Michigan Court Records: How to Search, What's Public, and How to Seal Them

Michigan runs a single free, statewide trial-court search called MiCOURT, and it comes with an unusual quirk worth knowing about before you search: some courts hide older criminal convictions from the public tool entirely, using what the system calls a 7-Year Criminal Sentence Filter. If a search comes back clean, that is not automatically proof someone has no record.

This page covers how MiCOURT works, what that filter actually does, what stays confidential under Michigan court rules, and how Michigan's automatic Clean Slate expungement law works, including the exact figures the Michigan Attorney General's office publishes.

Information last verified on 2026-08-10. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

How to Search Michigan Court Records: MiCOURT

MiCOURT Case Search is Michigan's statewide trial-court public access tool, free to use at micourt.courts.michigan.gov/case-search. It's built as a JavaScript application, so it will not render for automated tools that don't execute scripts, but it works normally in a standard web browser.

The tool carries a direct disclaimer: it "does not replace the official record on file with the court." Its terms of service also prohibit bulk data downloads and scraping, and specifically bar using a VPN to access the system, citing Michigan's computer-crime statute, MCL 752.791 et seq. Under Michigan Court Rule 8.119, the records a court makes available through its public website or web-based portal are generally limited to the case number, party names, and the case history or register of actions, which is why MiCOURT functions more like a docket index than a document repository.

The 7-Year Criminal Sentence Filter (a Michigan-Specific Quirk)

This is worth its own section because it changes how you should read a MiCOURT result. Some Michigan courts apply what the system calls a 7-Year Criminal Sentence Filter. In the tool's own words: "Some courts only display case numbers and information for criminal convictions if the sentencing occurred within seven years of the date of search in MiCOURT. These courts are identified with a check mark under the '7-Year Criminal Sentence Filter' column of the MiCOURT case search."

In practical terms, this means a criminal conviction from more than seven years ago may simply not appear in MiCOURT at all, even though the underlying case remains a public record. This filter applies at the individual court level, not statewide, so whether it affects a particular search depends on which court handled the case. If you need to confirm whether someone has an older conviction, or you're trying to find your own older record, contacting the specific court directly is the only reliable way to close that gap; a blank MiCOURT result does not mean the conviction doesn't exist.

What's Public and What's Restricted in Michigan

Michigan's baseline rule, drawn from Michigan Court Rule 8.119, is that court records are public unless a specific statute, court rule, or order restricts them. That presumption comes from the court rules and from common-law and constitutional access principles rather than from any records-access statute.

Michigan's open-courts statute, MCL 600.1420, addresses proceedings rather than files, providing that "the sittings of every court within this state shall be public" subject to narrow exceptions. Michigan's Freedom of Information Act does not reach the courts at all: MCL 15.232 provides that "the judiciary, including the office of the county clerk and its employees when acting in the capacity of clerk to the circuit court, is not included in the definition of public body." A FOIA request is therefore the wrong tool for a Michigan court file, and the clerk of the trial court is the right one. According to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, a party seeking to seal a record has to file a motion identifying the specific protected interest, obtain written findings from the court explaining the grounds for sealing, and show that no less restrictive alternative exists; the court has to weigh both the parties' interests and the public's interest before granting the request.

Categories that are statutorily sealed or restricted include certain criminal protective orders and victim details in sexual-assault cases, juvenile diversion records and closed-proceeding testimony, adoption records identifying biological or adoptive parents, and grand jury testimony and proceedings, which remain confidential in full. Michigan's court system also maintains a chart of nonpublic and limited-access record categories under MCR 8.119(E), though its full contents were not independently reviewed for this page; if a specific category matters to your situation, checking that chart directly with the court is worthwhile. For the general, nationwide framework behind this presumption of access, see are court records public?

Michigan Clean Slate: What "Expungement" Actually Means Here

Michigan's own Attorney General's office is direct about the terminology: "Clean Slate," "set aside," and "expungement" all mean the same thing in Michigan. What they do not mean is destruction. Expungement in Michigan "removes a conviction from public view," while law enforcement and licensing agencies retain access to it, which functionally makes Michigan's expungement closer to a sealing remedy than an erasure, even though the state uses the word expungement.

Michigan runs a genuinely automatic process for eligible convictions. Michigan State Police run a daily, automatic review, and, in the Attorney General's own words, "you do not need to apply or go to court." The specific figures: misdemeanors punishable by less than 93 days become eligible after 7 years, with no cap on the number of convictions covered. Misdemeanors punishable by 93 days or more become eligible after 7 years, up to 4 convictions. Felonies become eligible after 10 years "from sentencing or release (whichever is later)," up to 2 convictions.

For convictions the automatic process does not reach, a petition-based path exists using form MC227 (or MC227a specifically for marijuana-related convictions), which requires a $50 fee paid to Michigan State Police plus a fingerprint card, filed in the court that handled the conviction. The Attorney General's response after Michigan State Police issues its report can take up to three months. Michigan also runs a self-check tool called ICHAT, though it's worth noting ICHAT does not show juvenile cases.

This page covers the mechanism at a general level. For a full eligibility walkthrough, see our Michigan expungement guide.

Certified Copies and Practical Search Tips

MiCOURT itself states it does not replace the official court record, so for a certified copy, contact the clerk of the trial court where the case was filed.

Because of the 7-Year Criminal Sentence Filter, don't treat an empty or partial MiCOURT result as a complete history. If timing matters, particularly for older convictions, calling the specific court is the only way to be sure you're seeing the full picture. Our how to look up court records guide covers general name-versus-case-number search strategy that applies here too.

Using Court Records Responsibly: The FCRA Rule

Checking your own case, or a case you have a genuine personal reason to look into, is a normal use of MiCOURT. Using it, or a commercial people-search product pulling from the same underlying data, to screen a tenant or job applicant is a separate legal question governed by the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), not by Michigan's court-access rules.

Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681c, most negative consumer-report information ages off after seven years, but § 1681c(a)(5) exempts criminal convictions from that window, meaning a conviction can be reported indefinitely unless Michigan's set-aside process actually removes it from public view. In 2023, the FTC fined TruthFinder and Instant Checkmate $5.8 million for marketing public-records-based background reports for tenant and employment screening without complying with the FCRA, on the theory that a company marketing reports for that purpose is a consumer reporting agency under the law. Treat MiCOURT as personal-use research, and run any real tenant or employment screening through a properly FCRA-compliant background check.

Related Michigan Records Searches

This page is part of our broader Court Records by State guide. If you're checking your own history before a job or a lease, see Michigan background check laws. If you think you might have an active warrant rather than an ordinary case, see Michigan warrant search. For records held by state agencies rather than the courts, see Michigan public records laws.

Disclaimer

This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Court portals, fees, and coverage change without notice, and the Michigan Judiciary is the only authoritative source for its own records. If you need a certified copy or have a legal question about a specific case, contact the clerk of court where the case was filed, or consult a licensed Michigan attorney.

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Last updated: 2026-08-10. Portal facts and fees reflect their published status as of August 2026.