The Holland detective, currently working on his masters in public administration, will now have the alternative of taking classes in West Michigan -- a joint offering of Grand Valley State and Michigan State universities and the Detroit College of Law.

The collaboration, announced this morning, marks the first time law courses will be offered on the west side of the state. Courses will begin at GVSU's Pew Campus in January and will attract law students, practicing attorneys and others interested in legal education.

"It's certainly something I would have thought about more before I started my master's, and something I may be interested in now," Messer said. "The reason I didn't take the admission tests and pursue it before was that I didn't want to drive that far.

"I think there will be a lot of interest around here among people who want to continue their education."

Before this morning's announcement, Ottawa and Allegan area residents who were pursuing their legal degrees had to drive to the Lansing campus of either the Detroit College of Law or the Thomas M. Cooley Law School. Other offerings include the University of Michigan and Ave Maria schools in Ann Arbor and the law college at Wayne State University in Detroit.

Grand Valley President Mark Murray said the decision to offer law courses at the DeVos Center shows the university's commitment to build academic programs for area students. Murray also said it shows local attorney associations' obligation to quality legal instruction.

"Grand Valley has a responsibility to serve the educational needs of our community by providing high quality law programming and supporting the bar association's mission of high competence and civility in the practice of law," Murray said.

Representatives of GVSU, MSU and the Detroit College of Law are in the process of forming an academic planning committee to identify which classes to offer immediately and to outline a plan for the future.

Clifton Haley, the president of the law college, said all classes will be of equal instruction to those at its main Lansing campus.

"Students enrolled in courses in Grand Rapids will receive the same high-quality instruction," Haley said. "We will continually consult with members of the practicing bar and the judiciary to ensure that these courses reflect the best training for aspiring lawyers."

Holland District Judge-elect Brad Knoll, an alumnus of the Detroit College of Law, was pleased to hear of the new legal offering.

"I think it's great there is going to be an opportunity to be some form of law school in West Michigan," he said. "I've encouraged a lot of people over the years to attend law school and a lot of them said it was impractical. They said if there was an option here, they'd do it.

"This is something that will have a lot of benefits for the area."