Michigan Statewide Criminal Background Check
Order a real-time Michigan statewide criminal background check for $20 plus the $10 ICHAT access fee. BCS Background Screening LLC searches the Michigan State Police criminal history repository, which covers all 83 counties. Results return in real time, and every hit gets a human review before you see it.
What a Michigan statewide criminal background check gives you
Michigan keeps one central criminal history file, and the Michigan State Police maintain it. Employers reach that file by name and date of birth, so no fingerprint appointment is needed. Because the search runs in real time, you usually get an answer the same business day.
Our Michigan search returns convictions and pending charges that agencies report to the state repository. In addition, every record we return is reviewed by a researcher before it reaches your account. Therefore you get a readable report instead of raw repository text.
All 83 counties in one order
Courts, prosecutors and police agencies statewide report to the same repository. So one search reaches every Michigan county at once.
Real-time response
The search hits the state system while your order sits open. As a result, clear files often post within minutes.
Researcher review on every hit
A person reads each returned record and checks the identifiers. Consequently, look-alike names get flagged rather than passed along.
No fingerprint appointment
Name-based access keeps your applicant out of a live-scan line. Instead, you order the search and the applicant simply signs a release.
Built for FCRA use
We deliver the search as a consumer report under the FCRA. Accordingly, adverse action tools and a dispute channel come with it.
Priced per name
You pay $20 plus the $10 ICHAT access fee for each name you search. No setup charge and no monthly minimum apply.
What the Michigan repository reports — and what it leaves out
Michigan law requires police agencies, prosecutors and courts to report certain cases to the state. However, the repository does not hold every charge filed in Michigan. Knowing that line protects your hiring decisions.
Reported to the state repository
- All felony arrests, charges and dispositions
- Serious misdemeanors punishable by more than 93 days
- Arrest, charge and judicial segments for each tracked event
- Sentences, fines, costs and probation terms as entered
- Cases reported from all 83 Michigan counties
- Corrections data where the subject served a sentence
Not available through the state search
- Local ordinance violations and 92-day misdemeanors
- Juvenile records and suppressed records
- Warrant information and traffic records
- Federal court and tribal court cases
- Convictions from other states
- Convictions set aside under Michigan’s Clean Slate law
Because those gaps exist, many Michigan employers pair this search with a county criminal court search where the applicant has lived or worked. We can add counties to the same order.
Why Michigan’s court structure creates gaps
Michigan runs one trial court system with several levels. Circuit courts handle felonies, and 57 circuits cover the state. District courts handle misdemeanors punishable by up to one year, and roughly 113 of them sit across Michigan.
Low-level misdemeanors and city ordinance cases usually stop at the district or municipal level. As a result, those files never reach the state repository. Meanwhile, felony cases travel from police to prosecutor to circuit court. So the state file tracks them from arrest through sentence.
Michigan’s public case portal covers participating courts only, and it warns that its display is not an official court record. Therefore employers should not treat a free portal lookup as a compliant screening step. Instead, order the state search and add counties when the role calls for deeper coverage.
How we confirm identity on a name-based search
A name-based Michigan search matches on name and date of birth, not on fingerprints. Consequently, common names can pull a record that belongs to somebody else. The state’s own notice says results may produce false positives or false negatives.
1. Run the SSN trace first
The trace returns reported names, aliases and address history. So you learn which jurisdictions actually matter before you buy searches.
2. Match the identifiers on the hit
Our researchers compare date of birth, middle name and the state identification number. Records that fail the comparison never post to your report.
3. Verify at the court when needed
Some hits need the file itself to confirm the person or the disposition. In those cases we order the county court search and report both results.
4. Hand the applicant a real dispute path
If the subject disputes a record, we reinvestigate at no charge. Michigan also lets a person challenge a state record by submitting fingerprints.
Sample Michigan statewide criminal report
Below is a full Michigan statewide criminal background check, formatted the way your account displays it. Every name, date of birth and case number here is fictitious. The layout, the field names and the state notices, however, match a live report.
FELONY ASSAULT WITH INTENT TO DO GREAT BODILY HARM LESS THAN MURDER OR BY STRANGULATION
JAIL 5D, PROB 731D
In plain terms: five days in jail and 731 days — about two years — on probation, plus $1,578.00 in fines, fees and costs.
The ICHAT record as the state returns it
Your account also stores the state printout behind the summary above. Read it whenever a record needs a closer look. Each segment shows how the case moved from arrest to judgment.
Based on the information provided, the following is a result of a search of the Michigan State Police criminal history files as of 09/17/2026 9:06:34 AM.
The record result provided is based on a data match as explained on the ICHAT home page. The ICHAT system has limitations that may cause false positives or false negatives. Please review the results carefully and do not take adverse action based solely on this record.
If you cannot determine that these results do not belong to this individual, and the individual is disputing the record, please provide that individual with a copy of this report. Offer that individual the opportunity to perform a record challenge by submitting fingerprints. Since arrests, convictions or criminal record deletions may occur at any time, do not use this information for future clearances.
Additional identifiers and comments: NAM: HOSSAIN, RAFIQ N
FELONY SEXUAL ASSAULT
FELONY CRIMINAL SEXUAL CONDUCT — 3RD DEGREE (FORCE OR COERCION)
DISP on the charged count: CHGD BY PROSECUTOR — CRIMINAL SEXUAL CONDUCT, 3RD DEGREE.
FELONY ASSAULT WITH INTENT TO DO GREAT BODILY HARM LESS THAN MURDER OR BY STRANGULATION
F/C/R 1578, JAIL 5D, PROB 731D
Dissemination of criminal history record information through the Internet Criminal History Access Tool complies with Michigan Compiled Law 28.214(2). That section provides that criminal history record information supported by biometric data is released in response to a name-based search of the database, unless the information is nonpublic under MCL 769.16a or another law bars release. Purpose code used was not forwarded to NCIC III. End of message.
