Criminal Records For Michigan

Criminal Records for Michigan

The State of Michigan keeps several different archives of information on criminal records.
However, a minor problem is that majority of these sources of Michigan criminal records deal
mostly with convictions. Criminal records for Michigan State do not necessarily warrant
convictions. In fact, not all criminal records for Michigan result in convictions. And for this reason,
databases maintained by the Michigan State Government may not be as comprehensive a source
as we would like them to be. Therefore, it is advised that when you conduct a criminal records
search, you do not use the state repository as your only source of information. There are also
various other sources of Michigan criminal records that are rarely tapped into. These are the
following:

State Police

As stated earlier, the most obvious choice for you to search for Michigan criminal records is the
state repository. It is the Michigan State Police that maintains the official database of criminal
history record information. Here you can find an archive of all Michigan criminal records of
felonies or misdemeanors of a serious nature. The Michigan criminal records contained in the
Michigan State Police database are actually fingerprint-based arrest records. By statute, law
enforcement agencies and court clerks are required to create fingerprint cards for each record of
arrest that are sent to the Michigan State Police. If the Michigan criminal records are not
accompanied by fingerprint cards, then they will be included in the repository.

Department of Corrections

The Department of Corrections keeps a database of criminal records of everyone who has served
time in prison. The Michigan criminal records stored here contain good details about the crime
and the database even includes pictures of the criminal. The inclusion of photos are good for
minimizing cases of mistaken identities wherein someone who is without a record may appear to
have one because of names that are similar. The DOC database only contains criminal records of
imprisonment and criminals who have been sentenced to prison do not show up here.

County Clerks of Court

Perhaps the most excellent way to verify whether a Michigan criminal action has been initiated
against someone is to check whether there are criminal records of it in the Offices of the County
Clerks of Court. Each court case is documented first by the Clerk of Court of the county where the
case is to be heard. These documents are based on the information provided during the arrest
incident.

Records of Arrests

Michigan criminal records of arrests at the county jail level are excellent sources, too, but they
may not be as readily available as the others. However, there are some private sources that you
can contract to legally provide you with these.