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By Pat Maurer
Correspondent
Long time Clare Attorney Tara S. Hovey, formerly a partner at Dreyer, Hovey & Post LLP, has been sworn in as Circuit Court Judge. She was appointed earlier by Governor Gretchen Whitmer to fill the vacancy left by the death last May of 55th Circuit Court Judge Thomas Evans.
She was sworn in to the Circuit Court last week and will fill a portion of the remainder of Evan’s term, beginning with her official swearing in by Circuit Court Judge Roy Mienk on October 18th and expiring at noon January 1, 2025.
To fill the remainder of Evan’s term, which was set to expire January 1, 2027, she will have to run for reelection in November, 2024.
Hovey is currently a partner with Dreyer, Hovey & Post, LLP. She has been a private practice attorney since 1996 representing local governments and working in criminal law, family law, real estate, probate, and civil litigation. Hovey is also a co-owner in the Clare County Title Company and works as the city attorney for the City of Beaverton. She previously worked as corporate council for Gladwin County and with the indigent defense program in Clare County Circuit and District Courts. She also has served as an adjunct professor teaching law enforcement, evidence, and business law at Mid Michigan Community College.
She is a member of the board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mid-Michigan, Friends of Clare County Parks and Rec, Isabella Citizens for Health, and is chair of Harrison Care for Kids. Tara is a long-time resident of Clare where she lives with her husband, Kevin, and their children John, Madelyn, and Michael.
She is originally from Rosebush and is a graduate of Mt. Pleasant High School and a 1992 graduate of Central Michigan University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. She earned her Juris Doctor degree from Ohio Northern University College of Law in 1995.