How to Find Michigan Court Records (2026)

Michigan court records at a glance
Statewide case search	MiCOURT Case Search
Criminal history check	Michigan State Police ICHAT (Internet Criminal History Access Tool)
Appellate opinions	MiCOURT Case Search — Court of Appeals and Supreme Court
Federal cases	PACER (2 districts)
Plain copy fee	Set by each clerk — ask when you request
Certified copy fee	$10.00 plus $1.00 per page (MCL 600.2546), unless a more specific statute sets a different fee
Who keeps trial records	Clerk of the Michigan Supreme Court (searchable in MiCOURT Case Search); Clerk of the Court of Appeals (searchable in MiCOURT Case Search)

Michigan trial courts keep their own files, and which office holds a record depends on which court heard the case. The circuit court — one per county, or shared by a small group of rural counties — handles felonies, divorces and other family matters, and civil suits over $25,000. In every county the county clerk serves as the clerk of the circuit court, so the county clerk's office is where circuit case files, indexes, and copies live. Michigan's 105 district courts handle misdemeanors, civil claims up to $25,000, landlord-tenant cases, and traffic tickets, each with its own court administrator or clerk — often not the county clerk at all, especially in cities with their own district court. Separately, Michigan's 78 probate courts handle wills, estates, guardianships, conservatorships, and mental-health cases, usually with their own register or probate clerk, sometimes combined with a district or circuit division depending on the county.

The state's free MiCOURT Case Search (courts.michigan.gov) is run by the State Court Administrative Office and covers case index information for the Michigan Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Court of Claims, and all 57 circuit courts, with many district and probate courts also participating. It does not cover every court in the state, and it shows the case index and register of actions only — not document images. Several counties and cities also run their own case-lookup systems for their district or probate courts, so if MiCOURT does not show a result, check the specific court's own website before assuming no record exists.

The most common mistake is searching only one court. A person's Michigan court history can be split across a circuit court felony case, a district court misdemeanor or traffic case in a different city court, and a probate guardianship, each indexed separately and, for district and probate courts, not always inside MiCOURT. For a name-based criminal history check, use the Michigan State Police ICHAT tool rather than a court's civil or criminal docket search, since ICHAT is the state's official repository of reportable convictions statewide.

How Michigan courts are organized

Which court heard a case decides who keeps the file. Use this table to pick the right clerk before you search, and see the guides to criminal, civil, family, and probate records for what each court's file contains.

Court	Handles	Who holds the records
Michigan Supreme Court	Discretionary civil and criminal appeals of last resort Attorney discipline and court rule-making Bar admission	Clerk of the Michigan Supreme Court (searchable in MiCOURT Case Search) Most cases reach the Supreme Court only after the Court of Appeals; the court grants leave to appeal in a small fraction of applications.
Michigan Court of Appeals	Appeals from circuit court civil and criminal judgments Appeals from probate court Appeals from certain state agency decisions	Clerk of the Court of Appeals (searchable in MiCOURT Case Search) One statewide court sitting in four districts (Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Marquette/Troy rotation); case assignment does not depend on where the trial case was filed.
Circuit Courts (57 statewide)	Felony criminal cases Divorce, custody, and other family-division cases Civil suits over $25,000 Appeals from district and probate courts and some agencies	County Clerk, acting as Clerk of the Circuit Court A few circuits cover more than one county. Family Division matters (divorce, custody, juvenile) are part of circuit court but sometimes have a separate filing counter.
District Courts (105 statewide)	Misdemeanor criminal cases and felony arraignments Civil claims up to $25,000 Small claims and landlord-tenant cases Traffic civil infractions	District Court Clerk or Court Administrator (varies by court; not always the county clerk) Larger cities such as Detroit, Lansing, and Grand Rapids have their own numbered district court with its own clerk and case-search system, separate from the county clerk.
Probate Courts (78 divisions statewide)	Decedent estates and wills Guardianships and conservatorships Trusts Civil commitment and mental-health proceedings	Probate Register or Probate Court Clerk Some counties combine probate with a circuit family division or a civil/probate division; check the specific county's court structure.

