What Is a Washtenaw County Court Docket
A docket, also called a register of actions, is a chronological list of the events in a court case. Each line marks something that happened, such as a filing, a hearing, an order, or a payment. Washtenaw County public court records center on this register of actions rather than downloadable documents. The register can show the case number, court, division, case title, filing date, case type, assigned judge, party names, event dates, and disposition. It does not hand over the actual document images. Those stay with the Washtenaw County court and must be ordered for a fee.
A docket differs from the full case file. The docket tells you what was filed and when. The file holds the motions, exhibits, and signed orders themselves. Public case documents are not accessible online through the Washtenaw County Trial Court search, so the docket works mainly as a map to a case. Circuit and district courts keep separate dockets. Felonies and larger civil cases run through the Washtenaw County Trial Court, while misdemeanors, traffic tickets, and smaller civil claims stay in a district court. Probate estates and guardianships carry their own docket in the probate division.
What a Washtenaw County docket shows depends on the case type. A criminal docket can list the offense description, statute citation, count number, bond, plea, amended or dismissed charges, conviction, sentence, probation, and financial obligations. A civil docket can show the claim type, complaint, answer, motions, case evaluation events, judgment, garnishment, and lien. A probate docket can track the estate number, petitioner, personal representative, inventory, letters of authority, and guardianship or conservatorship status. Each entry carries a date, so the register reads as a timeline of the case.
How to Find Washtenaw County Dockets Online
Finding a Washtenaw County docket starts with the court that holds the case. The Washtenaw County Trial Court Name Search page contains Washtenaw County Trial Court public court case records and links to the Search Cases & Calendar tool. The statewide portal is MiCOURT Case Search, which can show civil, traffic, criminal, domestic, and probate cases depending on the court chosen. Each Washtenaw County district court also posts its own case lookup and calendar links.
Washtenaw County keeps 14A district dockets and calendars split by courthouse. Party-name lookup and individual docket links sit on the same resource page, sorted by location. In Washtenaw County, Ann Arbor cases often route to the 15th District Court, and Ypsilanti Township cases route to the 14B District Court, so the docket you need may not live with the downtown trial court at all.
Washtenaw County separates its 14A district docket and calendar links by courthouse on the 14A Online Resources page.
Those links split 14A-1 in Ann Arbor, 14A-2 in Ypsilanti, 14A-3 in Chelsea, and 14A-4 in Saline, so a docket is pulled from the location that holds the ticket or case. Once the right court is clear, the search itself is short.
- Identify the court that holds the case: Washtenaw County Trial Court, 14A, 14B, or the 15th District Court.
- Open that court's search tool, or use MiCOURT Case Search for participating courts.
- Choose a search mode, such as party name or case number.
- Enter the name or case number and run the search.
- Review the register of actions for hearing dates, filings, and disposition.
Courts That Publish Washtenaw County Dockets
Several Washtenaw County courts publish docket and calendar information online, but no single search covers every Washtenaw County case. The Washtenaw County Trial Court posts its own case records. The 14A District Court separates docket links by location, and the 15th Judicial District Court sends searches to a state-hosted system. The 14B District Court in Ypsilanti Township handles its own Washtenaw County matters through the township. Traffic tickets appear on the district court that issued them, and those citations are tracked through Washtenaw County traffic court records.
| Court or System | Dockets Covered | Access Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Washtenaw Trial Court Name Search | Circuit civil, criminal, family, and probate case records | Documents not online; order copies from the Records Department. |
| MiCOURT Case Search | Participating Michigan courts; civil, traffic, criminal, domestic, probate | State portal; public information only; sealed cases excluded. |
| 14A Online Resources | 14A-1, 14A-2, 14A-3, and 14A-4 dockets and calendars | Party-name lookup and individual docket links by location. |
| 15th District Case Search | Ann Arbor 15th District public case records | Hosted through Michigan JIS; hides date of birth and non-public cases. |
| 14B District Court | Ypsilanti Township misdemeanor, traffic, and civil matters | Accessed through the Ypsilanti Township court pages. |
The 15th Judicial District Court routes its case search to a secure site hosted by the State of Michigan Judicial Information Systems Division.
That search provides public access to 15th District case records, yet it hides date of birth and non-public cases. Cases closed before August 5, 2006 require contacting the court directly.
