Michigan Circuit Court Information

Circuit courts can practice their jurisdiction over criminal as well as civil cases, but their primary focus is on those cases that are outside other Michigan courts’ jurisdictions. In criminal cases, as per the norm of these courts, the Michigan circuit court hears felony, juvenile delinquency and lesser-included crimes. Only those civil cases are presented in Michigan circuit court that have disputes over $25,000, domestic relations, juvenile civil cases, equity cases and decisions of administrative agencies.

Circuit Court Divisions

Like every circuit court, Michigan circuit court has also a separate division for family where the cases of juveniles and domestic relations are heard. Other cases that are heard in this section are paternity, divorce, prevention of abuse, protection of child and juvenile delinquency. If the cases of domestic relations have minor children involved, then there is a separate office called 'Friend of the Court' where such cases are heard and solved. Except for the cases of domestic relations and adoptions, jury trials are available for all others.

Locations of Certain Michigan Circuit Courts

There are 57 Michigan Circuit Courts in different counties of the state. These courts have a total of 221 judges. The maximum number of judges is in the 3rd Circuit Court in Wayne County. This is the largest circuit court of Michigan. There are about sixty judges in this Michigan circuit court. To know more about this court go to https://www.3rdcc.org/.

Addresses of different sections of this court are: Friend of the Court 645 Griswold, Detroit, MI 48226; Third Judicial Circuit - Civil Division, 2 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, MI 48226; Third Judicial Circuit - Criminal Division, 1441 St. Antoine, Detroit, MI 48230; and Third Judicial Circuit - Juvenile Division, 1025 East Forest, Detroit, MI 48207.

Court offices remain open from 8.30 am to 4.30 pm on all weekdays and the office of Friend of the Court opens at 8.30 am and closes at 4.00 pm. To obtain the forms for Friend of Court, you can go to https://www.3rdcc.org/foc_pro_per.htm and for all other forms go to https://www.3rdcc.org/foc_misc.htm. For forms for civil cases, https://www.3rdcc.org/civil.htm can help you.

The 3rd Circuit Court is followed by the 6th Circuit Court. This court is in Oakland County where there are nineteen judges. The link to this office is http://www.oakgov.com/circuit/. For contact information of different departments of the courts, visit http://www.oakgov.com/circuit/contact/. You will get all necessary information on this website. For court and application forms, you can click on the tab for Forms and Applications or go directly to the link http://www.oakgov.com/circuit/form_application/.

Next comes Macomb County which is the 16th Michigan Circuit Court and has fourteen judges. The link to their official website is http://www.macombcountymi.gov/circuitcourt/. This court is in Mt Clemens. The court address is: 40 N. Main St., Mt. Clemens, MI  48043. For any kind of information related to the court, judges or services, this website can be of great help. If you wish to order a transcript from the court, you can place an online request via the online form. The online form can be obtained in the link http://www.macombcountymi.gov/circuitcourt/form/circuitcourttranscript.asp.

The number of judges in all other Circuit Courts ranges from one to ten. For detailed information on each Michigan circuit court, go to http://courts.michigan.gov/scao/services/dirs/tlinks.htm#circuit. You will get essential details on the circuit courts as well as the office of the Friend of Court, along with their contact information and driving directions.