Search Michigan court records online

Statewide case search

MiCOURT Case Search

Official Free search

Cost: Free to search
Coverage: Case index and register of actions for the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Court of Claims, all 57 circuit courts, and many (not all) participating district and probate courts
Records: Civil, Criminal, Family, Probate, Traffic

Document images are not available through this system. Coverage and search fields vary by court, and some district and probate courts are not on MiCOURT at all — check that court's own website if a search here comes back empty.

Criminal history (convictions)

Michigan State Police ICHAT (Internet Criminal History Access Tool)

Official Paid

Cost: $10 per name search, paid by credit or debit card
Coverage: Felony and serious-misdemeanor convictions (offenses punishable by more than 93 days) reported to the Michigan State Police Criminal Justice Information Center; does not include suppressed records, warrants, juvenile records, local ordinance misdemeanors, traffic records, or out-of-state and federal convictions
Records: Criminal

Name-based search requiring the subject's name, sex, race, and date of birth. Common names can return multiple possible matches requiring a fingerprint-based check to resolve. The application itself sits behind Michigan's apps.michigan.gov portal, which blocked our automated verification request; the URL is confirmed correct from the Michigan State Police's own criminal-history-records page and independent official references.

Appellate courts

MiCOURT Case Search — Court of Appeals and Supreme Court

Official Free search

Cost: Free
Coverage: Docket sheets, party information, and case status for the Michigan Court of Appeals and Michigan Supreme Court; opinions are posted separately on the Michigan Courts website
Records: Appeals

Select the Court of Appeals or Supreme Court from the court list before searching. Opinions and orders are free to download from the Michigan Courts opinions page rather than the case-search tool itself.

Federal court records in Michigan

Federal cases (bankruptcy, federal crimes, lawsuits under federal law) are not in state portals. They live in PACER, organized by district. Michigan has 2 federal judicial districts.

District	Main courthouse	Court website
Eastern District of Michigan	Detroit	www.mied.uscourts.gov
Western District of Michigan	Grand Rapids	www.miwd.uscourts.gov

Read our PACER guide for registration, the per-page fee, and the quarterly fee waiver.

Michigan county court records

Trial-court records are kept by the clerk in the county where the case was filed. These are the largest counties in Michigan; each guide covers the circuit court clerk and other court offices, their addresses, and what is searchable online.

Request records in person or by mail

In person. Go to the clerk of the court that heard the case: the county clerk (as clerk of the circuit court) for felony, family, and larger civil cases; the district court clerk for misdemeanors, traffic, and smaller civil cases; the probate register for estate, guardianship, and mental-health matters. Most clerks have a public terminal or index for searching case numbers at no charge, and copies are paid at the counter.

By mail. Write to the clerk of the specific court with:

the case number, or the full names of the parties and the approximate year filed;
exactly which documents you need;
whether you need plain or certified copies; and
payment or a request for a fee quote, plus a self-addressed stamped envelope if you want the copies mailed back.

Certified copies of circuit, district, and probate court records are $10 plus $1 per page under MCL 600.2546, unless another statute sets a different fee for that specific document. Call the clerk first to confirm the total before sending payment.

Online. If the court participates in MiCOURT Case Search or its own online portal, you can view the case index and docket for free. Document images are generally not available online in Michigan trial courts; for a copy of an actual filed document you must request it from the clerk, in person, by mail, or through the court's own e-filing/records site if one exists.

Records older than the online index. Many circuit and district court indexes online only go back to the 1990s or later. Older files may be archived off-site, and the clerk may need extra time or a retrieval fee to pull them.

Fees

Item	Typical cost
Plain copy	Set by each clerk — ask when you request
Certified copy	$10.00 plus $1.00 per page (MCL 600.2546), unless a more specific statute sets a different fee

MCL 600.2546 sets the default certified-copy and exemplification fee for circuit, district, and probate courts. Plain (uncertified) copy fees are set locally by each court or county and vary; some Michigan clerks charge a flat per-page photocopy fee while others provide free printouts from a public terminal. Confirm the plain-copy fee with the specific clerk before requesting copies.

