Clair County Court Records

St. Clair County court records are any recorded information made by the court or submitted to the court in compliance with Michigan Court Rules. According to Michigan Court Rules MCR 8.119, court records consist of, but are not restricted to:

• Records, document attachments, discovery materials, and other records submitted to the court clerk
• Any records, data, documents, and other recorded information that the court creates or manages, including any data generated when using a system to transmit, access, reproduce, or save court records.

Court records are essential in educating litigants about court processes and procedures. They also provide historical context for judgments on a particular case. Researchers can find a repository of court records at the St. Clair County courthouse records, which show information on judicial and legal matters and, in general, how the justice system works.

Are Court Records Public in St. Clair County?

Yes. St. Clair County court records are regarded as public records as per MCR 8.119(D) of the Michigan administrative rules of court. This means that court records are accessible to the general public, excluding records marked as having restricted access by statute, court rule, case law, or court order. In addition, the St. Clair County Court authorities have implemented reasonable measures to safeguard their public records and avoid unwarranted and undue interference with their ability to do their duties. According to the Access Security matrix, Michigan has various levels of public access to court data. The primary purpose of the matrix is to help court administrators create user groups and access levels. Each user group's access level is assigned depending on the kind of case and all docket codes. Generally speaking, the public has limited or no access to the following categories of court records:

• Mental health treatment records
• Juvenile court records
• Personal information of jurors
• Forensic and psychological reports
• Driving records from secretary of state
• Drug abuse records from treatment facilities
• Case inventory from domestic relation cases

Clair County Court Records Search

Eligible individuals can get the St. Clair County court record at the following location and through the following channels:

• At the county courthouse.
• The Michigan Courts case search system.
• Third-party websites.
• Using the records request form on the county clerk's webpage.

Clair County Court Records Search by Name

A St. Clair County court records search by name can be performed online or at any courthouse terminal or database to look up stored court records in the county. The name can be a person's name (first, last, and middle name ) or a business name. However, for the record to come up during a search, the name must appear in the court records of the person looking for it. A person interested in performing a search by name can use a public terminal at any St. Clair County courthouse or submit the name to the court clerk's office to search for cases currently pending or have been closed associated with the name.

Remote access to court records also involves a record search using a name. Portals such as the Michigan case search system and the Michigan courts case search portal allow searches using a person's or business name.

Clair County Courts

The St. Clair County court system consists of four courts: a district court, a circuit court, a probate court, and a mental health court. Each court has different departments that handle cases ranging from civil and criminal to minor and domestic matters. Below are the locations of all the courts in St. Clair County:

St. Clair County Circuit Court
31st Circuit Court
201 McMorran Blvd.
Port Huron, MI 48060

District courts

Port Huron District Court
201 McMorran Boulevard
Port Huron, MI, 48060
Phone: (810) 985-2072 (Traffic/Criminal)
Phone: (810) 985-2077 (General Civil/Landlord Tenant/Small Claims)
Fax: (810) 982-1260

Marine City District Court
2088 South Parker
Marine City, MI 48039
Phone: (810) 765-4057
Fax: (810) 765-1143

St. Clair County Probate Court
201 McMorran Blvd.
Room 2700
Port Huron, MI 48060
(810) 985-2066
(810) 985-2179 (fax)

Mental Health Court
72nd District Court
Mental Health Court Division
Room 2800, County Building
201 McMorran Blvd.
Port Huron, MI 48060

Clair County Superior Court Case Search

There is no superior court in St Clair County. Hence, there is no way one can perform a St Clair County superior case search. The Circuit Court is the trial court with the broadest jurisdiction in Michigan. The highest county court in St Clair County is the 31st circuit court. The circuit court manages appeals from the 72nd District Court and administrative agencies, criminal felony cases, and civil cases involving claims over $25,000. Individuals can visit the county courthouse to perform a St. Clair county case search at the circuit court. Staff at the office will direct interested individuals to their viewing room, where they can search their electronic case docket or manually search their index case records cases.

