How to Search Keweenaw County Court Records
The first step is picking the court that owns the case. Felonies, divorces, custody disputes, personal protection orders, and civil lawsuits over $25,000 belong to the 12th Circuit Court. Misdemeanors, traffic tickets, small claims, landlord-tenant matters, and civil cases up to $25,000 belong to the 97th District Court. Estates, guardianships, conservatorships, and juvenile matters run through the Probate Court. All three share the same courthouse and main phone line, so naming the exact court by case type matters more here than in a large county.
Once you know the court, most current cases can be checked through the statewide MiCOURT Case Search before you ever call. For older files, certified copies, and records that never went online, the clerk counter is the reliable channel. Have a case number or a full party name ready, because those pull the cleanest results.
The Keweenaw County government site links every department, payment page, and office contact from one hub, which is a useful starting map before a search. A quick look at the official Keweenaw County home page shows how the circuit, district, probate, clerk, sheriff, and prosecutor pages all connect.
From that hub, the following steps walk a records search from start to finish.
- Identify the case type, then match it to the Circuit, District, or Probate Court.
- Open MiCOURT Case Search and choose the Keweenaw County court location.
- Enter a case number if you have one, or search by party name.
- Review the case history, also called the register of actions, for the docket events.
- Call or visit the correct clerk for certified copies, older files, or fee questions.
Keweenaw County Courts at a Glance
Michigan runs one unified judiciary, and Keweenaw County holds a full slice of it in a single building. At the top of the state sits the Michigan Supreme Court, with the Michigan Court of Appeals below it. Local trial work is divided among the circuit, district, and probate courts. The 12th Circuit Court carries the broadest local authority, while the 97th District Court handles the higher volume of everyday cases. A magistrate supports the district court, and a part-time probate judge covers estates and juvenile matters.
Case flow: 97th District Court › 12th Circuit Court › Michigan Court of Appeals › Michigan Supreme Court. Probate matters run through the Keweenaw Probate Court on a separate track.
The county's own court pages spell out which court hears what, and the official 12th Circuit Court page lists its judge, clerk, fees, and case types.
The table below compares the four court functions so you can route a records request to the right desk.
| Court | Jurisdiction | Case Types |
|---|---|---|
| 97th District Court | First level, limited jurisdiction | Misdemeanors up to one year, felony first appearances and preliminary exams, bail, traffic and civil infractions, small claims to $6,000, civil to $25,000, landlord-tenant, garnishments, evictions |
| 12th Circuit Court | Broad trial jurisdiction | Felony criminal, civil over $25,000, divorce, paternity, custody, parenting time, personal protection orders, appeals from District Court |
| Magistrate Office | Supports District Court | Traffic-citation payment processing, informal hearings |
| Probate Court | Special jurisdiction | Estates, trusts, guardianships, conservatorships, mental-health commitments, plus local juvenile and family matters |
Search Keweenaw County Cases on MiCOURT
MiCOURT Case Search is Michigan's statewide public case portal, and it is the main online window into current Keweenaw County cases. The service is free, runs as a browser app, and lets you pick a court location before searching. What it shows is limited by design. Michigan's records-management guidance restricts public web records to the case number, party names, and case history, so treat a result as an index rather than the full file.
The public portal opens at the MiCOURT Case Search page, where a captcha check protects the search before results load.
Civil, traffic, criminal, domestic, and probate cases may appear depending on the court searched. Date-of-birth search is a secured feature reserved for authorized users approved by the State Court Administrative Office, so ordinary users should not expect it. The fields below cover what the public search offers.
| Field | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Court or location | Dropdown selector | Choose the Keweenaw County court before searching |
| Case number | Text | Fastest match; taken from a notice, citation, or docket |
| Party name | Text | Public search supports last and first name lookup |
| Business name | Text | For companies in civil or collection cases |
| Case type | Filter | Civil, traffic, criminal, domestic, or probate where available |
| Date of birth | Secured field | Not public; limited to SCAO-approved users |
| hCaptcha | Challenge | Verifies a human before results load |
Visit the Keweenaw County Courthouse in Eagle River
Nearly every court and county record function points to one address: 5095 Fourth Street in Eagle River. The circuit court, district court, probate court, magistrate, county clerk and register of deeds, and prosecuting attorney all list that same complex. Office hours are compact, running Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with legal-holiday closures. A visitor seeking case files, certified vital records, probate filings, or a traffic informal hearing usually starts at this building.
