The Michigan Central Registry is a confidential state list, maintained by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services under the Child Protection Law, of people identified as perpetrators in confirmed cases of serious child abuse, serious neglect, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, or methamphetamine production involving a child. Once your name is on it, it stays there until MDHHS receives reliable information that you have died, unless you successfully petition to have the record expunged.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 722.627j – Child Protection Law The practical stakes are high: the listing blocks work with children, surfaces in custody disputes, and follows you across state lines.
What the Registry Contains
The registry holds more than a name. For each listed person, it records birthdate, the names and birthdates of the children involved, names of other adults or children present in the home, the type of abuse or neglect confirmed, the date of the incident, and the county where it happened.2Michigan Legal Help. Child Abuse and Neglect Central Registry That history feeds directly into future CPS work. When a new report comes in, investigators check whether the alleged perpetrator already has confirmed findings, and prior listings shape risk assessments and decisions about removing a child or going to court.
The registry is not public. Records filed with MDHHS under the Child Protection Law are confidential and exempt from Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act.4Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 722.628 – Child Protection Law
Findings That Put You on the List
Michigan law limits registry placement to four specific types of confirmed findings:3Michigan Legislature. Michigan Child Protection Law Act 238 of 1975
- Confirmed serious abuse or neglect, meaning battering, torture, serious physical harm, loss or serious impairment of an organ or limb, life-threatening injury, murder or attempted murder, or serious mental harm.
- Confirmed sexual abuse, meaning sexual penetration, sexual contact, attempted sexual penetration, or assault with intent to penetrate.
- Confirmed sexual exploitation, meaning allowing or encouraging a child to engage in prostitution, or photographing or filming a child in sexual acts.
- Confirmed methamphetamine production where a child was exposed to or had contact with it.
Certain criminal convictions involving children also result in registry placement.5State of Michigan. Central Registry
A common misconception is that any confirmed CPS finding lands you on the registry. It doesn’t. CPS classifies investigations into five categories under MCL 722.628d based on the evidence and the risk of future harm, and only cases where the confirmed conduct fits one of the four types above produce a registry listing.6Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 722.628 – Child Protection Law A substantiated case of educational neglect, for example, can be a serious CPS matter without ever reaching the registry.
The Notice and the 180-Day Deadline
Within 30 days of classifying a case as a central registry case, MDHHS must send written notice to each person named as a perpetrator, by registered or certified mail with return receipt requested, restricted to the addressee.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 722.627j – Child Protection Law The letter must tell you that your name has been placed on the registry and for what type of finding, that you have the right to request expunction, that you have the right to a hearing if MDHHS refuses, and that the record may be released in certain circumstances. It will not identify whoever originally reported the suspected abuse or neglect.
From the date that notice is served, you have 180 calendar days to ask MDHHS to amend or expunge the record.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 722.627j – Child Protection Law This is the single most important deadline in the entire process. Ignore the letter, and you lose access to the version of the hearing most likely to clear your name.
Getting Your Name Removed
There are two paths off the registry, and they are not equally forgiving.
The Initial Expunction Request
Start by asking MDHHS directly to amend or expunge the record. If MDHHS refuses, you have the right to a hearing before an administrative law judge under the Administrative Procedures Act of 1969.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 722.627j – Child Protection Law The judge decides, by a preponderance of the evidence, whether the record actually meets the statutory definition of confirmed serious abuse or neglect, confirmed sexual abuse, confirmed sexual exploitation, or confirmed methamphetamine production. If it doesn’t, the record is expunged.
This is the favorable version of the hearing because the question is whether the original finding was properly supported. You can challenge the quality of the investigation, present new evidence, and cross-examine the CPS workers who reached the conclusion. Representation by an attorney familiar with child welfare cases matters here.
The Ten-Year Removal Hearing
Miss the 180 days, and the next opportunity is a decade away. Under MCL 722.627j(11), once every ten years after placement you can request a removal hearing, but you walk in with a legal presumption that you are a risk to children and the burden is on you to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the presumption is unreasonable.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 722.627j – Child Protection Law The judge cannot revisit the facts of the original case. The focus is on what you have done since: conduct, rehabilitation, anything bearing on current risk.
Two limits narrow this path further. People placed for confirmed sexual abuse or confirmed sexual exploitation cannot use the ten-year removal hearing at all. People placed on the registry following a criminal conviction must petition the convicting court instead of going through the administrative process. In both situations, the same presumption of risk and burden of proof apply.
How Long the Listing Lasts
Without a successful challenge, your name stays on the registry until MDHHS receives reliable information that you have died, and the statute specifically authorizes MDHHS to use the Social Security death index to confirm it.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 722.627j – Child Protection Law For most people, placement is effectively permanent. For anyone listed for sexual abuse or exploitation, there is no administrative hearing route to removal at all.
Who Can Pull Your Record
Access is restricted by MCL 722.627 to a defined list of people and agencies with a child protection purpose, including child protective agencies, law enforcement investigating suspected abuse or neglect, physicians treating a child they reasonably suspect may be abused or neglected, courts and grand juries when the information bears on a case or guardianship decision, and treatment providers responsible for a child or family that is the subject of a report.7Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 722.627 – Child Protection Law You can also request your own record, though the identity of the original reporter stays protected.
Employers and organizations hiring for positions involving contact with children can request a Central Registry clearance, with proper authorization and identification. MDHHS responds within ten business days.5State of Michigan. Central Registry With your written consent, results go to the employer named on the request.
For licensed child care organizations, the clearance is not optional. No staff member, unsupervised volunteer, licensee, or adult household member may have contact with children in care until they have documented that they are not named on the registry as a perpetrator.8Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 722.119 – Child Care Organizations A current employee who turns up on the registry during an updated clearance cannot remain present in the facility.
Effects on Work, Custody, and Daily Life
The clearest consequence is employment. Schools, daycare centers, camps, foster care agencies, and other child-serving organizations run Central Registry checks before allowing staff or volunteers near children. A positive hit does not just make hiring unlikely in licensed child care settings; it is a legal bar to being on the premises.8Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 722.119 – Child Care Organizations
In family court, registry status can affect custody and parenting time. Courts weighing the best interests of a child may consider a parent’s listing as evidence bearing on the child’s safety, and MCL 722.627 explicitly authorizes courts to access registry records when deciding guardianship suitability or other issues before them.7Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 722.627 – Child Protection Law A listing does not automatically strip custody, but it can lead to supervised visitation, restrictions on overnight parenting time, or additional court-imposed conditions.
Beyond formal legal consequences, the practical reach is wide. Foster care and adoption applications are typically denied. Volunteer slots at your child’s school or sports league may require a clearance you cannot pass. Moving out of Michigan does not solve the problem, because other states’ child welfare agencies can request registry information when investigating reports or processing licensing applications.
If you have received a notice from MDHHS, treat the 180-day window as the one chance to challenge the finding on its merits. After that, the law presumes you are a risk, and the burden to prove otherwise rests entirely on you.