Another way to perform a circuit court case search is online; the Michigan online courts information portal allows individuals to look up case information on any court in Michigan remotely. Individuals can navigate to the website, select "St Clair Circuit Court," and search using a combination of any of the following parameters:

• Name of any litigant in the case
• Case Filing date
• Case number, case type
• Name of the hearing officer, hearing location

Requests can also be sent using the online court document request form on the St Clair County clerk's webpage. A Request for Copies form must be completed by each requester, stating the record they require and their contact details. The form will require an email address and a mailing address where copies of the court case records will be sent after they have been found. The cost of uncertified copies of requested records is $15, and there is an extra $10 for certified copies. There is a $5 processing fee for all online transactions. The processing fee will not be refunded if the record is not kept in St. Clair County.

Clair County District Court Records

The St. Clair County 72nd District Court has jurisdiction over criminal cases, small claims, general civil cases, and traffic infractions. Court case records from the district court can be obtained in person from any of the two district county court locations in St. Clair. The requester only needs to provide the staff at the county courthouse records room with a name that appears on the record so that they can search for the needed record.

St. Clair County District Court Records can also be obtained online using the district courts records search portal (micourt). Persons utilizing this portal can search for district court records from St. Clair and other counties in Michigan. Requestors can use this portal by following these steps.

• Navigate to the portal, click on "select another court," and search with the keyword "72nd District Court".
• Select either the search by name option or search by case number
• Search using the individual's name or business name
• Use the filter to narrow search results by case category, case status, date filed, and offense date.
• Provide an email where the record will be delivered to
• Pay for the record using a credit card

Clair County Criminal Records

In St. Clair County, Michigan, criminal records and information about criminal histories are accessible to the public. According to Michigan Legislature Section 28.242, the state's criminal history record information database can be searched using a fingerprint or a name, depending on who is looking for the information.

Individuals can search the public criminal history record database kept by the Michigan State Police's Criminal Justice Information Center via the Internet Criminal History Access Tool (ICHAT). Law enforcement, prosecutors, and judges in each of the 83 Michigan counties must submit felonies and serious misdemeanors that carry a sentence longer than ninety-three days to the state's repository. The Ichat tool can be used to find a person's criminal history by following these steps:

• To use this online portal, inquirers need to sign up with a username and an email,
• Choose a reason for searching from the list of options. Depending on the kind of user and agency account, different search criteria and fees apply. For instance, searching for a family lawsuit costs money, but exploring as a student or Volunteer is free.
• Searches can be done using a person's full name
• After a search is finished, the system retrieves the search result and adds it to the shopping cart on the left side of the screen.
• Requester can pay for the criminal history record using a debit/credit card.

A criminal history report can also be requested from the St. Clair County Sheriff's Office. This report can be requested for free; however, it is more limited and contains only the criminal history of a person arrested by the sheriff's office. To obtain St. Clair County arrest records, individuals can complete the records request form and submit it by mail or in person to the county sheriff's office.

Clair County Criminal Court Case Lookup

A St. Clair County criminal court case lookup can be done through any of the following ways:

• By Visiting the records viewing rooms of the district or circuit court where the criminal court proceedings took place.
• Requesting records from the office of the St. Clair County court clerk.
• online using the Michigan court case records database
• Using third-party sites

Get St. Clair County Civil Court Records

In St. Clair County, District Court and circuit court are the primary repositories of civil court records. The St. Clair 31st Circuit Court manages civil cases exceeding $25,000 and appeals from the 72nd District Court, while the 72nd District Court handles civil cases under $25,000 (including small claims).

To gain access to St. Clair County court records, individuals can visit the courthouse where the civil proceeding took place to ask for the records. A request will involve completing a records request form and submitting it to the office. Requestors must provide a valid government ID to gain access to these records. Civil court records can also be searched online using the Michigan Case Search database.

