Ontonagon County Marriage and Divorce Records

Where Ontonagon County Marriage and Divorce Records Live

Two separate offices in the same building hold these records. Certified copies of Ontonagon County marriage records come from the County Clerk / Register of Deeds, on the first floor of the Ontonagon County Courthouse at 725 Greenland Road, Ontonagon, MI 49953. That office keeps vital records and answers requests at 906-884-4255. Divorce records are court files. They belong to the 32nd Circuit Court and its family division, which sits on the second floor of the same courthouse and can be reached at 906-884-4699.

The County Clerk is also the local access point for circuit court records, so a divorce file request often starts at the same clerk counter that handles marriage copies. The 2025 family court plan for the 32nd Circuit designates the county clerk's office as the central point for family division information, including where documents are filed, how records are stored, and how the public gains access. Family division documents are filed in the county clerk's office, while juvenile matters are filed in juvenile court.

Knowing which record you need points you to the right form. A marriage certificate uses the clerk's Vital Records Request form and a flat vital-record fee. A divorce judgment or full case file is retrieved as a court record, often after a search on the statewide case system first. The two paths do not overlap, and the fee structures are different.

How to Request a Marriage Record Copy

The Ontonagon County clerk page does not publish local marriage-license application steps such as office hours, waiting periods, or age documents, so those details are left to the office by phone. What the office does document clearly is the certified-copy request process for an existing marriage record. Confirm your eligibility first, then complete the request form.

1. Confirm the marriage belongs with Ontonagon County. You must have been an Ontonagon County resident at the time of a Michigan marriage, or an out-of-state resident who married in Ontonagon County.
2. Complete the Vital Records Request form, which the clerk provides as a one-page document for birth, marriage, and death records.
3. Provide the names on the marriage record, the bride's last name at the time of application, and the date of marriage.
4. Pay $10 for the first certified copy and $3 for each additional copy of the same record. Checks are made payable to Ontonagon County Clerk.
5. Submit the request in person, by mail, by email, or through the online purchase and upload path described by the clerk.
6. Call 906-884-4255 with any questions about processing or eligibility before you send payment.

Mailed and emailed requests use the same form and the same fee. The form lists the courthouse address, the clerk phone number, and fax 906-884-6796 for offices that accept faxed paperwork.

Vital Records Request Marriage Fields

The Vital Records Request form has one requester section and separate identity blocks for birth, marriage, and death records. For a marriage copy, you circle the marriage-record option and fill the marriage identity fields plus the requester fields. The table below lists the fields that apply to a marriage request.

Ontonagon County Marriage and Divorce Fees

The clerk charges a flat vital-record fee that applies to marriage copies the same way it applies to birth and death copies. Divorce records follow a different model. A name or case search on the statewide system is free, and the cost only starts when you order certified copies or retrieve a full court file from the clerk.

Online payments run through the GovPros portal, which adds its own service fee shown as a separate line at checkout. The service fee is not part of the $10 record price, so an online order costs a little more than an in-person or mailed one. The certified-copy fee for a divorce judgment is not published on the county page, so confirm it with the clerk before ordering.

How to Look Up Ontonagon County Marriage Records

Certified marriage copies are not an open public database. The clerk releases them under the eligibility rule tied to residency and place of marriage, and marriage identity fields on the form are how the office pulls the correct record. Birth records carry tighter restrictions and generally go only to a person named on the record, but marriage and death copies follow the standard request form.

Online orders and clerk payments move through the county's GovPros portal. You can review the GovPros Clerk and Register of Deeds payment portal to see how the office collects card payments for vital records and recorded documents.

The portal collects billing details and displays the payment amount, the GovPros service fee, and the total before you accept and pay. For a mailed request instead, complete the Vital Records Request form, enclose a check payable to the Ontonagon County Clerk, and send it to the courthouse. Have the names on the marriage record, the bride's last name at application, and the date of marriage ready either way, since those three fields drive the search.

How to Find Ontonagon County Divorce Records

Divorce is a family matter, and in Michigan the circuit court handles all family cases, including custody, divorce, paternity, and child support. For Ontonagon County that is the 32nd Circuit Court at the courthouse, with the County Clerk / Register of Deeds serving as the local access point for circuit court and vital records. Start online, then call the office if the online result is thin.

1. Search MiCOURT Case Search for the 32nd Circuit Court in Ontonagon County if it appears in the court list.
2. Search by party name or by the full case number when you know it.
3. If the online result is missing, older, sealed, or incomplete, call the County Clerk records contact at 906-884-4255 or Circuit Court at 906-884-4699.
4. For child support, custody, or parenting-time enforcement questions, contact Friend of the Court, Shannon Clinesmith, at 906-884-4670.
5. For certified copies of a divorce judgment, ask the clerk about certification fees and whether the file is at the courthouse or must be retrieved.

MiCOURT is a public case-information search, not a full document library. Michigan court rules bar public access to document images over the Internet, so a search may confirm that a divorce exists and show the docket without giving you the signed judgment. Certified copies and full files still come from the clerk of the court that holds the case.

What Is in an Ontonagon County Divorce File

A divorce case file grows as the case moves. It may hold the complaint for divorce, the summons, proof of service, the answer, motions, temporary orders, Friend of the Court materials, custody and parenting-time orders, child support orders, the property settlement, the judgment of divorce, and any post-judgment motions.

Public access is not the same for every document in that file. Personal identifying information, minor child details, domestic violence addresses, confidential Friend of the Court data, and sealed or protected filings may be withheld or redacted. Simple proof that a divorce happened is often easier to get than a complete file with every attachment. Michigan policy still favors open public records, and the state's public-records framework is stated in the Michigan FOIA policy statute at MCL 15.231.

That statute sets Michigan's general policy favoring access to records of public bodies, but court case files are governed by court rule rather than by FOIA. For a divorce file, that means the clerk and the court rules decide what is released, not a FOIA request. Confidential family details stay protected even when the judgment itself is public.

Note: A divorce judgment may be a public document while the child support worksheets, addresses, and Friend of the Court records inside the same file remain confidential.

Getting Certified Copies of Marriage and Divorce Records

Uncertified printouts are fine for personal reference, but courts, agencies, and many benefit programs require a certified copy that carries the office seal. For a marriage record, that certified copy comes from the County Clerk / Register of Deeds under the $10 first-copy and $3 additional-copy fees. Order it with the Vital Records Request form and the three marriage identity fields.

For a divorce judgment, the certified copy comes from the clerk of the court that holds the case, which for Ontonagon County divorces is the County Clerk acting for the 32nd Circuit Court. The county page does not list a divorce certification fee, so call 906-884-4255 to confirm the current amount and whether the file is on hand or must be pulled from storage. Estate and guardianship matters, which are handled separately, are covered on the Ontonagon County probate records page.

Ontonagon County Vital Records Office

Local certified marriage copies are routed through the Ontonagon County clerk rather than a distant state counter, which keeps the process close to home. The office also serves as Register of Deeds for recorded land documents and as the records access point for the circuit court. Chief Deputy Jerri Corey handles Circuit Court and Vital Records within the office.

The Clerk / Register office is open all day and does not close for lunch, unlike some other courthouse offices that close from noon to 1:00 p.m. Bring the completed Vital Records Request form and a check payable to the Ontonagon County Clerk, or use the online GovPros path with the uploaded form for a card payment.