How to Get Court Records
Macomb County court records stay with the court that keeps them. Begin with CourtView Web Public Access for public computerized Circuit and Probate case information. Not sure which court has the matter, or a district case is possible? Try MiCOURT Case Search. An online hit gives you the court, the case number, and the event history. Treat it as a lead. It is no substitute for a clerk-issued document or a certified copy. It does not replace the full public file either.
Circuit records come through the Macomb County Clerk's Court Section. You can order online. You can also use public terminals and file-room service at the courthouse. Mail, phone, email, and fax work too. The Circuit records phone is 586-469-5351. The file room sits at 40 North Main, Mount Clemens, MI 48043. The order-form fax is 586-469-5365, and the file-room email is fileroom@macombgov.org. A mailed request should name the court, case number, the document or Register of Actions you want, and the approximate date. Add party names, copy type, and delivery choice.
- Identify the holding court and full case number through the notice, CourtView, MiCOURT, or the responsible clerk.
- Choose inspection, a regular copy, certification, authentication, a name search, or a particular docket entry or document.
- Use the online form, file room, mail, phone, email, or fax channel that fits the court and request type.
- Include the case number, party names, approximate date, requested record, and delivery method so staff can locate the file.
- Ask the clerk which access rule applies if the file is restricted, rather than using a county FOIA request to seek a sealed judicial record.
Macomb County Court Record Custodians
The Macomb County Clerk serves as clerk of the 16th Judicial Circuit Court and keeps the existing Circuit files, entering documents daily and providing indexes, terminals, and file-room copies. Not every Macomb County court record sits there, though. District court clerks hold the district civil, criminal, traffic, civil-infraction, and small-claims files. Probate runs its own records operation. The statewide portal helps you find a case. The holding clerk is still the office that matters. The official Clerk court-records page lays out the court-records service and the filing methods.
Send your request to the court named on the case number or hearing notice. That one check keeps a district or Probate request from landing in the Circuit file room.
Types of Court Records
Through the Circuit request routes you can get a Register of Actions printout, a docket entry, a complaint or petition, a judgment, an order, a criminal sentence, a divorce judgment, a civil judgment, a name-search result letter, a transcript, a document with exhibits, an authenticated copy, a certified copy, a no-appeal letter, or a complete file where the law allows it. Say which item you need. "Court record" alone is too broad when the clerk must pull a specific filing.
Know the pieces. A Register of Actions is the dated case-history list. A docket entry is one event line within it. A document is the pleading, order, judgment, or other paper behind an event. A certified copy is a complete clerk-certified reproduction, never a screen capture. Transcripts and video follow separate court procedures. The Circuit court notes that not every hearing is recorded on video, and it offers viewing rather than copied video.
Macomb County Court Record Order Form
The Macomb online document-order form gathers the basics a clerk needs to pull a file. It asks for your contact information, the case number, an approximate date, and the plaintiff and defendant. It also collects the document type, your copy and delivery choices, and payment details where they apply. For the case-number field, it points to 2014-001234-AA as a local example. Processing runs within 10 business days. A restricted court record may still call for proper authority or a court order before anything is released.
The Circuit Court Section’s record and delivery options are laid out on the official online ordering form. It shows every choice of copy type and delivery method. The section uses these for Macomb County court records.
Ordering online is a request channel. It does not override access rules. Pick the most precise document choice, and follow the clerk's current payment instructions before you submit.
What a Court Record Contains
A Macomb County case file can hold more than the public docket shows. The Register of Actions is the chronological record. It lists filings, settings, orders, and other events in order. Your requested document might be a complaint, petition, judgment, sentence, transcript, or order. Which fields and images the public can see depends on the case type. The access level Michigan rules assign matters too.
| Case header | Case number, opening date, court, division, judge, case type, caption, and public status where available. |
|---|---|
| Party block | Public party-role names and attorney information, subject to redaction and nonpublic rules. |
| Register of Actions | Dated docket entries for filings, notices, settings, orders, judgments, and other case events. |
| Hearing setting | Date, time, room, judge, setting type, modality, and any visible adjournment history. |
| Requested document | The particular pleading, order, judgment, sentence, exhibit, or transcript identified in the request. |
| Access treatment | Public, redacted, restricted, sealed, or otherwise limited under the applicable rule or order. |
Match the copy you request to the item you actually need. A docket line and the filed order behind it are different court records.
Macomb County Court Record Delivery
The Circuit online form offers email, U.S. mail, and pickup, with no listed delivery charge. Fax delivery runs $10 plus the copy charge. Expedited handling costs $32 plus whichever delivery you pick: email, Express Mail, or pickup. The file-room PDF order form uses the same basic choices and states that regular copies, certified copies, authenticated copies, name searches, and Register of Actions printouts each carry their own pricing.
Mail and fax are documented local channels too. The PDF file-room form lists mail to Macomb County Clerk File Room, 40 North Main, Mount Clemens, MI 48043, plus a file-room fax of 586-469-5365 and fileroom@macombgov.org. Do not confuse fax filing at 586-469-5353 with an order-form fax. That number is for filing pleadings, with its own cover sheet and timing rules.
