Richard Bryan Yuille made the Genesee County courts his long public vocation, serving as a circuit judge, the system's chief judge and the first jurist assigned to its large docket of civil claims over Flint water quality. Yuille died on July 28, 2026. He was 79.

The family notice published by Swartz Funeral Home via Legacy traced a life rooted in Flint. Born there on April 3, 1947, to Gordon and Kathryn Bryan Yuille, he remained a lifelong Genesee County resident. A Michigan State University commencement program listed Richard Bryan Yuille among its 1969 political science graduates. He later earned his law degree from the University of Michigan in 1972. His family said he completed both degrees with honors.

Before entering the judiciary, Yuille spent 23 years as a trial lawyer in Genesee County. His legal service also included work as a special assistant Michigan attorney general. He served as president of the Genesee County Bar Association in 1986 and 1987, and the family notice recorded his involvement with the Old Newsboys of Flint.

Yuille joined the 7th Circuit Court bench in 1997 and remained in its civil-criminal division throughout his judicial career. The Genesee County Courts retirement account charted a steady expansion of responsibility: chief judge pro tem from 2000 through 2009, chief judge of the Circuit Court beginning in 2010, and chief judge of the county's courts beginning October 26, 2011. The court said the last appointment made him the first local judge to hold that systemwide post.

Those titles reflected work on the machinery of local justice. Yuille presided over the Adult Felony Drug Court from 2005 through 2010 and chaired the county's Judicial Council and Criminal Justice Advisory Council. He also took part in negotiations with the county and City of Flint that produced a fifth election division for the 67th District Court and ended the former 68th District Court structure.

In the later years of his tenure, Yuille received the first assignment to the high volume of Genesee County civil cases alleging damages tied to Flint's water quality. His part was judicial case management in state court. A U.S. District Court filing later recorded that Yuille appointed attorney Corey Stern lead counsel for plaintiffs on or about November 15, 2016, in Genesee County Circuit Court litigation related to the Flint Water Crisis. When Yuille retired effective January 3, 2020, the pending water cases moved to another civil judge while his staff remained available for the transition.

One colleague's memory reached back well before the courthouse. Judge Duncan Beagle had known Yuille since Southwestern High School, where they played on the same basketball team. Beagle also recalled the day Yuille and his two brothers were admitted to the bar together by former Judge Philip Elliott. At Yuille's retirement, fellow circuit judge F. Kay Behm offered a concise assessment: "Judge Yuille is a good man and a good judge."

Yuille was survived by his wife, Patricia; his sons, Richard G. Yuille and Bryan D. Yuille; his grandson, Hudson; and his sister, Karolyn Willoughby. Across Genesee County, his career remained visible in the civil-criminal division he served, the drug court he led, the countywide system he administered and the Flint civil docket he helped manage. Together, they traced a professional life spent in the community where he began.