Grand Traverse County has a lovely new website. It is packed with information. However, this new website makes it ever so difficult to find the online records search! I must have spent about 30 minutes last night looking for it and another five today (starting with a link provided by a colleague's paralegal). I like to look cases up when they have a prior history to see how long the docket sheet is . . . which attorneys represented (and for how long) . . . It helps me establish a baseline for setting the retainer. Also, if there are prior cases involving the same parties previously filed in Circuit Court (custody, divorce and personal protection cases), they need to be listed at the top of a Complaint with the docket number and assigned judge. This is because the court rules require assignment of a new case to the same judge.
I am sure I was checking the docket sheet just two weeks ago. This change is recent. You may want to bookmark this hyperlink. http://www.grandtraverse.org/456/Civil-Criminal-Records-Search It would be very handy if the webmaster would provide an automatic transfer, but perhaps they've not kept the old URL/website which they'd need to do that. An alternative would be to a hyperlink in several obvious places. I keep this bookmark on my toolbar. Just put your cursor on the tiny i in a circle at the far left of the URL box, right-click and drag to your top tool bar.