Ontonagon County Circuit Court System

Ontonagon County Circuit Court Overview

The 32nd Circuit Court is the primary trial court for Ontonagon County, and it also serves neighboring Gogebic County. It hears the cases that carry the highest stakes. That includes all felony criminal matters, civil suits seeking more than $25,000, divorce and other family cases, personal protection orders, and appeals that come up from the district court or from state agencies. Chief Judge Michael K. Pope presides over the circuit. The court sits on the second floor of the Ontonagon County Courthouse at 725 Greenland Road, and its clerk line is 906-884-4699. The county's own Circuit Court office page confirms the second-floor location and notes that payments are made through an online portal or by phone through the clerk.

Michigan groups its counties into numbered judicial circuits, and Ontonagon shares the 32nd Circuit with Gogebic County. Michigan Legal Help notes that circuit courts generally handle civil cases over $25,000, every felony, all personal protection order matters, and all family cases. Because the circuit is shared, some administrative plans and historical records live on Gogebic County court pages even though the Ontonagon courthouse is a separate location. The practical rule for a records search is simple: pick the county where the case was filed, then confirm the court level before you look further.

Ontonagon County Trial Courts and Contacts

Four courthouse offices carry the weight of the county's court records, and each one owns a different slice of the caseload. The circuit court and district court split criminal and civil work by severity, the probate court handles estates and many family matters, and Friend of the Court manages support and custody enforcement. All four operate from the Ontonagon County Courthouse. The table below lists the address, phone, and lead officer for each.

Probation Officer Paula Domitrovich supervises district and juvenile cases across the district and probate courts, so a supervision question may reach the same officer regardless of which court entered the order. The 98th District Court office page lists Judge Findlay, the magistrate, and the probation officer, along with the online fine-payment note.

Circuit Court vs. District Court in Ontonagon County

The clearest way to route a records search is to compare the two main trial courts side by side. The 32nd Circuit Court takes the heavier cases, while the 98th District Court handles the higher volume of smaller matters. A felony actually touches both: it starts in the district court and finishes in the circuit court. The comparison below lays out the split by case type, dollar limit, felony stage, and where an appeal goes next.

Note: A single felony can leave a record in both courts, so a full case history sometimes requires checking the district file for the early stages and the circuit file for the outcome.

How a Case Moves Through the Ontonagon County System

Cases climb a fixed ladder in Michigan, and the same ladder applies in Ontonagon County. A trial court hears the case first, the Michigan Court of Appeals reviews it next when a party appeals, and the Michigan Supreme Court has the final word. Criminal and civil cases enter that ladder at different points, but both end at the same top rung.

General appeal path: District Court › Circuit Court › Michigan Court of Appeals › Michigan Supreme Court

A felony follows a distinct route because it splits across two trial courts. The prosecutor files a complaint in the 98th District Court, where the case moves through arraignment, a probable cause conference, and a preliminary examination. If the judge finds enough evidence, the case is bound over to the 32nd Circuit Court for the rest of the proceedings.

Felony path: District Court complaint and preliminary exam › bindover › Circuit Court arraignment, plea or trial, and sentencing

A misdemeanor or a small civil claim can begin and end entirely in the district court. A large civil suit, a divorce, or a personal protection order begins in the circuit court. Once a trial court enters a final judgment, the losing side may take the matter up the appellate ladder within the deadlines set by court rule.

Ontonagon County District Court Civil Jurisdiction

The dollar line between the two trial courts comes straight from statute. Under Michigan law, the district court holds exclusive jurisdiction over civil actions when the amount in controversy does not exceed $25,000, subject to certain exceptions. That single rule explains why small claims, landlord-tenant disputes, land contract cases, and most civil infractions land in the 98th District Court rather than the circuit court. When a claim climbs above the limit, it moves up to the 32nd Circuit Court instead.

The controlling text sits in the Michigan district court civil jurisdiction statute (MCL 600.8301), which spells out the threshold and its exceptions.

Reading the statute confirms why an Ontonagon County plaintiff with a $30,000 claim files in the circuit court while a $4,000 claim stays in the district court. The amount in controversy, not the type of dispute, sets the court.

The Ontonagon County Family Division

Family cases run through a shared family division rather than a single judge. The 2025 family court plan for the 32nd Circuit covers both Gogebic and Ontonagon Counties and rescinds the earlier 2018 orders. It assigns family, juvenile, adoption, and personal protection matters between the circuit judge and the county probate judges. In Ontonagon County, the probate judge is the presiding family division judge and is assigned Juvenile Code, Adoption Code, family division miscellaneous proceedings, and many ancillary family matters. The circuit judge keeps extreme risk protection order cases and certain other family filings.

The plan follows a one-family, one-judge idea. Related pending family matters should be assigned together when practical, especially where a child neglect or abuse case is open. That keeps a single family's cases in front of one judge instead of scattering them. For records, the plan names the county clerk's office as the central access point for the family division, covering where to file, how records are stored, and how the public reaches case scheduling and access information.

