Likely the most respected judge on the circuit court bench; he and Nancy Francis are the only long-time Democrats to sit at the county level as judges.

Judge Shelton, along with Nancy Francis, allowed unmarried couples to adopt and Washtenaw was the only one of Michigan’s 83 counties to approve such adoptions. This practice ended in 2002 when then-chief Judge Archie Cameron Brown re-assigned all adoption cases to himself and dismissed those applications – which was a hardship for many unmarried couples, some of whom had invested large amounts of attorney fees and time in pending adoption procedings. This action by Brown was motivated by communications with then-Chief Justice Maura Corrigan objecting to Shelton and Francis’ interpretation of the state adoption code. Gay rights groups were angry over this action by Brown.

Donald Shelton, also, is the only sitting circuit judge to reside outside of Ann Arbor. He hails from Saline.