Clair County Family Court Records

The 31st Circuit Court oversees the family court in St. Clair County. Divorces, paternity, child support, juvenile cases, some guardianship issues, and name changes are all handled by the Family Division of the Circuit Court. A person can obtain a family court record by:

• Making an appointment at the circuit courthouse and visiting the court to make an in-person request. Inquiries regarding the availability of specific records can also be made by calling the county court.
• Using the michigan court case portal to search for family court records using a case number or a name on the record

General information about court records that affect families and children can also be directed to St. Clair County Friend of Court.

Clair Dissolution of Marriage Records

Dissolution of marriage records is a legal term for divorce records. Divorce records can be obtained from the county court clerk in St. Clair or from the Department of Vital Statistics.

Clair County Marriage and Divorce Records

The Primary custodian of St. Clair County marriage and divorce records is the office of the county clerk. Requesters can obtain marriage and divorce records by completing the marriage and divorce records request forms on the official webpage of the St. Claire County Clerk. The forms will require the requester to provide an email and an address where the records can be delivered if the request is successful.

St. Clair County marriage and divorce records can also be obtained at the Health Statistics and Vital Records Division. The office keeps records about marriage and divorce certificates dating back to 1867. Requests for records can be made online, via mail, or in person. Ordering in person is only possible via appointment. Requesters can visit the department office with a valid ID after scheduling an appointment, and the records will be granted that same day. Requests may also be made via the vital records office's drop box. To use this drop box, fill out the application, send it in with the appropriate payment, and include any required IDs or supporting papers. Every necessary paperwork and payment needs to be in a sealed envelope.

Online requests are done through a third party available on the vital statistics website.

St. Clair County Birth and Death Records

Birth and death records can be requested from the St. Clair County clerk's office. Individuals can use the death and birth records request form on the court clerk's website to order records from the office. The records will be delivered by mail to the address on the request form or by email.

The vital statistics office also allows individuals to request different birth and death records, including birth certificates, birth verification documents, stillbirth records, death certificates, death authentication, and death verification records. Interested persons can request copies of these records by mail, by sending completed request forms to the office, or by visiting the vital statistics office in person.

Clair County Probate Court Records

Three main categories of matters handled by the St. Clair County Probate Court are:

• Cases involving the mentally ill
• Guardianships and conservatorships of both adults and minors
• The decedent's estates and trust supervision.

Only the family members engaged in the case can access most of the confidential probate court records. The probate court office is where anyone can go to request documents that are available to the public. Requesters only need to fill out the office form for a records request, after which court employees will search the court's internal database for probate documents. The probate court in St Clair County is located at:

St. Clair County Probate Court
201 McMorran Blvd.
Room 2700
Port Huron, MI 48060

Clair County Property Records

Property records in St Clair County are maintained by the Clair County Assessor's Office, the Register of Deeds. However, all property records are maintained at the office of the Register of Deeds in St. Clair. Land and property records of St. Clair County are kept up to date and preserved by the Register of Deeds office. Documents connected to real estate, such as deeds, mortgages, liens, surveys, plats, land contracts, condominiums, fixture filings, and other miscellaneous documents, are all recorded at the office. Individuals interested in St. Clair property records can access them by visiting the Register of Deed office during working hours to make a request. The office is located at:

St. Clair County Register of Deeds
200 Grand River Avenue, Suite 103
Port Huron, MI 48060

St Clair property records can also be searched for and obtained online using the Register of Deeds property & land records portal and property tax information portal. Users can search this portal using a property owner's name, address, street number, or parcel number.

Clair County Court Records Online

An alternative source of St. Clair County court records that have proven popular recently is third-party websites and aggregators. Third-party sites like michigancourtrecords.us are independent companies that pull public data from government sources, obtain exclusive court records from government institutions, and provide these records as a pay-per-use service.

One benefit of using a third-party website is that users can quickly obtain records from the comfort of their homes or offices as long as they have access to the internet. In addition, users can search multiple jurisdictions at once to locate court and other public records that correspond to a given name. Third-party websites also offer user-friendly search functions, with a first and last name serving as the standard search criteria. Depending on the platform, a one-time fee or recurring fees may be associated with using third-party websites.