| Brian Roderick Banks | |
| State House: | Michigan |
| District: | 1st |
| Term Start: | January 1, 2013 |
| Term End: | February 6, 2017 |
| Preceded: | Tim Bledsoe |
| Succeeded: | Tenisha Yancey |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Birth Date: | 15 November 1976 |
| Birth Place: | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Education: | Wayne State University (BS, MEd) Michigan State University (JD) |
| Website: | Official |
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.
A high school dropout, Banks later received his GED.[1] Banks earned a Bachelor of Science degree and Master of Education from Wayne State University, followed by a Juris Doctor from the Michigan State University College of Law.[1] [2]
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.[3] 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.[4]
Banks defeated Scott Benson by 96 votes to win the 2012 Democratic primary for the 1st district of the Michigan House of Representatives. During the 2012 general election, the Grosse Pointe Democrats refused to endorse Banks.[5] He won again in the 2014 primary, receiving 42% of the vote. During the August 2016 primary election, which he won, Banks ran against attorney Pamela Sossi.
As the chair of the Detroit Caucus, Banks was able to enlist the help of Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan,[6] other lawmakers and interest groups in Lansing to raise $140,545,[7] second most of all candidates facing Primary challengers.[8]
During the November 8 general election, Banks received 66 percent of the vote over engineer William Broman, his Republican challenger.[9]
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.[10] [11] On February 16, 2017, Governor Rick Snyder called a special election to fill his seat.[12]
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.[13] In the election, which took place in August 2018, Banks lost to first-time candidates Adam Hollier and Abraham Aiyash.[14]
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.[15] Incumbent Commissioner Tim Killeen defeated Banks in the primary election by 61.6% to 38.1%.[16]
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.[17]
Since 1998 Banks has been convicted of eight felonies for writing bad checks and credit card fraud, and one misdemeanor.[18]
In 2013 Banks was sued for sexual harassment by a former aid.[19] The lawsuit was later settled for $11,950.[20]
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.[21] He was formally arraigned in Circuit Court on August 23.[22] Banks filed a suit to have prosector's office removed from the case, his lawyer claiming that the charges were "politically motivated" in nature.[23] His suit was dropped.[24] On February 6, 2017, Banks plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of filing false financial statements. He pleased guilty to a misdemeanor[25] [26] and resigned from office as part of a plea deal to avoid felony charges. He was sentenced to time served.[27] Banks announced his formal resignation in Wayne County Circuit Court on February 6, 2017.[28]