09/02/2026
The phrase “It is with a heavy heart that we announce…” is often used when someone we knew has passed away. Here, however, those words cannot begin to convey the sadness, grief, and devastation caused by the loss of Judge Sara Lisznyai—a friend and co-worker whose absence will leave a profound void in our community.
Judge Lisznyai devoted many years to serving this community, first as an attorney and later as a judge in Hillsdale County’s District and Circuit Courts. Having worked with her regularly in each of those roles, I feel this loss deeply and pray for her family during this difficult time.
"Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced." – James Baldwin. Judge Lisznyai started the drug treatment court (intensive probation) because she had the insight to know what was needed in our community and that things needed to be changed. She even told me once it was “her baby” when she moved from District Court to Circuit Court as she felt an overwhelming sense of pride in the program, but more so a great sense of pride for the participants that took the program on with open arms.
Her desires for changes to our community did not stop there. She formed the Family Preservation Tract of our family law division (divorce, custody and parenting time) to help ensure families were given a chance to reunify and have a solid foundation with their children. Again, she was thinking about others and how the court system impacted their lives and how this system could work for them and not necessarily against them.
As attorneys, we don’t always agree with a judge’s decision, but I know Judge Lisznyai made tough decisions and did it fairly and within the realm of the law. We, all of our attorneys, respected her for that. We joked that she may have been small, but she was definitely mighty.
Sara was more than a judge, she was a friend and someone who truly cared for each person she met. She tried to crack jokes, but to be honest, most weren’t funny, but we chuckled anyway. When asked to do a cartwheel for CAPA, she didn’t shy away from that task and she did it, with video running. She tried to make you feel like you were special to her, even reaching out in dark times of our own lives, which is not always something someone in her position does.
It is very difficult to put to words what this loss does for us, as a community, as she was more than the sum of these words. I just continue to pray for her family and would ask that everyone does that as well.
