Public Records

There are several different ways to obtain public records from Wayne County Michigan. For starters, if you need vital records, which are records of birth, death, fetal death, marriage, and divorce certificates, the best place to request them is through The Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics in Michigan. The Division allows the public to order these records online or by mail at https://www.michigan.gov/mdhhs/doing-business/vitalrecords.

For those in need of property records, you’ll need to contact the Office of Wayne County Register of Deeds. They are responsible for recording issues related to property transfers, including deeds, mortgages, land contracts, financing statements, and liens. Deeds are critical documents that provide information on past owners of a property, any liens or encumbrances on the property, and other legal issues related to the property. The Office provides a link to view their records for free at waynecountylandrecords.com. You can view anything from permits to bankruptcies, bond liens, and more for free.

Other records like meeting commission agendas, journals, and videos of commission meetings are also available to the public for free. The Wayne County Commission adopts budgets and enact ordinances, and they meet twice monthly. To view their past meetings, visit https://www.waynecounty.com/elected/commission/home.aspx.

While vital records, agendas, minutes, property records, and marriage records are commonly open to the public and free, certain other requests are not. For instance, inmate information available at https://www.sheriffconnect.com/dashboard/inmate-search/ will show booking information and what the defendant was charged with, but not their mugshot. Any information not shown in the inmate search will need to be accessed via a FOIA or open records request.

This is a type of request that allows the public to access government documents and records that are not readily available. Each state has its own set of laws for FOIA requests, but generally they must be submitted in writing and can sometimes require a fee. You can find more information on how to submit a FOIA request in Wayne County by visiting https://www.waynecounty.com/county/foia-request-form.aspx and submit your request online. While there is no standard fee, each printed sheet of legal paper size 8 1/2″ by 11″ will cost 10 cents per page.