Filing harassment charges in Michigan means filing a stalking, aggravated stalking, or cyberstalking complaint. The state has no standalone crime called harassment. What most people call harassment — repeated unwanted contact, threats, following, or online abuse — is prosecuted under MCL 750.411h, 750.411i, and 750.411s. You start the process by documenting the pattern, reporting it to your local police, and letting the prosecutor decide whether to file formal charges.
What Counts as Criminal Harassment in Michigan
Before you file, the conduct has to fit the statute. Michigan defines stalking as a willful course of conduct involving repeated or continuing harassment that would cause a reasonable person to feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated, threatened, or molested, and that actually causes the victim to feel that way.1Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. A Citizen’s Guide to Michigan Anti-Stalking Laws Both halves matter. A reasonable person has to view the behavior as threatening, and you actually have to feel that way. If either piece is missing, the charge will not hold.
“Course of conduct” means two or more separate, noncontinuous acts that share the same purpose. One incident, however frightening, is not enough. The acts have to form a recognizable pattern.1Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. A Citizen’s Guide to Michigan Anti-Stalking Laws “Harassment” inside the statute means repeated, unconsented contact that would cause a reasonable person emotional distress and actually does. The statute excludes constitutionally protected activity and conduct that serves a legitimate purpose.
The behavior also has to be willful. Accidental or incidental contact does not qualify. One point matters more than any other for people about to file: if you told the person to stop and they kept contacting you, that continued contact creates a rebuttable presumption under Michigan law that the behavior caused you to feel terrorized or harassed. A dated, documented request to stop is often the single most useful piece of evidence in the file.
How to File: Step by Step
You do not file criminal charges directly. A prosecutor does. What you file is a police complaint, and the quality of what you bring in shapes whether the case moves forward.
1. Document Everything
Save texts, emails, voicemails, direct messages, and social media posts. Screenshot anything that could be deleted, and capture usernames, URLs, and timestamps in the screenshots. For each incident, write down the date, the time, where you were, what happened, and who else saw it. Keep a running log rather than reconstructing later.
Because the statute requires at least two separate acts, your file needs to clearly show two or more incidents with distinct dates. Blurry, undated evidence lets a defense attorney argue the events were one continuous episode rather than a pattern.
2. Send a Clear “Stop Contacting Me” Message and Save It
If you have not already told the person to stop, send one message in writing that says so plainly, and keep a copy. Everything after that request strengthens the case, because of the rebuttable presumption built into the statute.
3. File a Report with Local Police
Take your documentation to the police department where you live or where the conduct happened. Officers will evaluate whether the reported behavior meets the definition of stalking, aggravated stalking, or cyberstalking. They may interview witnesses and pull additional records. Point out the stop-contact request specifically, and flag anything that could be an aggravating factor: a threat, a violation of an existing protection order, a prior conviction, or contact through electronic means.
4. Prosecutor Review and Arraignment
If police find enough evidence, they forward the case to the local prosecutor’s office. The prosecutor independently decides whether to file formal charges, weighing the strength of the evidence, the clarity of the pattern, and whether the statutory elements are met. Not every complaint results in charges. If charges are filed, the case proceeds to arraignment, where the accused is formally notified, enters a plea, and the court sets conditions for release.
Which Charge Applies, and What the Penalties Are
The specific statute depends on the conduct, aggravating factors, and whether electronic communications were involved.
Misdemeanor Stalking
A first offense under MCL 750.411h without aggravating factors is a misdemeanor. Conviction carries up to one year in jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.1Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. A Citizen’s Guide to Michigan Anti-Stalking Laws The court can also impose probation with conditions including no contact with the victim, no stalking of any other person during probation, and a mental health evaluation with counseling at the offender’s expense.2Michigan Courts. Probation Offenses with Special Rules
Aggravated Stalking
Aggravated stalking under MCL 750.411i is a felony. It applies when the stalking involves a credible threat against the victim, a violation of a restraining order or personal protection order, or a defendant with a prior stalking conviction.3Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 750.411i – Aggravated Stalking The underlying elements do not change, but the aggravating circumstances push the case to felony territory, with state prison exposure and lasting collateral effects on employment, housing, and firearm rights.
Cyberstalking
Michigan handles electronic harassment separately under MCL 750.411s. The statute makes it a crime to post a message through any electronic medium without the victim’s consent when the poster knows or should know the message could cause two or more unconsented contacts with the victim, and the message is intended to make the victim feel terrorized, frightened, or harassed.4Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 750.411s – Cyberstalking
A first cyberstalking offense is a felony punishable by up to two years in prison, a fine of up to $5,000, or both. The penalties climb to up to five years and $10,000 if aggravating factors are present: a violated restraining order, a credible threat, a prior stalking or cyberstalking conviction, or a victim under 18 when the offender is five or more years older.4Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 750.411s – Cyberstalking The statute does not reach constitutionally protected speech or activity.
Personal Protection Orders: The Faster Parallel Track
Criminal charges are not your only option, and often not the fastest. You can petition the family division of circuit court for a personal protection order, and you can do so whether or not the person has been criminally charged.5Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 600.2950a – Personal Protection Orders
The petition must describe facts that constitute stalking under MCL 750.411h, aggravated stalking under MCL 750.411i, or cyberstalking under MCL 750.411s.5Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 600.2950a – Personal Protection Orders The same pattern the criminal statutes require applies here. The court can issue a PPO without advance notice to the other person if the judge finds that notifying them would cause immediate and irreparable harm or would prompt them to act before the order takes effect.
An ex parte PPO is valid for at least 182 days. The restrained person has 14 days after being served to move to modify or rescind the order, and the court must schedule that hearing within 14 days of receiving the motion.6Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 600.2950a – Personal Protection Orders A PPO violation is itself a crime, and it can turn a misdemeanor stalking situation into aggravated stalking.
How Long You Have to File
Stalking and aggravated stalking must be charged within six years of the offense.7Michigan Courts. Michigan Domestic Violence Benchbook – Stalking Any period during which the accused was not publicly residing in Michigan does not count toward that window.8Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 767.24 – Indictments; Finding and Filing; Limitations Six years is a longer runway than many states give, but waiting still hurts a case. Memories fade, witnesses move, phones get replaced, and platforms delete old messages.
What the Defense Will Likely Argue
Knowing how these cases get fought helps you prepare a report that survives it.
No intent. The most common defense is that the contact was unintentional or had a legitimate purpose. Co-parents, neighbors, and coworkers often argue that contact was unavoidable. Because the statute requires willful conduct, a documented request to stop is what usually defeats this argument.
Consent. Expect the defense to point to any friendly or casual exchange as evidence the contact was welcome. Preserve the messages that show when you told the person to stop and how they responded.
Protected speech. Michigan’s stalking statutes exclude constitutionally protected activity. General public statements, even offensive ones, may fall outside the statute. Repeated, targeted personal messages generally do not, regardless of content.
No real pattern. Because the law requires two or more separate, noncontinuous acts, defense attorneys try to collapse the alleged incidents into a single continuous event. Clear dates, distinct incidents, and specific timestamps close that gap before it opens.