Macomb County Clerk and Register of Deeds

Macomb County Clerk / Register of Deeds

Anthony G. Forlini serves as the Macomb County Clerk / Register of Deeds. The office is elected, and it combines several duties under one roof. It features the Circuit Court department, Elections, the Jury Room, the Register of Deeds, and Vital Records. As Clerk of the 16th Judicial Circuit Court, the office files and keeps civil, domestic, and criminal case records. As Register of Deeds and keeper of vital records, it holds land documents and birth, death, and marriage records. Two main counters serve the public. The Court Section works inside the court building on North Main Street. The Register of Deeds and Vital Records office is a short walk away on the same street.

Court copies come from one counter. Marriage and land records come from another. Both counters answer to the same elected Clerk, so a request that lands at the wrong desk can be redirected.

What the Macomb County Clerk Does

The Clerk's Court Section is the front door for 16th Judicial Circuit Court paperwork. Staff accept new filings, stamp documents, collect fees, and add every filed paper to the court's computer system daily. They also produce copies, certify records, and run name searches for the public. Beyond the courthouse, the elected office manages county elections and seats jurors through the Jury Room. The Register of Deeds side records deeds, mortgages, and other land documents. That mix is why one office answers questions on court files, land titles, and vital records alike.

• File new civil, domestic, and criminal Circuit Court cases
• Maintain existing 16th Judicial Circuit Court case files
• Issue certified, authenticated, and plain copies of court documents
• Run name searches and print the Register of Actions
• Record land documents through the Register of Deeds
• Keep birth, death, and marriage records in Vital Records

Macomb County Circuit Court Filing Channels

The Clerk accepts Circuit Court filings four ways. Mail, fax, eFiling where allowed, and in-person filing all reach the same Court Section. Mail filings go to the Circuit Court Section, 40 North Main, 1st Floor, Mount Clemens, MI 48043. A cover letter is not required. One that lists the filer, the case, and payment details still helps, and a self-addressed stamped envelope should ride along when stamped copies are wanted back. E-filings can be sent around the clock. They carry the date submitted, no matter the hour.

Not every case can start online. The county says all civil cases, divorce without minor children, and PPO case types PP, PH, and PJ are e-file. Yet e-file case initiation is limited to those PPO types. Every other case must be opened on paper at the counter or by mail.

The Circuit Court publishes location, parking, and history details on its About the Courts page.

The Clerk's Court Section operates inside that same court building and files each document the court receives.

How to Request a Certified Copy

A certified copy carries the Clerk's stamp and proves a document matches the court's file. Courts, agencies, and other states often demand a certified copy rather than a plain print. An uncertified download from a public lookup is not the official record. The file room prepares certified, authenticated, and regular copies once a request and payment arrive.

1. Find the case number first. Search the county's CourtView case lookup if the number is unknown.
2. Choose the document. The order form lists divorce judgments, criminal sentences, civil judgments, docket entries, name searches, transcripts, and exhibits.
3. Complete the Circuit Court Documents Order Form with case, party, contact, and payment details.
4. Pick a copy type. Mark certified when the copy must be used with another court or agency.
5. Submit the form by fax to 586-469-5365, by mail to Attn: File Room, 40 North Main Street, or by email to fileroom@macombgov.org.
6. Choose delivery. Options are email, first-class U.S. Mail, counter pickup, or expedited handling. Questions go to the file room help line at 586-469-5199.

Note: Counter service at the Court Section closes at 4:15 p.m. on regular business days, so anyone picking up a copy the same day should arrive early.

Macomb County Court Document Order Form

The Circuit Court Documents Order Form gathers everything the file room needs to pull and copy a record. It groups fields into the document requested, the case, the requester, and payment. A complete form moves faster and avoids a callback. Missing case or party details are the most common reason a request stalls.

The Circuit Court's department directory lists the Case Management and file-room functions that process these orders.

Case Management adds each filed document to the docket that the order form later pulls a copy from.

