She filed for divorce in March 2016, following the charges made against him. Dunnings is a
Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...
, and supported
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
in the
2012 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January: E ...
, with his personal website advertising said support.


Notes


References


External links


Ingham County Prosecutor's Office

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunnings, Stuart, III 1952 births Living people American prosecutors Michigan lawyers African-American lawyers People from Ingham County, Michigan Michigan Democrats Michigan politicians convicted of crimes 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people