Request Lenawee County Clerk Records

The Lenawee County Clerk Office

Roxann Holloway serves as the Lenawee County Clerk. The office splits its work by function across two sites. The County Clerk and Circuit Court office is in the Rex B. Martin Judicial Building at 425 N. Main Street, third floor. The Vital Records and Elections office is nearby at 113 W. Front Street.

The Circuit Court side handles court records and filings. The Vital Records side handles certified birth, death, and marriage copies. Keeping the two straight is the key to a fast request.

The County Clerk page lists both offices, the phone numbers, and the email addresses for each function.

The Lenawee County Clerk page identifies the clerk, the office locations, and the contact details.

Both offices keep the same weekday hours and both close for lunch between noon and one.

Circuit Court Records and Filings

As Circuit Court Clerk, the office keeps the county's felony, divorce, and higher civil case files. It also accepts filings for those cases. One local rule stands out and surprises many people who expect to file by email.

The files here cover the most serious civil and criminal matters in the county. That includes felony case records after a bindover from the District Court, judgments of divorce and other Family Division outcomes, civil judgments over twenty-five thousand dollars, and orders in injunction and habeas matters. The clerk can certify copies of these documents on request. That step matters because an online search shows only the docket and the case events, not the signed record itself.

The 39th Circuit Court does not have electronic filing, and it does not accept pleadings by email. Papers must be mailed or dropped off in person at the clerk counter. That single rule shapes how both filings and copy requests reach the office.

For a broader look at searching those case files online first, the Lenawee County court records page walks through the statewide MiCOURT system.

Note: The 39th Circuit Court does not accept pleadings by email, so plan to mail or hand-deliver court papers to the clerk.

Certified Copy Fees

Certified copies carry a set fee, and it is the same across the common vital records. Divorce judgments follow the same price but come from the Circuit Court side. The table below lists the confirmed fees.

Mail payments should be a check or money order. Vital record payments go to the Lenawee County Clerk, while divorce judgment payments go to the Lenawee County Circuit Court.

How to Request a Certified Copy

A certified copy can be requested in person, by mail, or online through VitalChek. The county aims to process mailed requests within a day or two of receipt. The steps below cover the mail route, which is the most common for out-of-town requests.

1. Choose the right office, Vital Records for birth, death, and marriage, or Circuit Court for a divorce judgment.
2. Complete the matching request form from the county forms page.
3. Include the fee by check or money order made out to the correct county office.
4. Mail vital record requests to the Lenawee County Clerk, 301 N. Main St., Adrian, MI 49221.
5. Mail divorce judgment requests to the Lenawee County Circuit Court, 425 N. Main St., Adrian, MI 49221.
6. For faster online service, use VitalChek and select Lenawee County Clerk to lower the cost.

The county forms page holds the request forms and the vital records contact block, so it is a good place to start any mailed request.

The County Clerk forms page lists the request forms and vital records contact details.

Bringing the completed form and exact payment avoids a second trip or a returned mail request.

Marriage Record Request Fields

The Request for Marriage Record form asks for enough detail to find the exact certificate. It also collects the requester's contact and payment. The table below lists the fields the form uses.

For the full marriage and divorce process, including license rules, the Lenawee County marriage and divorce records page covers the details.

Vital Records and Divorce Judgment Copies

Certified vital records can be requested three ways. You can visit the Vital Records counter at 113 W. Front Street in person. You can mail a completed application with payment. Or you can order online through VitalChek. The county aims to process a mailed request within a day or two of receipt.

Where you mail the request depends on the record. Birth, death, and marriage requests go to the Lenawee County Clerk at 301 N. Main Street, Adrian, MI 49221. A certified divorce judgment is different. Divorce files are Circuit Court records, so a written request and payment go to the Lenawee County Circuit Court at 425 N. Main Street. Both charge sixteen dollars for the first copy and six dollars for each additional copy of the same record.

VitalChek adds a ten dollar processing fee and accepts major credit cards. Choosing Lenawee County Clerk on VitalChek keeps the cost lower than selecting the state option. The Vital Records office also shares the annex with the county Elections office.

Q: Can I get a certified divorce record from the Vital Records counter? No. Certified divorce judgments come from the Circuit Court side of the County Clerk, by written request to 425 N. Main Street, while birth, death, and marriage certificates come from the Vital Records office on Front Street.

FOIA vs Court Clerk Requests

Where a request goes depends on the type of record. This is a point that confuses many people. Court case records and ordinary county records follow different rules in Michigan.

Michigan's Freedom of Information Act covers many county and sheriff records. It does not cover the judiciary, and it excludes the county clerk when acting as clerk to the circuit court. So court case records are requested from the court clerk under court rules, while sheriff, jail, and county administrative records use FOIA.

The county keeps a news archive that also carries clerk and county notices, useful for tracking closures and service changes.

The county news archive posts clerk and county service notices over time.

A quick example makes the split clear. A crash report or a jail record is a sheriff record, so it goes through the county FOIA portal. A divorce judgment or a felony case file is a court record, so it goes to the clerk under court rules. Sending a court request through FOIA usually comes back denied, which costs you time.

Matching the record to the right process saves a denied request and a second attempt.

Hours and the Vital Records Web Portal

Both clerk offices run Monday through Friday and close for lunch between noon and one. A visitor who arrives at 12:30 will find a locked counter, so timing matters. The Circuit Court office also lists a fax line at 517-264-4790 for certain documents.

The clerk has also modernized. In 2024 the County Clerk launched a vital records web portal for marriage, notary, DBA, and CPL applications. It offers around-the-clock access and less paperwork, though it is not a court case database.

The vital records web portal notice describes the new online application options.

For the county's general-jurisdiction court that the clerk serves, the Lenawee County Circuit Court page covers its judges and jurisdiction.