Why We Built This Site
Michigan gives the public broad access to court records. The hard part is figuring out which office holds the file you want. The County Clerk/Register runs Circuit Court Records for 20th Circuit Court cases, which cover felonies, divorce, family matters, and higher-value civil suits. The 58th District Court keeps its own records for misdemeanors, traffic tickets, small claims, and landlord-tenant cases. The Probate Court handles estates, guardianships, and mental health matters. The Sheriff manages the jail roster and active warrants. Add the Michigan State Police and the Michigan Department of Corrections, and the picture gets crowded fast. We pull together the contact details, search portals, fee schedules, and request steps for each of these offices into one place.
What You Will Find Here
- Records pages by type: court records, criminal records, inmate records, warrant records, marriage and divorce, probate, and more
- Office contacts: direct contact info for the Clerk of Court, the Circuit Court, and major facilities
- Search walkthroughs: step-by-step guides for the Ottawa County records channels and statewide databases like MiCOURT Case Search
- Public records help: how to file a Michigan Freedom of Information Act request and what to expect for response time
What We Cannot Do
This is a privately run reference site. We have no connection to any Michigan court, clerk's office, sheriff's office, or state agency. There are real limits to what we can help with:
- We cannot file paperwork or send records requests on your behalf
- We cannot issue certified copies of any court document or vital record
- We cannot give legal advice or explain how a specific case applies to you
- We cannot guarantee that every phone number, fee, or address listed on this site is current right now
Only the issuing court or government office can provide a certified copy with an official seal. We can point you to the right office, but the document has to come from them.
Search Partners
Some pages on this site include search boxes powered by third-party providers. Those companies set their own pricing and run their own services. When you use one of those tools and it leads to a paid signup, we may earn a referral fee. That revenue helps keep this site free for visitors. We do not control what those tools charge or what shows up in their results.