Reading a Washtenaw County Docket
Washtenaw County docket entries use short labels that describe each step of a case. A criminal docket may run from the complaint through arraignment, pretrial, plea, and sentencing. A civil docket may move from complaint and answer to motions, orders, and judgment. Knowing the common entries makes a register of actions much easier to follow.
| Docket Event | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Complaint filed | The opening document that starts a civil or criminal case. |
| Arraignment | The first hearing where charges and rights are addressed. |
| Pretrial | A scheduled conference to move a case toward plea or trial. |
| Motion | A written request asking the judge to take an action. |
| Order | A written direction signed by the judge. |
| Adjournment | A hearing postponed and reset for a later date. |
| Plea | The defendant's answer to a charge, such as guilty or not guilty. |
| Disposition | The final outcome of a charge or case. |
| Sentencing / Judgment | The hearing or ruling that imposes penalty or awards relief. |
| Payment / Probation | Fines, costs, restitution, or supervised sentence events. |
| Warrant event | A bench warrant entry, often after a missed hearing, when public. |
Some lines will not appear for the public. Juvenile records are generally nonpublic, and sealed, expunged, or set-aside matters are removed from ordinary case display. Date of birth and other protected personal details stay redacted in the Washtenaw County public search.
Note: A register of actions can list a warrant or a nonpublic event only when the law allows it, so a clean public docket does not always mean a case has no restricted entries.
Tools That Are Not Public Docket Search
A few Washtenaw County systems look like docket search but serve a different purpose. Some require credentials, and some only handle payable tickets rather than the full register of actions. Knowing the difference saves Washtenaw County searchers time and avoids dead ends.
- Attorney Odyssey access is separate and requires attorney credentials, not a public login.
- MiFile is the court e-filing system, not a public case lookup for casual users.
- Michigan Courts ePAY searches payable tickets and cases for the 14A, 14B, and 15th District courts, not every docket entry.
- Older 15th District cases closed before August 5, 2006 are not in the online search and require contacting the court.
For payable matters, the ePAY search covers Washtenaw options that include Ann Arbor 14A-1, Ypsilanti 14A-2, Chelsea 14A-3, Saline 14A-4, Ypsilanti Township 14B, and Ann Arbor 15th District. It confirms what is owed and lets a person pay, but it is not a substitute for the full case docket.
Courtroom Streaming for Washtenaw Dockets
Some Washtenaw County hearings can be watched live. The Washtenaw County Trial Court runs courtroom streaming as part of its court operations. The Courtroom Streaming page notes that Washtenaw County criminal dockets may be livestreamed Monday through Thursday at 1:30 p.m. through the court's listed channels. Streaming lets the public follow a hearing without traveling to the downtown Ann Arbor courthouse.
Watching a Washtenaw County docket in real time is a different thing from getting the record, though.
Streaming a docket is not the same as accessing the record. A livestream shows a hearing as it happens; it does not deliver the case file, and streaming availability can change by hearing type or by judge.
Docket vs. Full Case Record
The docket and the full case record serve different needs. A docket is a list of events. The full record holds the documents behind those events, such as motions, exhibits, and signed orders. The Washtenaw County public search shows the register of actions but not the document images, so a full copy must be ordered from the Records Department. The steps for copies, certification, and fees run through Washtenaw County court records.
Michigan's rules on what counts as a court record, including the redaction of protected personal information, appear in Michigan Court Rule 1.109.
That rule defines court records and sets how protected details are handled, which is why a Washtenaw County public docket lists events but keeps sensitive material out of view. The comparison below sums up the practical difference.
| Docket (Register of Actions) | Full Case Record | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | Chronological list of entries | Motions, exhibits, and signed orders |
| Access | Free online search where the court participates | Ordered from the Records Department for a fee |
| Use | Track case progress and find the case number | Legal review, evidence, certified copies |
Federal and Research Docket Tools
Not every case tied to Washtenaw County sits in a state court. Some Washtenaw County disputes reach the federal system. Federal matters for this area run through the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, and federal dockets are searched through PACER, the paid federal court records system. Free tools also index federal opinions and dockets for research.
For federal opinion and docket research, CourtListener keeps a free index that many researchers use.
CourtListener is a secondary research tool, not the official source, so PACER remains the primary path for complete federal dockets. For state matters, the Washtenaw and Michigan court searches stay the authoritative starting point.