Weather is a genuine planning factor in this county. The official contact page carries a storm warning, and Keweenaw sees snow cover from Thanksgiving into late April with annual snowfall between 180 and 250 inches. The official county directory lists direct phone lines for each office along with that travel advisory.
Because so many offices share one address and one main phone number, it pays to name the exact office and case type before you call. The cards below give the two contacts most records seekers need.
Keweenaw County Courthouse
5095 Fourth Street
Eagle River, MI 49950
906-337-2229
Types of Keweenaw County Court Records
Court records here fall into a few broad families, and each one traces back to a specific court. Circuit records cover felonies, larger civil suits, and family cases. District records cover misdemeanors, traffic, small claims, and evictions. Probate records cover estates and guardianships. Traffic matters flow through the district court and magistrate, while historical files sit with state archives.
The 97th District Court sees the widest range of everyday filings, from misdemeanor arraignments to landlord-tenant judgments. The official 97th District Court page describes its judge, clerk, magistrate, and traffic-payment guidance.
Here is how the main record categories break down by court.
- Criminal records - felony files in Circuit Court and misdemeanor files in District Court, including complaints, pleas, and sentencing.
- Civil records - lawsuits, judgments, garnishments, and evictions, split by dollar amount between the two trial courts.
- Family and divorce records - divorce, paternity, custody, support, and parenting-time cases in the 12th Circuit Court.
- Probate records - estates, trusts, guardianships, and conservatorships handled by the part-time probate judge.
- Traffic records - civil infractions and traffic misdemeanors processed through the district court and magistrate.
What Keweenaw County Court Records Show
A court record is built around a case number and a chronological event log. When you open a file or a MiCOURT summary, the same core fields appear across case types. The case number identifies the file and gives the quickest path back to it. Party names show who is involved, whether plaintiff and defendant, petitioner and respondent, or decedent and estate. The filing date and case type frame the matter, and the case history lists each event in order.
Beyond those basics, a full file may carry hearing details, financial entries such as fines and bonds, and document images like complaints, motions, orders, and judgments. Certain items are redacted by rule, including Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, minor names, and mental-health details. Michigan's records-management guidance explains why the public web view is narrower than the full clerk file.
The Michigan Courts records-management page sets out which categories are web-accessible and which require the clerk.
In practice, the online summary works as an index. The register of actions tells you what happened and when, but certified copies, document images, and older non-digitized records still come from the court clerk.
Public Access Laws for Keweenaw County Court Records
Michigan treats court records and executive-branch records under different rules, and the distinction matters in Keweenaw County. Case files, dockets, and certified court copies come from the court clerk, not through a Freedom of Information Act request, because the judiciary is excluded from the FOIA definition of a public body. Sheriff incident reports and other law-enforcement records do move through FOIA. The statutes below set the framework for both routes.
Key statutes:
Michigan FOIA, MCL 15.231 - states the public policy favoring access to records held by public bodies.
MCL 15.232 - defines a public body and excludes the judiciary, including the clerk acting for the circuit court.
MCL 15.235 - gives public bodies five business days to answer a FOIA request, with one ten-day extension.
MCL 15.234 - lets a public body charge allowed search, review, and copying fees for a FOIA response.
MCL 780.621 - the set-aside statute that removes eligible convictions from public view.
MCL 700.1302 - grants probate courts authority over estates, trusts, guardianships, and conservatorships.
