What an Oakland County Court Docket Shows
The docket in an Oakland County court case is the chronological list of everything filed and everything the court has done. In Court Explorer, the same list is called the Register of Actions. The Court Explorer user guide says the Register of Actions can be viewed with a Print Friendly Version action, and the screen has a toggle to switch between Parties and Register of Actions.
Docket entries are short, but each one stands for a real filing. A "Motion for Summary Disposition" entry on a civil docket points to a separate motion document in the file. A "Plea" entry on a criminal docket points to a plea form. A "Judgment of Sentence" entry points to the sentencing order. The docket also shows event entries like "Hearing Scheduled" and "Order Entered" that give the date of every step.
Court Explorer is mobile-ready, but the county warns it is not the official court record. For court use, get a certified Register of Actions from the Oakland County Clerk's Legal Records Division at 248-858-0582 or clerklegal@oakgov.com.
What a Docket Entry Shows
Each line in an Oakland County court docket has the date of the event, an entry type, a short description, and links to documents that can be ordered through Court Explorer. The table below maps a typical Register of Actions entry to the data it carries.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Event Date | Date the filing was made or the court action happened. |
| Entry Type | Code for the action, such as Motion, Order, Hearing, Notice, or Judgment. |
| Description | Short title of the filing, such as "Motion for Continuance" or "Order Granting Motion." |
| Filing Party | Plaintiff, defendant, prosecutor, court, or another participant who filed the document. |
| Order Document | Link to buy a copy of that filing through the Court Explorer cart, when allowed. |
| Hearing Date | Next scheduled hearing or proof-of-service date when the entry is a scheduling event. |
How to Find an Oakland County Court Docket
For Oakland County Circuit Court and Probate Court cases, the docket lives inside Court Explorer at courtexplorer.oakgov.com. The Clerk's Court Explorer page walks through search and ordering. For Circuit cases, search by party name (last name then first name) or by exact case number. For Probate cases, only an exact case number works as a direct search in Court Explorer. The Case Number Look Up icon transfers to the Michigan Courts site for a party-name lookup if the case number is unknown.
Once a Circuit case opens, click the Party Name in the result list to land on the Case Summary and Register of Actions screen. The menu has a View Parties / View Register of Actions toggle, a Print Friendly Version action, a New Search action, a View Shopping Cart action, and a User Guide link. Circuit Court cases also have a Create ePraecipe option for scheduling and filing tasks.
- Open Court Explorer and pick Circuit or Probate.
- For Circuit, enter party name or case number. For Probate, enter the exact case number.
- Click Search. Only non-archived cases are selectable from the list.
- Click a Party Name to load the Case Summary and Register of Actions.
- Toggle between Parties and Register of Actions with the View toggle.
- Use Print Friendly Version for a clean docket print.
- Order a copy of any docket-listed document with the Order Document link.
District court dockets sit with each local district court. Oakland County has 48th District Court in Bloomfield Hills, 50th District Court in Pontiac, the four 52nd District Court divisions in Novi, Clarkston, Rochester Hills, and Troy, and city-run courts in Ferndale, Hazel Park, Madison Heights, Royal Oak, Oak Park, Southfield, Farmington Hills, and Waterford. Use the local district court's district court landing page on the county site to find each local court's online search and payment tool.
Case Summary vs Register of Actions
Court Explorer separates the Case Summary screen from the Register of Actions. The Case Summary shows party, attorney, and overall case status. The Register of Actions is the event-by-event docket. Both views matter for an Oakland County court dockets search. The Case Summary answers "who is in this case and what is it about." The Register of Actions answers "what has been filed and what has the court done."
For criminal felony cases, the Register of Actions shows the bindover from district court, the prosecutor's information filing, the arraignment, plea, sentencing, and any post-judgment motion. For domestic cases, it shows the complaint for divorce or custody, the answer, motions, mediation entries, judgments, and post-judgment activity. For civil cases over $25,000, it shows the complaint, answer, motions, case evaluation, mediation, judgment, and any execution or garnishment.
Probate Available Documents
For Probate Court cases, Court Explorer uses an Available Documents screen instead of a traditional register list. After the user enters the exact probate case number and clicks Search, the screen displays a Case Summary and an Available Documents list. Each document carries an Order Document action.
The Probate Court office at 1200 N Telegraph Rd, Dept 457, Pontiac, MI 48341, can be reached at 248-858-0260. MiFILE is required for most Probate filings as of June 12, 2025. Exceptions are emergency mental health transport petitions, petitions and orders for assignment, deposit of original wills, and payment of the inventory gross estate fee. Probate Mental Health records are not visible in Court Explorer at all because of the limits in MCL 330.1748. See the probate records page for the full Probate workflow.
District Court Dockets in Oakland County
District court dockets are decentralized in Oakland County. The 48th District Court covers Bloomfield Township, West Bloomfield Township, Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Keego Harbor, Orchard Lake Village, and Sylvan Lake. The 50th District Court sits in Pontiac. The 52nd District Court has four divisions: 52-1 in Novi, 52-2 in Clarkston, 52-3 in Rochester Hills, and 52-4 in Troy. The county also links 43rd District Court in Ferndale, Hazel Park, and Madison Heights; 44th in Royal Oak; 45th in Oak Park; 46th in Southfield; 47th in Farmington Hills; and 51st in Waterford.
Each district court keeps its own dockets, fine schedules, and online tools. Some district courts offer name-based or citation-number case searches. Others publish only payment tools for traffic and civil-infraction cases. The county warns on its District Courts landing page that courts will never solicit payment through a text message claiming to be from the Michigan DMV; if a payment link arrives by text, it is a scam.
Certified Register of Actions
Court Explorer prints a Print Friendly Version of the Register of Actions, but that is not a certified document. The county user guide says certified copies of the Register of Actions require contact with the Oakland County Clerk's Office. The Clerk Legal Records Division at 248-858-0582 or clerklegal@oakgov.com handles certified register orders along with certified document orders.
Certified copies are $10.00 per case number plus $1.00 per page. Plain copies are $1.00 per page. Online orders carry a 3.5% credit-card service fee or a $2.50 ACH fee. Certified copies must be mailed and cannot be sent by email.
Sealed and Nonpublic Dockets
Some Oakland County court dockets are not visible in any public search. Court Explorer's page lists three local exclusions outright: Personal Protection Orders, juvenile records, and Probate Mental Health records. Juvenile records are restricted under MCL 712A.28. Adoption records are confidential under MCL 710.67.
Sealed cases stay on file but with public access blocked. Set-aside or expunged cases become nonpublic for most purposes. Some pre-arraignment criminal matters and warrant filings are also nonpublic until they are returned and served. The court rules on access live in Michigan Court Rule 8.119 and in the Michigan Trial Court Records Management Standards.
Note: Court Explorer warns the data is not the official record of the court and should not be used as a criminal background check.
How to Read the Docket
Docket abbreviations are short, and the same code can mean different things in Circuit, district, and Probate Court. The most common entry types repeat across case types. A short reading guide:
- ROA — Register of Actions, the docket itself.
- MOT — Motion filed by a party.
- ORD — Order signed by the judge.
- NOH — Notice of Hearing setting the next court date.
- JOS — Judgment of Sentence, the final sentencing order in a criminal case.
- JOD — Judgment of Divorce, the final order in a divorce case.
- POS — Proof of Service, showing the other side was served.
- DSM — Dismissal.
A charge entry on a docket is not a conviction. A conviction line shows up only after a guilty plea or guilty verdict has been entered and a judgment of sentence has been signed. That distinction matters for background checks and for set-aside eligibility under MCL 780.621.