Brian Banks

Brian Roderick Banks (born November 15, 1976) is an American politician who served as a member of the Michigan House of Representatives from 2013 to 2017. Banks was a candidate for the 2nd District of the Michigan Senate in 2018. He has been convicted of eight felonies related to writing bad checks and credit card fraud.

Education Banks dropped out of high school as a teenager, but later earned a Certificate of High School Equivalency by passing the GED exam. He went on to receive a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Education degree from Wayne State University, followed by a Juris Doctor from the Michigan State University College of Law.

Career

Early career Banks's campaign website previously stated that he was on staff at the law firm Rodnick, Unger and Kaner, P.C. and was an adjunct professor at Baker College. An employee at Rodnick, Unger and Kaner, P.C. told the Huffington Post that while Banks briefly worked at the firm as a law clerk, he left after only a few months.

Michigan House of Representatives Banks defeated Scott Benson by 96 votes to win the 2012 Democratic primary for the 1st district of the Michigan House of Representatives. He won again in the 2014 primary, receiving 42% of the vote. other lawmakers and interest groups in Lansing to raise $140,545, second most of all candidates facing Primary challengers.

During the November 8 general election, Banks received 66 percent of the vote over engineer William Broman, his Republican challenger.

Resignation On February 6, 2017, Bank plead guilty to the misdemeanor charge of filing a false statement about financial conditions. As part of the plea deal, the felony charges against him were dropped and he resigned from office. On February 16, 2017, Governor Rick Snyder called a special election to fill his seat.

2018 Michigan Senate election In August 2017, Banks filed candidate paperwork to run for the Michigan State Senate 2nd District seat in anticipation of a resignation by Bert Johnson, who has been federally indicted for corruption. In the election, which took place in August 2018, Banks lost to first-time candidates Adam Hollier and Abraham Aiyash.

2022 Wayne County Commission election In 2022 Banks ran in the August Democratic primary to represent District 1 on the Wayne County Commission, listing his address as a post office box in Grosse Pointe. Incumbent Commissioner Tim Killeen defeated Banks in the primary election by 61.6% to 38.1%.

Business In 2019 Banks was hired to recruit students for Promise Schools, a company running a K-8 school for the School District of the City of Highland Park.

Legal issues Between 1998 and 2004, Banks was convicted eight times for felonies in which he wrote dishonored checks and committed credit card fraud. In 2013, a former aid sued Banks for sexual harassment. Banks settled the lawsuit for $11,950.

2016 fraud case On June 28, 2016, Banks was charged with three felonies and one misdemeanor by Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette over documents he falsified to obtain a personal loan in June 2010. He was formally arraigned in Circuit Court on August 23. Banks filed a suit to have the prosecutor's office removed from the case, his lawyer claiming that the charges were "politically motivated" in nature. His suit was dropped. On February 6, 2017, Banks pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of filing false financial statements and resigned from office as part of a plea deal to avoid felony charges. Banks announced his formal resignation in Wayne County Circuit Court on February 6, 2017.

Electoral history