How to Fill Out Michigan Form MC 97a: Protected Personal Identifying Information

Michigan Form MC 97a is the nonpublic addendum you file whenever a public court document would otherwise have to display protected personal identifying information for someone who is not a defendant, respondent, or decedent. It also covers cases where more than one person’s protected information needs to go on the record. You fill in each person’s data next to a pre-printed reference number, sign and date the form, and file it at the same time as the public document it supports. The blank form is available free from the Michigan Courts website or any county clerk’s office.

When MC 97a Is the Right Form

Michigan uses three parallel forms for protected personal identifying information, and the difference is about who the information belongs to, not about running out of space.

MC 97 is for a single defendant, respondent, or decedent. Criminal cases, personal protection actions, and delinquency proceedings usually call for MC 97.¹

MC 97a is for anyone who is not a defendant, respondent, or decedent, such as a plaintiff, a petitioner, or a child in a guardianship. It is also the correct form when more than one person’s protected information has to be filed, such as a name change involving several family members.²

MC 97b applies only in child protective proceedings and is filed alongside form JC 04b.³

The header printed on each form states plainly who it covers. Filing the wrong one can lead the clerk to reject the document and require you to refile on the correct form.

What Counts as Protected Personal Identifying Information

Michigan Court Rule 1.109(D)(9)(a) lists five categories that must be kept off public filings:

Date of birth
Social Security number or national identification number
Driver’s license number or state-issued personal identification card number
Passport number
Financial account numbers

Any time a public court document would require one of these, you leave it off the public filing and put the full information on MC 97a instead. The form itself is nonpublic under MCR 1.109(D)(9)(a). It will not appear in online case searches and is not available to members of the public who request a copy of the court file.²

How to Fill Out MC 97a

The layout is short. The reference number system is what trips people up on a first filing.

Case Header

At the top, enter the plaintiff’s or petitioner’s name, the defendant’s or respondent’s name (or “In the matter of” for probate matters), the judicial circuit or district, the county, the case number, and the assigned judge. Also write in the name of the public form or document MC 97a is accompanying, such as “Petition for Guardianship” or “Complaint for Divorce.” That entry links the two filings so the clerk knows which public document the protected data belongs to.²

Reference Number Rows

The body of the form is a set of rows with pre-printed reference numbers, Ref. No. 10 through 18. Each row has fields for the person’s name, date of birth, and an “Other” field for a Social Security number, financial account number, or other protected identifier. Fill in only the fields your case actually requires. If the public document just needs a date of birth, leave the other columns blank.²

In the “Other” field, label the type of identifier before the number itself. The form’s own instructions use the example “Social Security Number XXXX” so it is clear which category of identifier the court is reading.²

The reference number is what connects MC 97a to the public filing. Wherever the public document would normally show a date of birth or a Social Security number, you write the matching reference number (for example, “Ref. No. 10”) in place of the actual data. The court treats that reference number as a stand-in for the full information stored on the nonpublic form.⁴

Signature

Print your name and enter the date at the bottom. No notarization is required.

How to File the Form

MC 97a is filed at the same time as the public document it accompanies. There is no separate filing fee.

In courts using MiFILE, upload MC 97a and mark it confidential. MiFILE allows filers to flag documents as confidential or sealed where a statute or court rule provides authority, and MCR 1.109(D)(9) supplies that authority for PII forms. The clerk verifies the confidential flag before accepting the filing; a missing or wrong flag can lead to rejection.⁵p>

For paper filings, keep MC 97a separate from the public document. Put it behind a cover sheet or in its own envelope clearly labeled as containing protected personal identifying information, so the clerk can route it into the nonpublic portion of the case file.

Reusing the Reference Number in Later Filings

You only file MC 97a once per person, per case. Later public documents that need the same protected information should point back to the original reference number rather than repeat the data or generate a new MC 97a. If a child’s date of birth is at Ref. No. 12, every subsequent filing that would call for that date instead reads “Ref. No. 12.”³

Keep your own copy. The first MC 97a acts as the key for the whole case, and you will need to know which reference number belongs to which person the next time something is filed.

If Protected Information Ends Up in a Public Filing

Mistakes get corrected two ways.

The faster route is form MC 97r, Request for Redaction of Protected Personal Identifying Information. The person whose PII was exposed submits a written request and the clerk redacts the information. No motion fee is required, and the rule directs prompt processing.³

The court can also act on its own or on any person’s motion to seal the offending document and order a redacted replacement.⁶

Speed matters because of a waiver rule. Under MCR 1.109(D)(9)(d), filing protected PII in a way that is inconsistent with the rule waives the rule’s protections for that information. Until the court seals or redacts the document, the exposed data sits in the public record where anyone can request a copy.⁶ Submit the MC 97r request as soon as you notice the problem.

Local Court Forms That Ask for PII Directly

Local court forms are not permitted to contain protected PII fields. If a courthouse hands you a local form asking for a full Social Security number or date of birth on the face of the document, the court rule prohibits rejecting your filing, dismissing your case, or otherwise penalizing you for declining to put that data on the local form. Provide the information on MC 97 or MC 97a instead.⁶

1
Michigan Courts. MC 97 Protected Personal Identifying Information
2
Michigan Courts. Addendum to Protected Personal Identifying Information
3
Michigan Courts. FAQ Personal Identifying Information in Court Filings
4
Michigan Courts. Access to Court Files and Records
5
Michigan Courts. MiFILE Quick Reference Training Guide
6
Michigan Courts. Brief No. 5