Check Washtenaw County Criminal History

How to Check Criminal History in Washtenaw County

No single database contains a full Washtenaw County criminal history. Begin with a full legal name, exact date of birth, prior names, and any known case or incident number. The most useful first stop is MiCOURT Case Search through the county's court-record request hub because court entries show filed charges and dispositions. Select the right district court or the 22nd Circuit Court. Ann Arbor matters may require the 15th District Court path, while county district matters can run through 14A or 14B.

Move from the broad index to the office that owns the source. A booking at the Washtenaw County Jail does not make the Sheriff the custodian of an Ann Arbor or Ypsilanti police narrative. Likewise, an ICHAT entry is not a certified court judgment.

1. Search the relevant Washtenaw court by party name or case number and note the court, case number, and status.
2. Run an ICHAT name check with the exact name and birth date for the public statewide repository record.
3. Check the Sheriff, VINE, or OTIS when present or recent custody and supervision are part of the question.
4. Request the incident or arrest report from the agency that made the arrest.
5. Order a plain or certified copy from the court clerk when the online summary is not enough.

Note: Match identifiers and dates before assuming that a same-name Washtenaw County record belongs to the person being researched.

Washtenaw Criminal Records: Four Custodians

A complete Washtenaw criminal record can cross four systems. Police hold the incident narrative. The jail holds intake, bond, custody, and release data. District and circuit courts hold the filed case. Michigan State Police CJIC maintains the reportable statewide history. Each answers a different question, so the best route depends on what must be proved.

Washtenaw County has no stable official countywide daily arrest gallery. For recent custody, use the Sheriff main line, the official Sheriff Records hub, a focused records request, or VINE. For a sentenced person transferred to state custody, use OTIS. That split prevents a county jail search from being mistaken for a lifetime criminal-history search.

Official Michigan Background Checks

The Michigan State Police Criminal Justice Information Center operates ICHAT, the public name-based repository product. It uses a name and date of birth rather than fingerprints. The ordinary search costs $10 and returns disseminable Michigan felony arrests and convictions plus serious misdemeanor convictions or offenses punishable by more than 93 days. It does not return every police contact or court event. The MSP criminal-history overview shows how the state separates name checks, fingerprint routes, record correction, and set-aside information.

This state overview is the right reference for the scope of ICHAT and for choosing an authorized fingerprint process for self-review.

The Washtenaw County Sheriff fingerprinting channel gives local access information for fingerprints.

Fingerprint capture is a collection step. Whether a fingerprint check is available depends on the legal purpose and the agency that receives the prints.

ICHAT Gaps in Washtenaw Records

An ICHAT result is useful but narrow. It omits warrants, traffic matters, federal and tribal cases, juvenile records, out-of-state matters, local minor misdemeanors, suppressed entries, and records made nonpublic. A “no record” response means the submitted identifiers produced no disseminable match. It does not prove that Washtenaw police never made an arrest or that no court file exists.

Use the fields with care. Exact spelling and birth date carry the most weight, while a middle name, race, or sex may help narrow a match when offered. If a Washtenaw County court file and ICHAT disagree, obtain the court disposition and an identity-verified record. An error may need action by MSP CJIC plus the court or arresting agency that created the source segment.

Types of Criminal Records

Washtenaw County criminal records are created at distinct points. The arresting agency writes an incident or arrest report with time, place, officers, reported conduct, evidence, and custody facts. The jail then creates a booking file. Prosecutors authorize charges, and the court’s complaint, register of actions, hearing notices, pleas, rulings, and judgment form the case record.

The state and supervision systems create separate summaries. ICHAT compiles disseminable reportable history. OTIS reports current or recent MDOC prison, parole, and felony-probation information. A warrant is a court order entered for enforcement and is not included in ICHAT. Michigan PSOR contains statutory registry data, not a general criminal history.

Disposition

The result of a charge, such as conviction, dismissal, or acquittal.

Bind-over

The transfer of a felony from district court to Circuit Court after waiver or a probable-cause finding.

Register of actions

The dated list of filings, hearings, orders, and other public case events.

Booking record

The jail intake and custody file, which does not by itself prove guilt.

Set aside

Michigan relief that makes an eligible conviction nonpublic for most ordinary access.

Washtenaw MiCOURT Criminal Case Signals

MiCOURT can display the court, case number, filing date, type, status, judge, public parties, charges, statute citations, event history, hearings, and disposition. It is an informational index, not the official certified record. Some courts use a seven-year criminal-sentence display filter. Older Washtenaw criminal records may therefore require a clerk request even when the online search looks blank.

Status labels need context. “Closed” means the court has treated the case as no longer active, but it does not state whether each charge ended in conviction, dismissal, or acquittal. Read each charge row and its disposition. Attempt charges present another trap: MiCOURT warns that its charge-level display may label all attempts as felonies even when MCL 750.92 makes a given attempt a misdemeanor.

District court handles misdemeanors and a felony’s first stages. A felony that is bound over continues at the 22nd Circuit Court in Ann Arbor. Search both case numbers when the record flow shows that transfer.

What a Washtenaw County Criminal Record Shows

The fields change with the custodian. A Washtenaw County court file centers on its case number, filed charges, hearings, judge, attorneys, outcome, financial ledger, and sentence. A jail record centers on intake and release. An MSP history organizes fingerprint-linked arrest cycles and later prosecutor and court reports around identity descriptors.

