LANSING, Mich. — A judge's decisions on the future of criminal charges against 15 Michigan Republicans whose signatures appeared on a certificate falsely claiming Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential race won't come before the 2024 election and appear set to arrive in 2025.

Ingham County District Court Judge Kristen Simmons has held three sets of preliminary examinations for the Republicans who are facing felony forgery charges after participating in a meeting inside Michigan GOP headquarters on Dec. 14, 2020. The document they signed during the gathering was eventually used by Trump advisers in an unsuccessful bid to overturn his loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

Through the exam process, Simmons has to determine whether Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel's office has provided enough evidence to show there's probable cause to believe crimes occurred in order for the cases to proceed to trial.

The preliminary exams for six of the 15 Republicans, including former Michigan Republican Party Co-Chairwoman Meshawn Maddock and former Republican National Committeewoman Kathy Berden, concluded after six days of testimony and arguments in April. The exams for six others wrapped up in June after seven days of testimony.

The final round of exams, focusing on three of the 15 individuals, finished on Oct. 9.

But Simmons is accepting written arguments from both prosecutors and defense attorneys before making her decisions on whether the cases can go forward.

In an email to lawyers on Monday, a member of Simmons' staff said the Attorney General's office will need to submit its written briefs on the first group of six false electors by Nov. 25. Then the defense attorneys will have until Dec. 30 to file their own briefs.

Dec. 30 is second to final day of the year.

The Attorney General's office will have until Dec. 30 to submit briefs about the second group of six GOP electors. Those individuals' lawyers will then have until Jan. 30 to file their own briefs.

Finally, the Attorney General's office will have until Jan. 30 to submit briefs about the third group of three GOP electors. Those individuals' lawyers will have until March 3 to file their own briefs.

It's unclear whether Simmons will rule on all 15 of the cases at the same time. If that is what happens, her decisions wouldn't come until after March 3. If she rules on the three groups of individuals separately, the first set of decisions on the first six false electors would come at some point after Dec. 30.

On July 18, 2023, Nessel announced eight felony charges against each of the 16 Republicans whose names appeared on the false electoral certificate. One of the electors, James Renner of Lansing, reached a cooperation agreement with Nessel's office, and the charges were dropped against him.

"The false electors’ actions undermined the public’s faith in the integrity of our elections and, we believe, also plainly violated the laws by which we administer our elections in Michigan," Nessel said in July 2023.

However, defense attorneys for the electors have argued their clients didn't have an intent to defraud anyone, didn't fully understand what certificate they were signing on Dec. 14, 2020, and were merely acting on the guidance of GOP campaign lawyers.

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