Michigan Court Records

What is Included in Michigan Public Court Records

Criminal Court Cases

Assault & Battery, Domestic Violence, Parole Violation, Probation Violation, Sexual Assault, Robbery, Manslaughter, Murder, Drug Offenses, And More...

Civil Court Cases

Bankruptcies, Legal Judgments, Lawsuits, Tax & Property Liens, Contract Disputes, Probates, Family Law, Small Claims, Evictions, And More...

Traffic Court Cases

Driving Under Influence, Driving While Intoxicated, Speeding Tickets, Traffic Citations, Reckless Driving, Driving Without a License, License Suspensions, Criminal Driving Violations, Accidents, And More...

Michigan Court Record Lookup

In Michigan, enforcing a judge’s order for payment, Michigan child support or/and custody, an eviction, or clearing one’s driving record of a DUI offense may all be accomplished with Michigan MI court records. These are public records and can be looked up by conducting a Michigan court records search online. They will include Michigan criminal records, warrants, civil cases and more information. 

Limited Jurisdiction Courts

Municipal courts are found in only a handful of locations around Grosse Pointe.

The court of claims is a statewide court that hears civil cases filed against the state, including prisoner litigation, contracts, highway defects, and medical malpractice.

Tribal courts have jurisdiction over the geographic boundaries of sovereign land held by Native Americans.

Trial Courts

Wills, estates, and guardianship of the elderly and mentally infirm are handled by Michigan’s 78 probate courts.

District courts are found in about 100 locations in Michigan and are the place to settle misdemeanor charges, traffic tickets, landlord-tenant disputes, and civil cases up to $25,000 in value, wich can be accessed via Michigan court case lookup.

Family court is a division of the state’s circuit courts, found in 57 locations around the state. Generally, circuit courts have jurisdiction over all criminal trials and civil cases when the amount in dispute is above $25,000. These Michigan courthouses also hear appeals of disputed decisions from other courts and state administrative agencies.

Circuit courts across the state received over 50,000 new criminal cases in a recent year for a total of almost 95,000 new cases. Juvenile courts had over 25,000 new delinquency cases and over 7,000 child protective cases. By performing Michigan court record lookup anyone can obtain Michigan court records online.

Courts of Appeals

The state’s intermediate court of appeals hears disputed decisions from lower courts in panels of three judges.

At the top of the state judiciary is the supreme court, which takes selected appeals of lower court cases and advises the judiciary.

Bankruptcy Courts

Those who declare bankruptcy, violate federal law, or join class action suits will find their cases in the U.S. District Court for their region of Michigan. Each state has at least one of these federal courts.

Michigan Notable Court Cases

An attorney and former law professor lost a case against a man who made a parody of the attorney's Twitter account and posted references to drug use and veiled references to earning easy grades through buying the man drinks. When the case was before the Michigan Court of Appeals the court reviewed the offending posts and decided the name of the account as well as its content was intended as a parody and was protected under the First Amendment. The attorney had argued that the imposter account cost him business and made it impossible for him to continue teaching.

The legalization of same-sex marriage does not extend retroactive parental rights to past partners, says the Michigan Supreme Court. Two lesbians had sued for parental rights to see children from past relationships, prior to the legalization of same sex marriage. The partner of one woman had three children during their relationship and even took the other woman's last name but denied visitation after the relationship ended. Her attorney argued that they were essentially married and deserved the same rights. The Supreme Court decided that because neither woman was the biological mother of the children nor there was a retroactive provision to same-sex marriage, their complaints were null. The U.S. Supreme Court also declined to hear the cases.

Michigan Civil Case Statistics

Civil Caseload
Civil Caseload 608,257
Caseloads per 100.000 Population
Caseloads per 100.000 Population 6,126
Clearance Rate
Clearance Rate 99%
Small Claims Caseload
Small Claims Caseload 48,588

Civil Caseloads for Michigan, the sum of all civil cases reported by the state, account for 3,242,907 total cases at the year end of 2016, which makes it 6,126 cases per 100.000 population.

The clearance rate for the state is about 99% which makes up by dividing the outgoing to incoming civil cases and expressing the result in a percentage.

Civil Court Incoming & Outgoing Cases 2012-2016

The number of civil court caseloads in 2016 has decreased since 2012, being 608,257 vs. 717,553, which is by 15.2 % lower than 5 years ago. The same picture is seen with clearance rates, it’s lower compared to 2012, by 13.8% being 602,213 compared to 698,698.

State Small Claims & Rates Timeline

Year: Small Claims Max. Limit Small Claims Caseload per 100.000 Population Percent of Total Civil Caseload
2012$300057,1065788%
2013$300056,8675759%
2014$300054,2815489%
2015$550051,4105188%
2016$550048,5884898%

The caseload for small claims has decreased since 2012, going from 57,106 cases a year to 48,588 of 2016. The maximum limit of small claim charges has also seen a change and has reached $5,500 in 2016 compared to the $3,000 that was registered 5 years ago.

Accordingly the small claims rate has decreased- 489 cases per 100 000 population compared to the 578 of 2012. The total percentage of civil caseloads accounts 18.1% for the state of Michigan for 2016.

Criminal Caseloads by Type

Criminal Caseloads for Michigan sum in 897,140 cases at the year end of 2016 .

Criminal Incoming Court Cases by type 2012-2016

Criminal Caseloads Timeline

Domestic Relations Caseloads & Clearance Rates

The state’s domestic relations caseload has counted 114,563 cases which is 1,154 court cases per 100.000 population. It has decreased since 2012, the difference in caseloads is 3,284 for the last 5 years, being 117,847 in 2012.

State Court Holidays

Holiday: Date:
New Year's HolidayMonday, January 1, 2018
Martin Luther King, Jr. DayMonday, January 15, 2018
Presidents' DayMonday, February 19, 2018
Memorial DayMonday, May 28, 2018
Independence DayWednesday, July 4, 2018
Labor DayMonday, September 3, 2018
Veterans' DayMonday, November 12, 2018
Thanksgiving HolidayThursday, November 22, 2018
Thanksgiving HolidayFriday, November 23, 2018
Christmas EveMonday, December 24, 2018
Christmas DayTuesday, December 25, 2018
New Year's EveMonday, December 31, 2018

Supreme Court Caseloads & Clearance Rates

Court of Appeals Caseloads