Note: Because a case labeled family can be assigned to either the circuit judge or the probate judge, confirm the exact court before requesting a file.

Probate Court and Friend of the Court

Two related offices round out the trial court picture in Ontonagon County. The Ontonagon County Probate Court, on the second floor of the courthouse, handles estates, wills filed with an estate, guardianships, conservatorships, and protected-person matters, and it also carries the juvenile and adoption assignments described in the family plan. Probate Register Cayla Karttunen manages the office at 906-884-4117, and the county Probate Court page notes that probate court costs can be paid through an online portal. Because the same judge serves both the district and probate courts, a family with cases in different divisions may still see familiar faces on the bench.

Friend of the Court is not a court that decides cases but a support office tied to the family division. Shannon Clinesmith leads the office, reachable at 906-884-4670. It handles child support and custody or parenting-time enforcement, and much of its file is not open to the general public. A parent with a support or custody enforcement question goes here, while a request for the public divorce judgment itself goes to the circuit court and county clerk.

Appeals From Ontonagon County Courts

An appeal from an Ontonagon County circuit or probate decision travels to the Michigan Court of Appeals, the state's intermediate appellate court. It reviews trial court decisions and many appeals from state agencies. A party who loses at the circuit level, or in some probate matters, files there within the deadline set by the court rules. The Court of Appeals does not retry the case; it reviews the record for legal error.

Above it sits the Michigan Supreme Court, the court of last resort. It has discretion over which cases to hear, so most requests for its review are not granted. It also issues the court rules and provides administrative oversight for every trial court in the state, including the 32nd Circuit and the 98th District Court. Appellate opinions and orders are searchable separately from trial-level files, which stay in MiCOURT and with the local clerks.

Federal Court Matters for Ontonagon County

Not every case belongs in a state trial court. Federal crimes, federal-question civil suits, and many civil rights and habeas matters route instead to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan. Ontonagon County falls in that district's Northern Division, and the closest federal court location for Upper Peninsula matters is Marquette. The court's Western District of Michigan homepage lists its offices, filing help, and news.

That site is the front door for federal trial matters that a state search will never show. The division alignment matters because it decides where a federal filing is docketed.

The district's own county listing page confirms that Ontonagon sits in the Northern Division alongside Marquette, Houghton, Gogebic, and the rest of the western Upper Peninsula.

Confirming the division first saves a wasted search, since the Northern Division office in Marquette is the practical point of contact for local federal matters.

Federal docket and filing records live in the court's electronic system rather than in MiCOURT. Attorneys and registered users reach it through the Western District CM/ECF login, which requires credentials.

Public users without CM/ECF access reach the same dockets through PACER, the national public access service for federal courts.

The PACER court lookup for the Western District lists the court's addresses, phone numbers, and filing help desk in one place.

PACER registration is required and page-view fees may apply, so it works best when a specific case number or party name is already known.

Bankruptcy is handled by a separate court. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Michigan keeps its own docket and PACER records, distinct from both the state courts and the federal district court.

An Ontonagon County resident filing for bankruptcy uses this court, not the Ontonagon County Probate Court or the 32nd Circuit Court.

Ontonagon County Circuit Court History

The 32nd Circuit Court has joined Gogebic and Ontonagon Counties since 1891. The roots run deeper still. After Michigan became a state, Gogebic County was part of Ontonagon County, and under the 1850 constitution the entire Upper Peninsula formed one judicial district with two court terms a year held in Ontonagon. Daniel Goodwin of Detroit served as judge until 1881, and William D. Williams held the seat when Gogebic County was separately organized in 1887.

The first trial in the 32nd Circuit Court took place on June 24, 1887, a criminal case over the illegal sale of liquor. A long line of judges followed, running through Roy Gotham from 1991 to 2015 and Michael K. Pope from 2016 to the present. The court has long handled divorce and custody disputes, work that in recent years folded into the modern family division alongside matters once heard only in probate court.

Where Ontonagon County Circuit Court Records Are Kept

The County Clerk / Register of Deeds is the main local access point for circuit court records. The office sits on the first floor of the courthouse and can be reached at 906-884-4255, and unlike some other offices it stays open through the lunch hour. Chief Deputy Jerri Corey handles circuit court and vital records within that office. The family court plan also names the county clerk as the central point for the family division, covering where documents are filed, how records are stored, and how the public reaches case and scheduling information.

For public case information, the fastest starting point is MiCOURT Case Search, then a call or visit to the clerk of the owning court for copies. Online document images are limited under the Michigan court rules, so a certified copy or a full file usually means reaching the courthouse. A broader walk through the search tools appears on the Ontonagon County court records page, and the office details and request steps sit with the County Clerk / Register of Deeds. For circuit files the clerk is the door; for district, probate, or support files, the owning office is the one to call.