Why We Built This Site
Michigan gives the public broad access to court records. The hard part is figuring out which office in Kent County holds the file you want. The 17th Circuit Court hears felony criminal, civil over $25,000, family, and appeal cases. The 63rd District Court handles misdemeanors, traffic, small claims, and civil cases up to $25,000. The Probate Court runs wills, estates, guardianships, conservatorships, and mental health filings. The Clerk of the Court keeps the case file for each court. The Kent County Clerk in the Calder Plaza Building handles vital records like marriage and divorce decrees, plus serves as Register of Deeds. The Sheriff manages the jail roster and active warrants out of the facility on Ball Avenue NE. Add the Michigan State Police and the state court administrator, and the picture gets crowded fast. We pull the contact details, search portals, fee schedules, and request steps for each of these offices into one place.
What You Will Find Here
- Records pages by type: court records, arrest records, inmate records, warrant records, marriage and divorce, probate, traffic court records, and more
- Office contacts: direct contact info for the Clerk of the Court, the Kent County Clerk / Register of Deeds, the 17th Circuit Court, and the Kent County Correctional Facility
- Search walkthroughs: step-by-step guides for MiCOURT, the statewide case search, and the Kent County records portal
- Public records help: how to file a Michigan FOIA request and what to expect for response time under MCL 15.235
Common Record Types in Kent County
Most visitors land here looking for one of a handful of records. Case files for criminal, civil, family, and probate matters. Jail roster lookups for someone booked into the Kent County Correctional Facility. Active warrant checks. Marriage licenses pulled from the County Clerk. Divorce decrees filed in the 17th Circuit Court's Family Division. Traffic citations from the 63rd District Court. Real property and deed records from the Register of Deeds. Each one lives in a different office. We map out the path for each.
What We Cannot Do
This is a privately run reference site. We have no connection to Kent County, the State of Michigan, any court, clerk's office, sheriff's office, or state agency. There are real limits to what we can help with:
- We cannot file paperwork or send records requests on your behalf
- We cannot issue certified copies of any court document or vital record
- We cannot give legal advice or explain how a specific case applies to you
- We cannot guarantee that every phone number, fee, or address listed on this site is current right now
Only the issuing court or government office can provide a certified copy with an official seal. We can point you to the right office, but the document has to come from them.
Search Partners
Some pages on this site include search boxes powered by third-party providers. Those companies set their own pricing and run their own services. When you use one of those tools and it leads to a paid signup, we may earn a referral fee. That revenue helps keep this site free for visitors. We do not control what those tools charge or what shows up in their results.
Keeping Information Current
Clerk offices move. Hours change. Phone numbers get reassigned. We update pages as we hear about changes, but gaps happen. Before you drive to the Kent County Courthouse at 180 Ottawa Avenue NW or any other office, call ahead first.
See something wrong? Visit our Contact page and let us know.
Get in Touch
Questions, fixes, or feedback? Drop a note via our Contact page.