Macomb County Court Record Inspection
Looking is free; copies cost money. Under MCR 8.119, anyone may inspect a public court record at no retrieval or inspection charge. The Court Section’s public computer terminals make that easy for docket review. When you want a paper or PDF reproduction, the court’s set fee applies. Browsing first is smart. It lets you pinpoint the exact docket entry or document before you pay for a copy.
The third-floor Self-Help Center adds computers, workstations, forms, and staff who assist with access tasks. They cannot give legal advice. Probate records follow a separate route. Email sheila.lipari@macombgov.org with the case number, the “In matter of” name, and your contact information. Probate staff say they process requests within 48 hours. Payment is required before release.
Certified Copies and Fees
A regular copy is just paper; it carries no seal. For a Circuit certification, the whole document gets copied first. Then the Clerk adds the certification charge. Authentication carries the same listed base charge. Check the current fee page before you order, above all for a revised form or an expedited request. The official Circuit court fee schedule lays out the local copy, name-search, Register of Actions, and certification charges. Related fees a Macomb County request might involve appear there too.
Those figures cover the documented Circuit channels only. A district court or Probate request may use a different form or fee schedule for the same court record.
| Macomb Circuit item | Listed fee | Request note |
|---|---|---|
| Regular pleading or Register of Actions copy | $2 per page | Register of Actions is the clerk’s docket printout. |
| Certified copy | $10 plus $2 per page | The entire document must be copied for certification. |
| Authenticated copy | $10 plus $2 per page | Select authentication on the order form. |
| Name search | $2 per name | Each alias counts as a name. |
| No-appeal letter | $2 | Optional order-form choice. |
| Expedited handling | $32 | Added to the selected delivery method and copy cost. |
Macomb County Clerk, Circuit Court Section
40 North Main, first floor
Mount Clemens, MI 48043
586-469-5351
Macomb County Court Record Fee Check
Treat the request form's amount as a current check. Do not use it to merge unrelated fee schedules when ordering. The fax-filing cover sheet lists filing fees. Those cover new civil, domestic, appeal, motion, and other court filings. Those fees pay for submitting a pleading, not for a court-record copy. MiFILE, likewise, is an electronic filing and service tool rather than the public-record ordering system.
Transcripts cost extra. MCL 600.2543 caps the charge at $3.75 per original transcript page and $0.90 per copy page. Expedited service can add more. To request one, you will need the case number. Also include the hearing date and time, the presiding judge, and a deposit.
Macomb County Court Record Filing
Ordering a court record is not the same act as filing a pleading. The Circuit fax-filing cover sheet sends filings to 586-469-5353 and faxfiling@macombgov.org. Its instructions say a pleading counts as filed that day if the first page arrives by 4:30 p.m. The fax is treated as the original. Do not mail a duplicate. Record requests go through the separate file-room fax and email channels instead. For a new filing, use MiFILE or the filing office. For a copy of an existing court record, use the clerk's records route.
Public Access and Sealed Records
Most Macomb County court records are open to the public. The court rules still set limits on access. MCR 8.119 is the main rule covering inspection, reproduction, and sealed files. It is the right starting point for any judicial file. Michigan FOIA, MCL 15.231 et seq., governs qualifying county administrative records. It is not a master key into a sealed court case.
Macomb County access rules:
MCR 8.119 makes court records generally public unless a statute, court rule, or court order limits access, and distinguishes inspection from paid reproduction.
Michigan FOIA, MCL 15.231 et seq. governs state and local administrative records when the responsible public body holds the requested material.
MCL 712A.28 provides special confidentiality and access treatment for juvenile records.
If staff point to a restriction, ask which rule or local administrative order applies and whether a redacted or authorized version exists. Macomb's Circuit fee page links Local Administrative Order 2023-02J on access, inspection, reproduction, and creation of court records. Confirm the current order and fee before relying on an older copy.
Macomb County Court Record Restrictions
Sealed, nonpublic, and redacted records take more than a general request. Juvenile and child-protective matters carry special limits. MiCOURT public search also skips several categories, among them adoption, PPO and ERPO matters, wills, and specified mental-health proceedings. A public case history may show a restricted indicator or leave out the underlying document. Personal identifiers stay masked. Ask for the rule, not a workaround. The responsible clerk can name the court, order, or statute that governs access to that court record. For a judicial record, use the local court-file process. Save a county FOIA request for an administrative record that truly fits FOIA custody and subject rules.
Macomb County Probate Record Route
Probate does not run through the Circuit file room. Macomb Probate handles estates, guardianships, conservatorships, protective proceedings, and mental-commitment matters. Its records route is email to sheila.lipari@macombgov.org. Include the case number, the "In matter of" name, your phone, and your email. Then say whether you want inspection, a regular copy, certification, or a restricted-access procedure. That separate route matters most when a CourtView result does not include the document itself. Ask for the specific court record. Do not treat a countywide search result as the whole file.