Need a copy an agency will accept? See how to get certified copies of court records.

Sealed, expunged, and restricted records

Michigan court records are presumptively public under Michigan Court Rule 8.119, but several categories are restricted or excluded from routine searches:

Sealed records. MCR 8.119(I) lets a court seal specific records (not an entire case, and never a court order or opinion) only after a party files a written motion, the court finds good cause on the record, and no less restrictive option would protect the interest at stake.
Set-aside ("Clean Slate") convictions. Under the Setting Aside Convictions Act (MCL 780.621 et seq.), a person may petition to have up to three felony convictions and other convictions set aside, and many felony and serious-misdemeanor convictions are set aside automatically after a waiting period (roughly 10 years for felonies, 7 years for 93-day-plus misdemeanors) if no new offenses occur. Set-aside convictions are removed from public record searches, including ICHAT, though they remain visible to courts and law enforcement.
Juvenile records. Cases in the family division's juvenile jurisdiction are confidential with narrow statutory exceptions.
Mental-health and some probate proceedings. Civil commitment and related mental-health case records are restricted by statute.
The Freedom of Information Act does not apply to the judiciary. Under MCL 15.232, the judiciary, including the county clerk acting as clerk of the circuit court, is excluded from FOIA's definition of "public body." Access to court case records runs through court rules (chiefly MCR 8.119) and the common-law right of access, not a FOIA request to the clerk.

To remove your own record from public view, read how to expunge or seal a criminal record.

Frequently asked questions

Are Michigan court records public?

Yes. Michigan Court Rule 8.119 makes case records presumptively open unless a statute, court rule, or a specific sealing order restricts them. Exceptions include sealed records, set-aside ("Clean Slate") convictions, juvenile cases, and some mental-health proceedings.

Is there a free statewide search for Michigan court records?

MiCOURT Case Search is free and covers the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Court of Claims, and all 57 circuit courts, plus many participating district and probate courts. Coverage is not universal, so an empty result does not always mean no case exists — check the specific court's own website too.

How do I find out if someone has a criminal record in Michigan?

Use the Michigan State Police ICHAT tool, which searches the state's central repository of felony and serious-misdemeanor convictions for $10 per name. ICHAT does not include suppressed records, local ordinance misdemeanors, or out-of-state convictions.

Which court has my Michigan divorce record?

Divorces are heard in the circuit court's family division, so the county clerk — acting as clerk of the circuit court in the county where the divorce was filed — holds the file.

How do I get a certified copy of a Michigan court record?

Request it from the clerk of the specific court that heard the case, in person or by mail. The default statutory fee under MCL 600.2546 is $10 plus $1 per page, though some specific record types have their own fee set by a different statute.

Does Michigan's Clean Slate law erase a conviction from every search?

A set-aside conviction is removed from public searches, including ICHAT and most court case searches, but it is not physically destroyed. Courts, law enforcement, and certain licensing agencies can still see it, and it is not the same as an expungement that never happened.

Sources

Michigan Courts — About the Courts — https://www.courts.michigan.gov/courts/
MiCOURT Case Search — https://micourt.courts.michigan.gov/case-search/
Michigan Courts — Court of Appeals — https://www.courts.michigan.gov/courts/court-of-appeals/
Michigan Court Rules (current rules, Chapter 8 — court records) — https://www.courts.michigan.gov/rules-administrative-orders-and-jury-instructions/current-rules-and-jury-instructions/michigan-court-rules/
Michigan State Police — Criminal History Records — https://www.michigan.gov/msp/services/chr
MCL 780.621 — Setting Aside Convictions ("Clean Slate") — https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-780-621
MCL 600.2546 — Certified Copy and Exemplification Fees — https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-600-2546
MCL 15.232 — Freedom of Information Act, definitions (judiciary excluded) — https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=MCL-15-232
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan — https://www.mied.uscourts.gov/
U.S. District Court, Western District of Michigan — https://www.miwd.uscourts.gov/