Criminal Cases in the Bay County Courts
The 74th District Court has countywide jurisdiction over misdemeanors, traffic misdemeanors, felony complaints, arraignments, and felony preliminary examinations. Misdemeanors remain there through disposition and sentence. When a judge finds enough cause to bind over a felony, the prosecution moves to the 18th Circuit Court, where a felony information, Circuit arraignment, motions, plea or trial, and sentence become part of a new stage of the record.
Both courts sit in the Bay County Court Facility, 1230 Washington Avenue in Bay City. District Court uses Suite 747 and can be reached at (989) 895-4232. Circuit records can be reached at (989) 895-4265. The clerk for the court shown on the docket is the custodian of that case file. Bay City, Essexville, and Auburn do not keep separate municipal criminal-court dockets; their filed cases use these county courts.
When a Bay County Felony Moves
A felony search can seem to show a missing or duplicate case because Bay County divides the path between two courts. The District file begins with the complaint, arraignment, and preliminary examination. If the felony is bound over, the Circuit file takes up the prosecution. A dismissed District felony complaint may never have a Circuit counterpart, while a Circuit result may make more sense only after the earlier District entries are read.
The official 74th District Court page identifies the court’s jurisdiction and contact route.
This is the starting court for misdemeanors and for the complaint and preliminary examination in every Bay County felony.
How to Search Case Records
Use MiCOURT Case Search as the public index. Accept the terms, choose Bay County’s 74th District or 18th Circuit court, and search by case number or participant. A case number is the cleanest key. For a name search, use a date of birth when the public system offers it and compare the court, filing year, charge, and participant role. MiCOURT is informational and may suppress protected matters or apply a seven-year sentence-completion display filter.
- Open MiCOURT, accept the terms, and choose the 74th District or 18th Circuit Court.
- Enter the exact case number, or search by the participant’s first and last name.
- Add date of birth, case year, type, status, or judge only when it helps narrow the result.
- Open the case and record the court, case number, charges, hearings, and status for each count.
- Contact the named clerk for an official copy, certification, older file, or item not shown online.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Continue | Button | Yes | Accepts the search terms before access. |
| Court | Selector | Yes | Choose 74th District or 18th Circuit. |
| Case Number | Text | Alternative | A contains-match search is documented. |
| First / Last Name | Text | Alternative | Name fields use begins-with matching. |
| Date of Birth | Date | No | Developer schema uses YYYY-MM-DD. |
| Type / Year / Status | Filters | No | Status includes ADR, Closed, Deferred, Disposed, Mediation, and Open. |
| Judge / Sort | Filters | No | Sort by tracking ID, newest, or oldest. |
Bay County Case Status Terms
Case status is a navigation aid, not a verdict. “Open” points to ongoing work. “Disposed” indicates that a disposition event occurred, but each count may have a different outcome. “Deferred” signals a special status that should be read with the actual order. “Closed” can reflect administrative closure and does not, by itself, prove a conviction. Read the charge rows, disposition entries, and judgment together.
MiCOURT also warns about a Michigan display quirk for attempted charges. An attempt under MCL 750.92 may show “FELONY” even when subsection (3) makes that attempt a misdemeanor; the Attempted indicator is “A.” Treat the label as a prompt to read the exact statute and charge, then confirm the legal level with the Bay County clerk. A search-screen label should not overrule the filed document or judgment.
- Complaint
- The initial accusation filed in District Court.
- Preliminary examination
- The District Court hearing on probable cause in a felony.
- Bindover
- The transfer of a felony prosecution from District to Circuit Court.
- Information
- The prosecutor’s felony pleading after bindover.
- Disposition
- How a charge ended, which may differ from count to count.
- Sentence
- The court-ordered consequences after a conviction.