Protected data does not appear like an ordinary public field. Full Social Security numbers, victim and minor details, protected addresses, medical or security classifications, and set-aside records can be withheld or redacted.

Washtenaw Criminal History Beyond Courts

OTIS, ICHAT, and the county jail answer different questions. OTIS covers people under MDOC prison, parole, or qualifying probation supervision and generally keeps discharged supervision entries for three years. It is not a Washtenaw arrest archive. ICHAT is the state repository’s public criminal-history slice. The county jail reflects local custody, including people arrested by city, township, campus, county, or state officers.

The MDOC OTIS search presents the state supervision locator.

An OTIS match can confirm a prison or supervision link, but the Washtenaw court judgment remains the source for the conviction and sentence.

When the official county roster path does not work, use the Sheriff at 734-971-8400, Michigan VINE, or a focused booking-record request. Do not replace the missing official roster with a commercial inmate page.

Public Access Laws

Michigan uses different access rules for different Washtenaw criminal records. Police and Sheriff files fall under the Michigan Freedom of Information Act. Judicial files are controlled by court-record rules rather than ordinary executive-agency FOIA. MSP disseminates criminal-history data under its own statute, and registry access follows SORA.

A Washtenaw FOIA request should name an existing record, date range, incident number if known, place, and responsible unit. The normal initial response period is five business days, with one extension of up to ten more business days. An agency may grant, deny, partly grant with redactions, or issue a fee estimate and deposit request.

Washtenaw Criminal Records at Two Huron Addresses

Two downtown Ann Arbor addresses can send a record seeker to the wrong counter. The Washtenaw County Courthouse at 101 E. Huron Street houses the 22nd Circuit Court Civil/Criminal Division and felony files. The Ann Arbor Justice Center at 301 E. Huron Street houses Ann Arbor Police Records on the second floor and the 15th District Court. They are distinct custodians.

Other district matters may sit at 14A locations in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Chelsea, or Saline, or at 14B for Ypsilanti Township. A Ypsilanti mailing address does not settle jurisdiction. City cases can involve YPD and 14A-2, while township matters may involve the Sheriff and 14B. Campus events can add U-M DPSS or EMU DPS as the report custodian.

Sealed, Expunged & Restricted

Public Washtenaw criminal records exclude or mask juvenile and child-protective matters, victim and minor identifiers, LEIN data, private account numbers, medical or security data, and files made nonpublic by statute or order. Redaction removes protected facts while releasing the rest. A set-aside makes an eligible conviction nonpublic for most ordinary uses, though authorized agencies may retain statutory access.

Michigan Clean Slate automatically sets aside some eligible older convictions. General timing rules include seven years for eligible misdemeanors and ten years after sentencing or release from MDOC custody, whichever is later, for eligible felonies. Limits and exclusions apply. An open case can affect the calculation, so the exact offense and current law must be checked.

The MSP conviction set-aside process distinguishes automatic relief from an application.

This state process explains why an eligible record may clear without a petition while other convictions still require a court filing.

Washtenaw Set-Aside Record Workflow

An application begins with the record itself. Gather ICHAT results and court registers of actions for each conviction, then complete SCAO form MC 227 for the proper convicting court. The packet may require certified disposition documents, a complete fingerprint set, service on the Michigan Attorney General and Washtenaw County Prosecuting Attorney, and the MSP processing fee of $50.

File in the court of conviction, which may be the 22nd Circuit, 14A, 14B, or 15th District Court. Attend a hearing if one is set. After an order, both the court and MSP must update their systems. Recheck MiCOURT and ICHAT, and use the certified order if a qualifying entry remains public after processing.

The Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office identifies its Conviction Integrity & Expungement Unit and related services.

The unit is a local information route, but the court decides an application and MSP maintains the statewide repository update.

Criminal Records by City in Washtenaw County

City agencies add an important layer to Washtenaw County criminal history. Ann Arbor Police holds its reports and works with the 15th District Court. Ypsilanti Police records connect to 14A-2, while a Ypsilanti Township address may instead route to the Sheriff and 14B. Saline Police reports remain city-held, district matters go through 14A-4, and felony cases can later move to the 22nd Circuit Court. Each city record should be paired with county booking and court data when relevant.

Use the city page to find the local report route, then follow any booking to the Sheriff and any filed charge to the proper Washtenaw court.

Washtenaw Criminal Records from Hogback

A local arrest can produce a clear chain of records. Intake at the Hogback Road jail creates booking data and sends fingerprints for a reportable event to MSP. The prosecutor’s filing starts in a district court, where arraignment, bond, and the preliminary felony stages are logged. A bound-over felony then moves to the 22nd Circuit Court for plea or trial, judgment, and sentence. Courts report eligible charge and outcome data back to CJIC. Reading that chain explains why dates can differ and why the first booking charge may not match the final disposition.

That Washtenaw record flow stops at the state and county boundary. Michigan portals do not contain federal criminal cases. Washtenaw County is in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, and federal dockets are searched through PACER. Registration is required. The judiciary generally charges $0.10 per page, subject to its document cap, and waives quarterly bills of $30 or less. Sealed filings stay unavailable. The PACER court-record system is the official federal docket channel.

PACER fills the federal court gap left by MiCOURT and ICHAT, but it does not replace a Michigan state or Washtenaw court search. Federal prison custody uses a separate locator. The Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate search accepts name details or a BOP register number.

The locator may show a sentenced federal prisoner, while a pretrial person held for the U.S. Marshals may not appear as a county sentenced inmate.