Restricted and Confidential Keweenaw County Records
Not every court record is open to the public. Juvenile matters are handled locally by the part-time probate judge, and juvenile access is limited under Michigan law. Adoption records are confidential except as a statute or court order allows. Mental-health commitment files carry strong protections, and personal identifiers such as Social Security numbers, protected addresses, and minor names are redacted across case types.
Set-aside orders change what stays visible. Michigan calls expungement setting aside a conviction, and Clean Slate expansions allow eligibility for up to three felonies and unlimited misdemeanors, with exclusions for certain assaultive and weapons offenses. A requester identifies the exact conviction, court, case number, and discharge date, checks eligibility, and files in the court where the conviction entered. Misdemeanor convictions usually sit in the 97th District Court, and felony convictions in the 12th Circuit Court. Once granted, the order removes the case from ordinary public views to the extent the statute allows, though it cannot reach every private database.
Keweenaw County Court Record Fees
Fees vary by court and by the kind of copy you need. The 12th Circuit Court publishes civil filing and motion fees along with a per-name criminal search charge. The County Clerk sets certified vital-record fees, and the Register of Deeds uses a flat recording fee. Payments can be made by mailed check or money order, in person by cash or card, and online for circuit matters at any time.
The table gathers the fees a records seeker meets most often. Confirm current amounts with the office before mailing a request, since fee schedules change.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Circuit Court civil filing | $175.00 |
| Circuit Court civil jury demand | $85.00 |
| Circuit Court civil motion | $20.00 |
| Criminal name search | $10.00 per name |
| Certified vital record | $10.00 first copy, $3.00 each additional |
| Register of Deeds recording | $30.00 flat |
| Tapestry land-record search | $8.75 per search |
Circuit, district, and clerk records share the same courthouse line at 906-337-2229, so confirm any fee before you send payment.
Keweenaw County Sheriff and the 72-Hour Lockup
The Keweenaw County Sheriff's Office is the only law-enforcement agency inside the county, and its custody setup is unusual. Sheriff Curt Pennala's office operates a fully accredited 72-hour lockup, then contracts with neighboring counties to house anyone held longer than 72 hours. That means the county has no standing online jail roster, and a person may be moved to another county's facility after the short-term hold ends.
To check current custody, call the Sheriff's Office non-emergency line and ask whether the person is present or has been transferred. For state prisoners, parolees, and probationers, use the Michigan Department of Corrections OTIS search instead, since OTIS does not cover short-term county lockup. For a public booking or incident record, the Sheriff uses a written FOIA request form. Full roster and custody details appear on the Keweenaw County inmate records page, and active-warrant channels are covered on the warrant records page.
Marriage, Divorce, and Probate Records in Keweenaw County
Family records split across two offices. Marriage records live with the County Clerk and Register of Deeds, who holds birth, death, and marriage records back to 1867 and issues certified copies through a vital-record request. Divorce is a court matter, filed and decided in the 12th Circuit Court, so a divorce judgment comes from the circuit file rather than the vital-records desk. Full detail sits on the marriage and divorce records page and the probate records page.
Probate work is distinctive here. A single part-time probate judge handles all probate and juvenile matters in the county, including family-division work that moved statewide in 1998. The official Probate Court page lists the judge and the probate register.
Probate files use a specific vocabulary, and these terms show up throughout estate and guardianship records.
- Estate
- A probate matter that settles a deceased person's assets and debts.
- Guardianship
- A proceeding that appoints someone to make personal or medical decisions for another.
- Conservatorship
- A proceeding that puts an individual's property and finances under court-supervised management.
Legal Terms in Keweenaw County Court Records
Court files are full of shorthand, and a few definitions make a docket far easier to read. The list below covers terms that appear across criminal, civil, and family records in the county's courts.
- Complaint
- The first pleading that starts a civil or criminal case.
- Arraignment
- The first criminal appearance, where charges and rights are addressed.
- Preliminary examination
- A district court hearing that decides whether a felony moves up to circuit court.
