St. Clair County Arrest Records Search

How to Search St. Clair County Arrest Records

St. Clair County is in the thumb region of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. It borders Ontario, Canada, across the St. Clair River, which separates Port Huron from Sarnia. The county's location near a federal border crossing adds a federal law enforcement presence that other Michigan counties don't have in the same way. For local arrests, though, the St. Clair County Sheriff is the main agency.

To check on someone currently held in St. Clair County, call the sheriff's office at 810-987-1700 and ask for the jail division. For case history and court records, use the Michigan Courts case search at courts.michigan.gov/case-search. It covers circuit and district court cases in St. Clair County and is free to use. For a full statewide criminal history, ICHAT at apps.michigan.gov is the most thorough option and costs $10 per search.

Each tool gives you something different. The jail line gives you current custody status. The court search gives you case outcomes. ICHAT gives you a complete fingerprint-linked history across all of Michigan. Using more than one will give you a fuller picture.

St. Clair County Sheriff's Office

The St. Clair County Sheriff's Office is the primary law enforcement agency for the county. They are based in Port Huron, the county seat. The main phone number is 810-987-1700. The sheriff's website is at stclaircounty.org/sheriff, where you can find contact information, records request procedures, and information on jail services.

The sheriff covers law enforcement in the county's townships and unincorporated areas. They also run the county jail and maintain records on all arrests and bookings processed through the facility. Records held by the office include booking sheets, arrest logs, incident reports, and warrant information. Some records are withheld under law enforcement exemptions, particularly those tied to open investigations or sensitive ongoing cases.

The sheriff's office also works with federal agencies active in the Port Huron area due to the county's border location. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has a presence at the Blue Water Bridge crossing between Port Huron and Sarnia. Federal arrests handled by CBP or other federal agencies go through the federal court system and are not held by the county sheriff. If you're looking for records on a federal case, that requires a separate process through federal agencies or the federal courts.

Here is a look at the Michigan Court Case Search portal, which covers St. Clair County cases:

This free tool at courts.michigan.gov/case-search returns criminal, civil, and traffic records from courts across Michigan, including those in St. Clair County. Search by name, date of birth, or case number.

St. Clair County Jail

The St. Clair County Jail holds people awaiting trial and those serving short county sentences. The jail is in Port Huron, run by the sheriff's office. To ask about current custody status, call 810-987-1700. Jail staff can confirm whether someone is in custody and share basic booking details over the phone.

Booking records held at the jail include intake forms, charge information, bond amounts, and court date schedules. These are generally public under Michigan law. To get copies, you file a FOIA request with the St. Clair County Sheriff's Office. Your request should identify the person by full name, the approximate date of arrest, and any case number you have. Submit it in writing, either by mail or in person at the sheriff's office, or through whatever method the office accepts for FOIA submissions.

Under MCL 15.231, the sheriff's office must respond within five business days. They can grant the request, deny it with an explanation, or extend the deadline for searches that take longer. If fees apply, the office will give you a cost estimate before starting the work. You can accept or decline based on the estimated cost. If a request is denied, you have the right to appeal.

Not all jail records are available to the public. Records tied to active investigations and those whose release would endanger someone may be withheld. The office will tell you which exemption applies if they deny your request.

Michigan Court Case Search for St. Clair County

St. Clair County's felony criminal cases run through the circuit court in Port Huron. Misdemeanor cases and preliminary hearings for felonies go through the district courts serving the county. Both levels appear in Michigan's statewide court case search at courts.michigan.gov/case-search.

The tool is free and open to the public. You can search by name, date of birth, or case number. Results show charges, hearing dates, judge assignments, and the final disposition of each case. If someone was arrested in St. Clair County and the case went to court, this search will typically tell you what charges were filed and how the case ended. That information is useful whether you're researching your own history or looking into a specific person's record.

Some case types are excluded from the public search. Sealed records and certain juvenile matters won't appear. But for most adult criminal cases tied to St. Clair County courts, the tool returns solid results that are updated on a regular basis. For very old cases that may not be digitized, contacting the circuit court clerk's office in Port Huron directly is the best path.

ICHAT Statewide Criminal History

ICHAT is Michigan's Internet Criminal History Access Tool. It is maintained by the Michigan State Police and available at apps.michigan.gov. Each search costs $10. The system is built on fingerprint-linked records under MCL 28.241, which makes results more reliable than a simple name-based search. Records are tied to a person's state ID number, so you get results for the right person even if names are similar or common.

Running an ICHAT search on someone tied to St. Clair County will return their full Michigan criminal history, not just the most recent arrest or a single case. It covers all 83 counties in the state. You see arrest dates, charges, case outcomes, and sentencing information going back as far as the record extends. Payment is by credit card. Results come back immediately after payment. There is no waiting period.

