Access Grand Traverse County Clerk Records

About the Grand Traverse County Clerk

Samuel Gedman serves as the Grand Traverse County Clerk. This is an elected office, and the Clerk sits at the center of the county's public records system. Staff work from the governmental center in Traverse City, and the office runs on a set weekday schedule. When the office is closed, people can still drop off a request in the box out front.

The Clerk's role reaches well past court files. The office issues birth, death, and marriage records, registers assumed business names, and keeps military discharge papers on file. It also handles concealed pistol licenses, notary bonds, and veteran peddler permits. On the government side, the Clerk serves as clerk of the Board of Commissioners and the Board of Canvassers, and sits on the county Election Commission and Plat Board.

What the Grand Traverse County Clerk Handles

The office is a one-stop counter for many kinds of records. Some are court documents, and others are civil filings that have nothing to do with a lawsuit. The list below shows the main services the Grand Traverse County Clerk provides to the public.

• Vital records: birth certificates, death certificates, and marriage licenses.
• Assumed business names and co-partnership filings.
• Military discharge papers, including the DD214.
• Concealed pistol licenses, notary bonds, and veteran peddler permits.
• Court records for civil, criminal, and domestic cases in the 13th Circuit Court.
• Election duties as clerk of the Board of Canvassers and a member of the Election Commission.

Because so many functions sit in one office, a first step for any request is to name the record type. A marriage copy, a court file, and a discharge paper each follow their own rules for cost and confidentiality.

Court Records at the County Clerk's Office

The Grand Traverse County Clerk is also the Court Clerk of the county's 13th Circuit Court. In that role, the office keeps court records for all civil, criminal, and domestic filings that reach the circuit level. The Clerk's Office Circuit and Family Court Records desk is the practical counter for these files.

That records desk holds civil documents such as appeals from a lower court, civil cases over $25,000, administrative reviews, title-to-property matters, and divorces that do not involve minor children. A separate family court records unit, created in 2001, keeps divorce files with minor children, family support, name changes, paternity, personal protection orders, juvenile offenses, adoptions, and neglect or abuse cases. The office holds records dating back to April 26, 1859, and no photo ID is required to view them. For the full trial court picture, the county's Grand Traverse County Circuit Court page explains which case types land at the circuit level.

Note: personal protection orders are not posted on the county website, so a caller must reach the clerk by phone to ask about a PPO file.

How to Request a Certified Copy

A certified copy carries the Clerk's seal and proves that a document is a true copy of the court's file. Courts, banks, and other agencies often accept only certified copies, not printouts pulled from a free online search. The steps below follow the county's own records request process.

1. Gather the case details. Have the plaintiff and defendant names, the case number, and the date and title of the document you need.
2. Pick a request channel. The Clerk accepts requests by mail, by email or online form, at the drop box, or in person at the Hall of Justice.
3. Include payment. A certified court copy costs $10 plus $1 per page, and the office takes cash, check, money order, or credit and debit cards.
4. Send the request to the Circuit and Family Court Records office, or hand it to staff at the counter.
5. Receive the copy by return mail, or pick it up once the office confirms the record is ready.

The county's Certified Copies page and its Records Request page walk through each channel and note that credit card payment for an email request is completed after the office responds.

Records Request Form Fields

The information the Clerk needs depends on how the request arrives. A mailed request must carry everything the office needs to find the file and return it, since no follow-up call is built in. An emailed request can start with less because staff reply before payment. The table below lists the fields for each channel.

A mailed request should enclose a check or money order made out to the county. An emailed request skips that step because the office contacts the requester for card payment once it confirms the record and the cost.

Grand Traverse County Clerk Fees

Copy costs vary by document type and by how old the record is. Court copies, register-of-action prints, and marriage copies each have their own price. The public research terminals at the Hall of Justice are free to use, and prints from them cost less than a certified copy.

The $25 e-filing system fee is set by the state and applies to new civil cases. Payment methods across the office include cash, check, money order, and credit or debit card in the contexts each page lists.

Grand Traverse County Marriage Records

Marriage licenses run through the Clerk's vital records counter. An applicant completes the marriage application from a computer, and a three-day waiting period follows before the license is ready. The ceremony must take place within 33 days, or the license becomes void. The county is not performing weddings at this time, but it still issues the licenses.

The county's Marriage Information page lays out the resident and out-of-state rules and the ceremony window.

The page confirms that Michigan residents apply in the county where either person lives, while out-of-state couples apply in the county where the wedding will happen.

The Marriage Licenses page adds the pickup schedule and notes that the marriage license index lists everyone who has applied in the county and updates nightly.

Because not every issued license is used, the index reflects applications rather than completed marriages. Divorce case files sit with the circuit and family court records office, and the county's Grand Traverse County marriage and divorce records page covers how to reach both.

Certified Vital Record Copies

Certified copies of a marriage record follow their own price and request path. A first copy costs $15, and each additional copy of the same record costs $5. Requests may come by mail, by email or online form, or through the drop box.

The county's Certified Copies page describes the marriage copy workflow and the accepted payment methods.

A mailed request should list the names of the couple at the time of application, the date of the marriage, a mailing address, and payment. Cash, check, money order, and credit or debit card are all accepted at this counter.

Military Discharge Records at the County Clerk

Veterans can file a discharge record, the DD214, with the Grand Traverse County Clerk. Filing a copy locally gives the veteran a nearby source for a certified copy when a benefit or program asks for proof of service. These records are not open to the general public.

Under state law, a military discharge record on file with a Michigan clerk is confidential. The office at the county's Military Discharge Records (DD214) page explains who may request a copy.

Access is limited to the veteran, close family, and others allowed by law, in keeping with MCL 35.32. The rule keeps sensitive service and identity details out of open public view while still letting the veteran obtain a copy.

Online Records and Related County Files

The Clerk runs an online records hub that pulls several county indexes into one place. Searches there are free unless a page says otherwise. The hub is a fast way to confirm that a record exists before filing a copy request.

• Assumed business names.
• Civil and criminal case indexes.
• Death records and marriage licenses.
• Dog licenses and permit records.
• Parcel data and register-of-deeds document indexes.

The Online Records hub links each of these indexes and updates on the schedule each source sets.

Estate and guardianship files are not held by the Clerk. Those live with the county's Probate Court, shown on the county's Probate Court page above.

Grand Traverse County Traffic Records

Not every court record sits with the County Clerk. Traffic tickets and misdemeanors run through the 86th District Court and its own payment and search tools. Fine amounts for common violations are posted by the district court, not the Clerk.

The district court's Speeding and Other Traffic Violations page lists the fine and point schedule for speed cases.

Knowing where a record lives saves time. Circuit civil, criminal, and family files sit with the Clerk, while traffic and misdemeanor files stay with the district court. A caller who names the case type first can reach the right counter on the first try.