- Bindover
- The transfer of a felony from district court to circuit court after the preliminary exam.
- Disposition
- The final result or current outcome of a case or charge.
- Personal protection order
- A civil order that restricts contact or conduct for safety reasons.
- Set aside
- Michigan's term for expunging an eligible conviction from public record.
- Register of actions
- The chronological docket that logs every event in a case.
History of Keweenaw County Courts
Keweenaw County was founded on March 11, 1861, with Eagle River as its seat, and its courts grew out of the copper-mining boom that reshaped the peninsula. The county name comes from an Ojibway word meaning the crossing place, and mining here produced a large share of the world's copper during the nineteenth century. That history matters for records research, because chancery, land, naturalization, and jail records from the mining era survive in state archives.
The county's official history page traces this founding, geography, and settlement story. The Keweenaw County history and statistics page gives the founding date, townships, and climate context that frame the older court holdings.
For deep historical files, the Archives of Michigan Keweenaw County guide lists exact record groups, including circuit court case files from 1861 to 1952, the circuit docket from 1867 to 1906, and a jail record from 1874 to 1959. These predate any online portal and are researched through the archives rather than MiCOURT.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I search Keweenaw County court records online?
Start with MiCOURT Case Search, the statewide public portal. Choose the Keweenaw County court location, then search by case number or party name. The public web view is limited to the case number, party names, and case history, so use the result as an index. Civil, traffic, criminal, domestic, and probate cases may appear depending on the court. For certified copies, older files, or records not online, contact the correct court clerk at the courthouse.
Which Keweenaw County court holds my case?
It depends on the case type. The 12th Circuit Court handles felonies, divorces, custody, personal protection orders, and civil suits over $25,000. The 97th District Court handles misdemeanors, traffic, small claims, landlord-tenant matters, and civil cases up to $25,000. The Probate Court handles estates, guardianships, conservatorships, and juvenile matters. All three sit at 5095 Fourth Street in Eagle River, so name the specific court by case type when you call 906-337-2229.
Does Keweenaw County have an online jail roster?
No. The Sheriff's Office runs a fully accredited 72-hour lockup, then contracts with neighboring counties for anyone held longer. Because of that structure, there is no standing online county jail roster. To check custody, call the Sheriff's non-emergency line at 906-337-0528 and ask whether the person is present or has been transferred. For state prisoners, parolees, and probationers, use the Michigan Department of Corrections OTIS search instead.
How do I get a certified copy of a court record?
Certified court copies come from the clerk of the court that owns the case, not from an online search. For circuit and district files, contact the courthouse at 906-337-2229. For probate files, call 906-337-1927. Certified vital records such as birth, death, and marriage certificates come from the County Clerk and Register of Deeds, which charges $10 for the first copy and $3 for each additional copy. Confirm the current fee before mailing a request.
Are all Keweenaw County court records public?
No. Juvenile, adoption, mental-health, and sealed or set-aside records are restricted under Michigan law. Personal identifiers such as Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, and minor names are redacted across case types. Most civil, criminal, and probate records are open, but the public web portal shows less than the full clerk file. Some dismissed or acquitted criminal records may also be made nonpublic under court rule.
Is a court record the same as a Sheriff's record?
No, and the routes differ. Court case files, dockets, and certified copies come from the court clerk, because the judiciary is excluded from Michigan's Freedom of Information Act. Sheriff incident reports and law-enforcement records move through the Sheriff's FOIA request form, which asks for a name, mailing address, phone, and a specific description of the record. Use the court clerk for a case file and the Sheriff's FOIA form for a law-enforcement record.
How far back do Keweenaw County records go?
The County Clerk holds birth, death, and marriage records back to 1867. Older court records live with the Archives of Michigan, which lists circuit court case files from 1861 to 1952, the circuit docket from 1867 to 1906, chancery records from the 1860s forward, and a jail record from 1874 to 1959. These historical files predate any online system and are researched through the state archives rather than the MiCOURT portal.