ICHAT is used by individuals checking their own records, courts, licensing boards, and anyone else who needs verified criminal history information. If you want to challenge something in your own ICHAT results, the Michigan State Police has a dispute process accessible through the same portal. Clean Slate expungements under MCL 780.621g generally won't appear in civilian ICHAT searches once they are processed.

Below is a view of the OTIS offender tracking system, which covers state prison inmates separate from county jail:

OTIS at mdocweb.state.mi.us/otis2/otis2.html is maintained by the Michigan Department of Corrections. It shows people currently in state prison or on parole. County jail inmates are not in OTIS. Only those under MDOC supervision appear.

FOIA Requests in St. Clair County

Michigan's Freedom of Information Act at MCL 15.231 gives anyone the right to ask for public records held by government agencies in Michigan. For St. Clair County, this means you can request arrest records, booking documents, and incident reports from the sheriff's office. You can also request records from Port Huron police or other municipal departments if a city officer made the arrest rather than a county deputy.

To submit a FOIA request to the St. Clair County Sheriff's Office, contact them at 810-987-1700 or through stclaircounty.org/sheriff. Describe the records you need clearly. Include the full name of the person, the approximate date of the arrest, and any case number you have. The more specific your request, the easier it is for staff to locate the right documents.

The office must respond within five business days. If they deny any part of the request, they must explain which exemption applies and why. You have the right to appeal the denial. The first appeal goes to the agency's FOIA coordinator. If that appeal also fails, you can take the matter to circuit court. In practice, most straightforward records requests for St. Clair County arrest documents are fulfilled without a dispute.

Fees can apply. The office can charge for staff time to search for and copy records. They will tell you the estimated cost before doing the work. You can then decide whether to proceed. If you believe your request qualifies for a fee waiver based on public interest, you can ask for one when you submit your request.

Michigan Sex Offender Registry for St. Clair County

The Michigan Sex Offender Registry is maintained by the Michigan State Police under MCL 28.721. It is accessible at mspsor.com and is free to the public. You can search by name or location to find registered sex offenders in St. Clair County, including those in and around Port Huron. Results include the person's current address, a photo, and details on the offense that required registration.

The registry is updated by local law enforcement agencies, including the St. Clair County Sheriff's Office. Offenders who move into the county are required to register with local law enforcement within a set time. If you are checking an address or looking for someone by name, the registry is one of the most comprehensive free public tools available for this type of search in Michigan.

Below is a look at the Michigan Legislature website, where you can read the full text of statutes cited on this page:

The legislature site at legislature.mi.gov has the complete text of MCL 15.231 (FOIA), MCL 28.241 (ICHAT), MCL 28.721 (sex offender registry), and MCL 780.621g (Clean Slate). It is a useful reference if you want to know exactly what the law says about public access to records in Michigan.

Clean Slate and Record Expungement

Michigan's Clean Slate law under MCL 780.621g allows some people to have criminal convictions set aside. The law became effective for automatic expungements in April 2023. Certain convictions clear on their own after a waiting period. Others require a petition to the court. The type of offense determines eligibility. Violent felonies, major drug trafficking offenses, and most sex offenses do not qualify.

For someone with a St. Clair County conviction, the process runs through the circuit court in Port Huron if a petition is needed. If automatic expungement applies, no court action is required. Once a conviction is set aside, it typically will not appear in civilian public records searches, including ICHAT results for non-law-enforcement queries. Law enforcement queries still return the full record regardless of expungement status.

Legal aid organizations serving eastern Michigan can help people understand whether a conviction qualifies for expungement and how to go through the process. The Michigan Courts website also has forms and step-by-step guidance. For anyone who wants to read the exact statute, MCL 780.621g is at legislature.mi.gov.

MSP FOIA for State Police Records

If you need records held by the Michigan State Police rather than the county, the MSP has its own FOIA portal at michigan.gov/msp/services/foia. The MSP handles state police post records, traffic stop reports, and incident reports from troopers assigned to the eastern Michigan area. If state police were involved in a St. Clair County arrest, you submit a separate FOIA to the MSP for those specific records. The five-business-day response window under MCL 15.231 applies the same way it does at the county level.

Cities in St. Clair County

Port Huron is the county seat and the largest city in St. Clair County. It sits on the St. Clair River across from Sarnia, Ontario. Port Huron's population falls below the threshold for a dedicated city page on this site. Most arrest records for the county are processed through the sheriff's office and courts based in Port Huron.

Nearby Counties

St. Clair County is in the thumb region of eastern Michigan. It borders several other counties to the south and west.

• Macomb County
• Lapeer County
• Sanilac County