Judge Rossi was elected in November of 2016 and began judicial service on January 1, 2017. A judge for the 17th Circuit Court in Kent County, he attended the University of Notre Dame, where he obtained a degree in English in 1988 and a Juris Doctorate in 1995. Between his undergraduate studies and law school, Joe served as an infantry officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, including combat service in Operation Desert Storm. His final tour was on the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon, where he worked under the director of global special operations and counterterrorism. Retired from the military as a lieutenant colonel in 2012, Joe serves in the Circuit Court’s Civil-Criminal division and founded Kent County’s Treatment and Support Court, which focuses on keeping individuals struggling with serious mental illness “in treatment...and out of jail.” He currently serves on the board of Alternative Directions, a men’s residential program in Grand Rapids.