How to Search Oakland County Court Records
The county Clerk runs the official Court Explorer portal for Oakland County Circuit Court and Probate Court records. The system is described on the Clerk's Court Explorer page as the public tool to search, view, and order copies of cases from the 6th Judicial Circuit Court. The live portal sits at courtexplorer.oakgov.com. Records reach back to the early 1990s online, and older records are held by the Clerk's Legal Records Division.
For Circuit Court, Court Explorer allows search by party name or by exact case number. The official user guide says to enter a business name or a person's name in last-name-then-first-name order. Partial leading letters are allowed. Names should not include hyphens, periods, suffixes like JR/SR/I/II/III, or business endings like LLC or PC. Advanced Search adds filters for Party Type (All, Defendant, Plaintiff), Case Year (range allowed, such as 2013 through 2014), and Case Type. For Probate Court, the only direct search is by exact case number. If the case number is unknown, the Case Number Look Up icon transfers to the Michigan Courts site for a name lookup.
Court Explorer is mobile-ready. The county warns the portal is not the official court record and should not be used as a criminal background check. Personal Protection Orders, juvenile records, and Probate Mental Health files are not in Court Explorer. Bulk downloads and commercial use are not allowed. A walk-through:
- Open the Clerk's Court Explorer page or go straight to courtexplorer.oakgov.com.
- Pick Circuit or Probate Court.
- For a Circuit name search, enter last name then first name, or the first few letters of the name. For a case number search, enter the exact case number.
- Click Advanced Search to narrow by Party Type, Case Year, or Case Type.
- Click Search. Only the first 500 results show on screen; use Next 500 Records or narrow the criteria if needed.
- Click the Party Name to open the Case Summary and Register of Actions for a selectable, non-archived case.
- Use Print Friendly Version for a clean register print, or click Order Document next to a filing to buy a copy.
- For Probate, after the exact case number search, open Available Documents and order any document from there.
Court Explorer Search Fields
The Court Explorer search screen has a small number of fields, but each one has its own quirks. The table below pulls the field list straight from the official Court Explorer user guide so anyone running an Oakland County court records search knows what to expect before opening the portal.
| Field | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Court | Radio / dropdown | Yes | Select Circuit or Probate before any other field becomes active. |
| Name / Business Name | Text | Conditional | Circuit only. Last name then first name for people. Partial leading letters allowed. No hyphens, suffixes, LLC, PC, or periods. |
| Case Number | Text | Conditional | Exact case number required. Probate searches in Court Explorer require this field. |
| Party Type | Dropdown (Advanced) | No | All, Defendant, or Plaintiff. |
| Case Year | Text or range (Advanced) | No | Single year or range, for example 2013 through 2014. |
| Case Type | Link to list (Advanced) | No | Opens the list of allowed case-type codes. |
| Search | Button | Yes after criteria | Runs the query and displays the first 500 results. |
| Order Document | Link / button | Optional | Appears next to eligible filings on the Register of Actions or Probate Available Documents screen. |
Types of Oakland County Court Records
Oakland County trial courts split their case files by court. Circuit Court holds domestic, civil, and felony criminal records. District courts hold misdemeanor, traffic, small claims, civil up to $25,000, and landlord-tenant records. Probate Court holds estate, will, trust, guardianship, conservatorship, mental health, and developmentally disabled case records. Each set of records has its own search path.
Circuit Court civil files commonly include a complaint, summons, answer, appearances, motions, orders, case evaluation notices, mediation entries, judgments, garnishments, executions, and appeals. Domestic relations files cover divorce, custody, parenting time, and post-judgment motions. Criminal felony files cover the complaint and warrant, bindover from district court, information filed by the prosecutor, plea, sentencing, judgment of sentence, probation orders, and restitution.
District courts hold the front end of most cases that come into the Oakland County system. The county Courts About page says district courts handle misdemeanor violations, most traffic-related matters, felony preliminary examinations, and civil actions not exceeding $25,000. Small claims, landlord-tenant, civil infractions, and licensing violations also live in the district courts. The local district court clerk for the city or township where the case was filed keeps that file.
Probate Court files cover decedent estates, wills, trusts, guardianships, conservatorships, mental health matters, and developmentally disabled matters. Probate Mental Health records are restricted and not in Court Explorer. Probate filings now move through MiFILE, as the Probate Court fully transitioned to e-filing under MCR 1.109(G)(3)(f) on June 12, 2025.