Fax Filing Rules for Macomb County

Fax remains a formal filing channel at the Macomb County Clerk. Filers send pleadings with the Circuit Court Fax Filing Cover Sheet to 586-469-5353, or email faxfiling@macombgov.org. A pleading counts as filed the day it arrives if the first page reaches the Clerk by 4:30 p.m. on a regular county business day. Under Michigan Court Rule 2.406, the faxed document is the original. The same papers should not also be mailed. Duplicate submissions can delay processing and trigger extra fees. Filers must still send copies to the Friend of the Court and the assigned judge.

The cover sheet sets the filing fees that ride along with a faxed pleading. Common charges include:

• Civil, domestic, or appeal case filing: $175
• Jury demand: $85
• Motion: $20
• Writ of garnishment, execution, or judgment-debtor subpoena: $15
• Appeal from Circuit Court: $25

The Circuit Court's judge roster shows who presides over the cases these filings open.

A filer who faxes a pleading must still deliver a copy to the assigned judge named on that roster.

Macomb County Clerk Copy Fees

Copy and certification fees at the Court Section are set per page. The file room charges the same rates whether a request comes by mail, fax, email, or in person. Payment travels with the order form. The published Circuit Court fee page lists the current rates.

A certified copy covers the whole document, so the per-page charge applies to every page pulled. Each alias on a name search counts as a separate name.

Court Records the Macomb County Clerk Keeps

The Court Section holds files for every kind of 16th Judicial Circuit Court case. Felony criminal cases, civil suits over $25,000, and family matters all pass through it. So do the county's specialty treatment dockets. The 16th Judicial Circuit Court runs Adult Drug Court, DWI/Sobriety Court, Mental Health Court, and Veterans' Treatment Court. Each is a court department whose case records the Clerk's office maintains.

The Circuit Court describes these programs on its Specialty Court Services page.

Case files for each of these dockets are kept and copied through the Clerk's Court Section, right beside standard civil and criminal files.

Adult Drug Court began in 2003 and serves about 50 participants at a time. Its hearings, orders, and sentences become part of the Circuit Court file.

The court's Adult Drug Court page explains how applicants join.

Records that docket produces sit in the same clerk system as any other Circuit Court case.

The DWI/Sobriety Treatment Court works with repeat drinking-and-driving offenders. It meets at the North Main court building and aims to break the cycle of alcohol abuse.

The DWI/Sobriety Court page lists its purpose and contacts.

As with the other dockets, the Clerk's Court Section keeps the case files these hearings produce.

Vital Records and the Register of Deeds

The Register of Deeds and Vital Records office sits at 120 North Main Street. It is a separate counter from court copies. This office records land documents and issues certified birth, death, and marriage records. A certified marriage copy costs $15 for the first copy and $5 for each additional copy of the same record. Marriage certificates are public, and no identification is needed to buy one. Every copy issued by Vital Records carries a raised seal.

Divorce records work differently. A divorce is a Circuit Court case, so a certified judgment of divorce comes from the Court Section, not from Vital Records. The county's marriage and divorce records options cover both counters in more detail.

FOIA for Macomb County Records

Court case copies and county agency records follow separate tracks. For a court file, the Clerk's order form or CourtView is the right path. For records held by other county offices, such as the Sheriff or the County Executive, Michigan's Freedom of Information Act applies. The county accepts FOIA requests by email at foia@macombgov.org.

The distinction matters. FOIA is not the first route for a court judgment or a docket sheet. Michigan's FOIA policy is stated in MCL 15.231. Public access to court records is governed by MCR 8.119 rather than by the FOIA statute.

Clerk Technology and Fraud Notify

The Clerk has pushed several online tools for Macomb County residents. Fraud Notify sends free alerts when a document is recorded against a name. That helps catch deed and title fraud early. The Virtual Clerk's Office lets people handle certain services without a counter visit.

These tools have drawn notice. The office reports that Fraud Notify grew from about 1,200 sign-ups to nearly 14,000, and it processed 4,822 marriage applications in 2024. The county Clerk's office also earned two national Tyler Excellence Awards for its technology work. Together the online services trim wait times and reduce trips to North Main Street.

Note: Fraud Notify only alerts a subscriber, and it does not block a recording, so anyone who receives an alert should follow up with the Register of Deeds.