What the Case File Shows
A Bay County criminal case file is organized around the court’s work, not the jail intake. MiCOURT’s public schema can show the case number, year and type, public status, court, judge, participant roles, public date of birth, charges and statutes, prosecutor, events, hearings, disposition, sentence, financial amounts, and case age. Protected data and cases are suppressed. Public PDF availability was not verified, so do not assume that the online result includes the full register of actions or downloadable pleadings.
| Case Number & Court | Identifies the file, its year, its court, and whether the reader is looking at the District or Circuit stage. |
|---|---|
| Charging Document | The District complaint or the Circuit felony information states the filed allegations; it does not establish guilt. |
| Docket Entries | Events, filings, motions, and court actions arranged over the life of the case. |
| Hearing Dates | Past events and the next listed hearing, with the assigned court and judge when public. |
| Disposition & Judgment | The result for each count, including plea, verdict, dismissal, acquittal, or another ordered outcome. |
| Sentence & Conditions | Custody, probation, fines, costs, restitution, and other terms recorded by the court. |
Official Bay County Court Copies
When the public display is not enough, note the full case number and call the clerk before visiting. The Court Facility is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. District records are at (989) 895-4232; Circuit records are at (989) 895-4265. Ask whether the file is public, what form of copy is available, what certification costs, and whether an older record requires staff retrieval. Current copy fees were not established in the research, so confirm them directly.
The official 18th Circuit Court page gives the felony-court contact and office context.
The Circuit clerk is the official source after a felony has been bound over from District Court.
District Criminal Records
1230 Washington Avenue, Suite 747
Bay City, MI 48708
(989) 895-4232
Weekdays, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Circuit Criminal Records
1230 Washington Avenue
Bay City, MI 48708
(989) 895-4265
Weekdays, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Stages of a Criminal Case
The record changes as a case moves. Police and jail records may exist before the prosecutor files a complaint. District Court then handles arraignment and, for a felony, the preliminary examination. A bindover moves the felony to Circuit Court for the information, another arraignment, pretrial motions, plea or trial, disposition, and sentence. Appeals create a further court record. A misdemeanor stays in District Court instead of making the transfer.
Case flow: Charges Filed › Arraignment › Pretrial › Plea or Trial › Disposition › Sentencing
Dates in other systems are not substitutes for these docket events. The incident, arrest, booking, complaint, bindover, disposition, sentence, and discharge dates describe different points. A booking allegation may be amended or declined, and a later conviction must be supported by the court’s disposition rather than inferred from the arrest.
Bay County PRAXIS Court Supervision
Bay County Community Corrections adds a local pretrial layer. Its PRAXIS process assesses appearance, bond-condition, and public-safety risk at arraignment. Pretrial Supervision can monitor reporting, testing, and court appearances, while GPS, SCRAM, and Soberlink are named options. These program entries relate to release and supervision; they should not be mistaken for the disposition of the underlying charge.
The Bay County Community Corrections page describes PRAXIS and the available pretrial programs.
This office at Suite 619 helps explain why a docket may refer to monitoring or conditions before the case reaches a final result.
Access & Restrictions
Michigan court records do not go through the county’s Freedom of Information Act portal. MCL 15.232 excludes the judiciary from the act’s definition of a public body, while Michigan Court Rule 8.119 governs public inspection, protected information, and reproduction. Send a Sheriff incident request through Sheriff or JustFOIA, but take a criminal case-file request to the District or Circuit clerk.
Juvenile cases, protected personal information, and records made nonpublic by law or order may be withheld or absent online. A set-aside under MCL 780.621 and related provisions makes the qualifying conviction record nonpublic; it does not destroy every restricted agency record. A blank public search is therefore not proof that no event occurred. For an old or suppressed result, call the clerk with the name, likely year, and court, and ask whether public access or a copy is available.
Access rule: Michigan FOIA applies to public bodies such as county departments, while MCR 8.119 controls access to the court file.
ICHAT is useful only after the local outcome is understood. MSP’s public product follows different inclusion rules and can omit warrants, local misdemeanors, traffic, juvenile, federal, tribal, out-of-state, and suppressed records. A Bay County court case can therefore appear in MiCOURT without appearing in ICHAT. Conversely, a statewide history entry is not a substitute for the complaint, motions, and judgment in the clerk’s file.
Bay County Public Defender Files
A public docket records court events, but it does not replace legal advice or reveal every protected attorney communication. Bay County’s Public Defender office represents qualifying defendants from Suite 636 at the Court Facility and can be reached at (989) 895-4020. The Prosecuting Attorney’s office reviews police submissions and files charges; the clerk remains the neutral record custodian. Keeping those jobs separate helps a reader ask the right office for the right thing.
The Bay County Public Defender page identifies the defense office and its services.
The office’s role is representation, while certified pleadings, judgments, and registers of actions still come from the appropriate clerk. A docket request should therefore remain separate from a request for counsel.