What an Oakland County Court Record Shows
Each public Oakland County court record carries a set of identifying and event fields. The Court Explorer user guide describes the screens a searcher sees: Case Summary, Party data, Register of Actions, and, for Probate, Available Documents. The table below maps the typical fields to what each one shows on screen.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Case Number | The unique court file ID. Probate searches in Court Explorer require this exact number. |
| Court / Division | Tag for Circuit, District, or Probate, plus civil, family, criminal, or estate division. |
| Case Type | Category code (felony, civil, domestic, estate, guardianship, mental health, etc.). |
| Filing Date | Date the case was opened with the Clerk. |
| Parties | Plaintiff, defendant, petitioner, respondent, with party type for each. |
| Attorneys | Counsel of record for each party. |
| Register of Actions | Chronological list of filings, motions, orders, events, and hearings. |
| Charges or Cause | Criminal charges with statute cites, or the civil cause of action. |
| Disposition | Outcome such as dismissed, pled, judgment entered, or sentenced. |
| Sentence / Judgment | Final court order, including fines, restitution, probation, jail, or prison time. |
| Available Documents | Probate screen listing documents that can be ordered online. |
Search Tips From the Official Guide
The Court Explorer user guide lists a series of small rules that make Oakland County court records search results much cleaner. Most failed searches in Court Explorer come from one of these formatting issues, not from a missing case.
- Search SMITHJONES, not SMITH-JONES. Hyphens are not used.
- Leave out suffixes JR, SR, I, II, and III.
- For business names that start with A or THE, leave those words out.
- Use the ampersand sign for AND in a business name.
- Do not include LLC or PC.
- Do not include periods.
- Spell out numeric characters at the start of a business name; numbers later in a name can stay as numbers.
- Common abbreviations: CO for Company, CORP for Corporation, CTY for County, TWP for Township, DEPT for Department, US for United States.
For criminal felony searches, the case may also exist under a slightly different spelling than the one in news reports. The portal accepts partial leading letters of a name, so SMI returns SMITH and JA returns JAMES. Try short prefixes when an exact spelling is in doubt.
Copy Fees and Certified Copies
Oakland County court copy fees are set by the Clerk and listed on the Legal Records Fees and Forms page. Court Explorer document orders are processed manually during regular business hours, Monday through Friday, and are typically fulfilled within two business days. Online charges appear on a credit-card or bank statement as "g2gcharge.com." All sales are final and not refundable.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Regular court copy | $1.00 per page |
| Certified court copy | $10.00 per case number plus $1.00 per page |
| Credit-card service fee on online orders | 3.5% |
| ACH service fee on online orders | $2.50 |
| Civil case filing | $175 |
| Divorce without minor children | $175 |
| Divorce with minor children | $255 |
Certified copies must be mailed and cannot be sent by email. Plain copies can be delivered by mail or by email when a valid email address is provided. For more on the Clerk's role and fee schedule, see the County Clerk and Register of Deeds page.
Public Access Laws for Oakland County Court Records
Michigan court records live under court rules, not under the Freedom of Information Act. The Michigan FOIA in MCL 15.231 and MCL 15.233 covers administrative records of the Sheriff, Prosecutor, Clerk, and county departments. Court case files are governed by Michigan Court Rule 8.119 and the Michigan Trial Court Records Management Standards.
Together those rules say public case records are open to view and copy unless a statute, court rule, court order, or case law makes them nonpublic. Court Explorer reflects this by warning that the online data is not the official record of the court and that PPOs, juvenile records, and Probate Mental Health records are excluded from the portal. MCL 15.234 sets FOIA fee rules, and MCL 15.235 sets response deadlines for administrative records.
Records That Are Restricted
Michigan law and court rule limit access to several kinds of Oakland County court records. Juvenile records are restricted under MCL 712A.28. Adoption records are confidential under MCL 710.67. Mental health information is protected under MCL 330.1748. Personal Protection Orders are not in Court Explorer at all.
Set-aside or expunged convictions become nonpublic for many purposes. Michigan's Clean Slate automatic set-aside took effect in April 2023 under MCL 780.621g. Application-based set-asides under MCL 780.621 must be filed in the court of conviction. Some convictions cannot be set aside, and traffic set-asides do not always clear the Secretary of State driving record, as MCL 780.621c explains. Sealed records remain on file but with public access blocked.
Note: Court Explorer warns the data is not the official court record and should not be used for criminal background checks.
Older Records and Archived Cases
Court Explorer covers Oakland County Circuit Court and Probate cases back to the early 1990s. Records older than that are not online. They sit with the Clerk's Legal Records Division at 1200 North Telegraph Road, Dept 413, Pontiac. The Legal Records office can be reached at 248-858-0582 or clerklegal@oakgov.com, Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Court Explorer's result list also flags that only non-archived cases are selectable. If a case appears in the list but cannot be opened, it has been archived and a paper request to Legal Records is the next step. For district court records, the local district court clerk's office is the right place to ask. The court dockets page explains how registers of actions are organized once a case file is found.