To look up court cases in Michigan, start with the free state and federal portals that match the court where the case was heard: MiCOURT for trial-level civil, criminal, traffic, domestic, and probate matters; the Michigan Courts case search for the Court of Appeals, Supreme Court, and Court of Claims; and PACER for anything in federal court. State court rules and statutes treat proceedings and records as presumptively open, so most cases are searchable by anyone with a party name or case number.
What You’ll Want Before You Start
The case number is the single most useful thing you can have. Michigan trial courts assign a number that includes the filing year, a sequential identifier, and a two-letter code showing the case type. CZ signals general civil, FH a noncapital felony, DM a divorce with minor children, NO a personal injury claim outside auto negligence. With the number in hand, you can skip most filtering.
If you don’t have it, the full legal name of a party is your next best tool. Common names return long lists, so narrow by county or court location. Michigan’s trial records live in the court where the case was filed rather than a single statewide archive, and the state has 57 circuit courts and roughly 100 district courts. Knowing whether the matter is civil, criminal, domestic, traffic, or probate helps too, because different divisions handle different case types.
One thing no public search will show is unredacted personal data. Under MCR 1.109, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, driver’s license and passport numbers, and financial account numbers are protected. Filers must redact them, and courts redact them again before releasing copies.
MiCOURT for Trial Court Cases
For anything at the trial level, use the MiCOURT Case Search portal at micourt.courts.michigan.gov. It covers civil, criminal, traffic, domestic, and probate matters, though not every court has fully migrated its records. A search that returns nothing doesn’t prove the case doesn’t exist.
Pick the specific court location from the dropdown, then enter a case number or party name. Results show matching cases and their current status. Opening a case gives you a chronological log of every filing, motion, and order, along with hearing dates and the attorneys involved.
There’s a real limit here worth knowing about. Michigan courts are prohibited from providing public access to document images through the internet. You can see docket entries describing what was filed and when, but you generally cannot download the PDFs of motions, briefs, or orders. For the documents themselves, contact the clerk’s office where the case sits.
Appellate, Supreme Court, and Court of Claims Cases
Cases past the trial level are searchable through a separate tool at courts.michigan.gov/case-search/. It covers the Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court, and the Court of Claims. An advanced search lets you filter by court level, case number, party name, attorney name, bar number, case type, and even the authoring judge or panel.
The advantage over MiCOURT is direct access to written opinions and orders. You can download PDFs of unpublished Court of Appeals opinions going back to July 1996, published Court of Appeals and Supreme Court opinions from January 2001, Court of Appeals orders from January 2005, and Supreme Court orders from September 2005. If you’re researching how an issue was decided rather than just checking status, this is the tool.
Federal Cases in Michigan
A federal crime, a federal civil rights claim, or a bankruptcy won’t appear in either state portal. Michigan has two federal district courts. The Eastern District covers the eastern Lower Peninsula, including Detroit. The Western District covers the western Lower Peninsula and the Upper Peninsula. Both use PACER, the national electronic records system.
Create a free account at pacer.uscourts.gov before searching. PACER charges $0.10 per page for search results and documents, capped at $3.00 per document. If your charges total $30 or less in a calendar quarter, the fees are waived, and roughly 75 percent of PACER users pay nothing in any given quarter. Unlike the state portals, PACER usually lets you view and download the filed documents, not just the docket.
When You’ll Need the Clerk’s Office
Online tools don’t cover everything. Older cases that predate electronic systems, files with restricted access, and any situation calling for a certified physical copy all mean contacting the clerk. You can go in person, call, or send a written request by mail.
Fees vary by county but follow a consistent pattern. Standard photocopies run about $1.00 per page. A certified copy adds a $10.00 certification fee on top of the per-page charge. Some counties charge $2.00 per page for certified documents rather than $1.00. Walk-in requests at busy courts may be handled the same day; records pulled from off-site storage take longer.
The clerk is also the only source for documents bearing an official court seal, which matters when you need records for another legal proceeding, a licensing application, or anywhere a website printout won’t be accepted.
Records You Won’t Find in a Public Search
Michigan’s presumption of openness has real limits. Some categories of records are nonpublic, meaning only the parties, their attorneys, and the court can see them. Others are limited-access, available only to people identified by statute.
- Adoption files, including final orders and agency records, are closed under MCL 710.67 and MCL 710.68.
- Juvenile delinquency and child protective proceedings carry significant access restrictions.
- Community mental health treatment records are protected under MCL 330.1748.
- Any record a court seals for good cause under MCR 8.119(I) is off-limits.
Individual documents inside otherwise public cases can also be nonpublic. Case evaluation acceptance or rejection forms, ADA accommodation requests, and documents a judge specifically orders sealed won’t appear in the public docket.
When a Case Has Been Expunged
If you’re searching for a criminal case and finding nothing, it may have been set aside. Michigan’s Clean Slate Act, phased in starting in 2021, created automatic expungement for eligible convictions. Qualifying misdemeanors punishable by less than 93 days are automatically set aside after seven years. Misdemeanors carrying 93 days or more are eligible after seven years if the person has no more than four such convictions. Felonies can be automatically set aside after ten years if the person has no more than two felony convictions.
Once set aside, a conviction effectively disappears from public court records and the Michigan State Police criminal history database. The Michigan State Police began notifying courts of eligible automatic set-asides in April 2023, so the process is still rolling out. A record that was searchable a year ago may not be visible today. Courts can reinstate a set-aside conviction if it was granted improperly or if the person didn’t make a good-faith effort to pay ordered restitution.
Criminal History Through ICHAT
If what you actually want is someone’s criminal record rather than a specific case file, use ICHAT, the Michigan State Police Internet Criminal History Access Tool. ICHAT searches the statewide criminal history repository rather than individual dockets, so one search covers all 83 counties.
ICHAT includes felonies and serious misdemeanors punishable by more than 93 days that have been reported by law enforcement, prosecutors, and courts. It does not include federal crimes, tribal records, traffic offenses, juvenile records, local ordinance violations, criminal history from other states, suppressed records, or active warrants. For a full picture, you’d combine ICHAT with PACER and with individual searches in any other state where the person has lived.