Procedures for correcting a Michigan record
The state prints its correction routes on every ICHAT result. Share them with any applicant who disputes a record, and open a dispute with us at the same time.
1. Wrong person — the record does not belong to the applicant
The individual should visit the nearest law enforcement agency. Ask to be fingerprinted on a state applicant fingerprint card for a record challenge. Call ahead to confirm fees and service hours, because they vary. Michigan State Police posts charge nothing for that fingerprinting.
Next, mail the card to the Criminal Justice Information Center with a copy of the record. Include a letter asking the center to verify that the record is not theirs. No fee applies.
Michigan State Police — CJIC
Attn: Record Challenge
P.O. Box 30634
Lansing, MI 48909
2. Right person — inaccurate, incomplete or out-of-date information
Records sometimes carry reporting errors. For example, the nature or date of a conviction may post incorrectly, or a record may keep a conviction that should have been removed.
Only the agency that reported the information may submit a correction. Therefore the Michigan State Police must verify any request that arrives from anyone else before changing a record.
Contact the arresting agency about an arrest reported in error. For a charge error, reach the prosecuting attorney named in the charge segment. Where the court information is open or incorrect, the court of record handles it.
Michigan Department of Corrections (OTIS) detail
When a subject has served a Michigan sentence, corrections data adds custody and supervision history. Above all, it confirms whether the sentence is active or discharged.
Assault with Intent to Do Great Bodily Harm Less Than Murder or by Strangulation
Sample notice: this report is an illustration. RAFIQ NASIR HOSSAIN does not exist, and the case numbers, tracking numbers, SID and MDOC numbers shown here are fictitious. Agency names and statute citations appear so the format reads true to a live Michigan result.
Michigan rules your hiring team must follow
Michigan layers state rules on top of the federal FCRA. Consequently, a compliant program needs both. Our full breakdown lives on the Michigan background screening laws page, and the essentials appear below.
Misdemeanor arrests without a conviction
Under MCL 37.2205a, Michigan employers may not ask about a misdemeanor arrest or detention that produced no conviction. Narrow law enforcement exceptions apply. So keep those questions off your application entirely.
Clean Slate set-asides
Michigan began setting convictions aside automatically on April 11, 2023. The law reaches up to two felonies and four misdemeanors, after seven or ten conviction-free years. Set-aside records drop off the public search, and employers may not consider them.
Ban-the-box coverage
Executive Directive 2018-4 removed the conviction question from state hiring. Meanwhile, Ann Arbor, Detroit, East Lansing, Kalamazoo, Genesee County and Muskegon County run their own ordinances. Check the rule where the job sits.
The federal seven-year rule
The FCRA bars reporting arrests without convictions older than seven years. Convictions carry no federal time limit. That limit also lifts when the position pays $75,000 or more.
This page explains general rules and does not give legal advice. Ask your employment counsel before you build or change a screening policy.
How to order your Michigan search
1. Open your account
Complete the online application and our credentialing review. Open an account in a few minutes, with no setup fee.
2. Collect a signed release
Give the applicant a stand-alone FCRA disclosure and take a signed authorization. Michigan adds no separate state consent form for this search.
3. Enter the name and date of birth
Select State Criminal Search — Real-Time, choose Michigan, then submit. Add counties or a federal search on the same order when the role needs them.
4. Review the result
Clear files post in real time, and records post after researcher review. Then download the PDF or push results into your applicant file.
Every BCS Background Screening LLC account includes optional Multiple Authentication Factor (MAF) sign-in, which adds a second identity check for your users.
Michigan statewide criminal background check pricing
Pricing stays simple, and it prints on every invoice. You pay per name searched, with no contract and no monthly minimum.
| Item | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Michigan statewide criminal search | $20.00 | Per name searched, real time |
| ICHAT access fee | $10.00 | Michigan State Police fee, billed at cost |
| Total per name | $30.00 | No setup fee, no monthly minimum |
| SSN trace and address history | $10.00 | Included free with every search package |
| County criminal court search | $18.00 | Plus court fees, where a county file needs review |
Michigan statewide criminal background check FAQs
What is a Michigan statewide criminal background check?
It is a name-based search of the criminal history repository that the Michigan State Police maintain. Police agencies, prosecutors and courts in all 83 counties report qualifying cases to that file. Therefore one order reaches the whole state rather than a single courthouse.
How much does a Michigan statewide criminal background check cost?
BCS Background Screening LLC charges $20 per name plus the $10 ICHAT access fee, so $30 total. No setup fee, contract or monthly minimum applies. County searches and other add-ons carry their own published prices.
How long does a Michigan search take?
The search runs in real time against the state system. Clear files typically post within minutes, while a returned record waits for researcher review. If a hit needs court confirmation, we tell you before the order closes.
What records does the Michigan repository include?
It holds felony arrests, charges and dispositions statewide. Serious misdemeanors punishable by more than 93 days also report to it. In addition, the file carries sentence details such as jail time, probation terms, fines and costs.
What does the statewide search miss?
Local ordinance violations and 92-day misdemeanors usually stay at the district court. Juvenile records, suppressed records, warrants and traffic files never appear. Federal cases, tribal cases and out-of-state convictions also fall outside it, so add a federal or county search when the role warrants one.
Do I need fingerprints or a signed consent?
Fingerprints are not required for this search, since it matches on name and date of birth. You do need a stand-alone FCRA disclosure and a signed authorization from the applicant. Keep both on file before you order.
How far back can a Michigan background check report?
Michigan sets no state lookback cap on convictions. The FCRA blocks arrests without convictions once they pass seven years, and that block lifts at a $75,000 salary. Convictions set aside under Clean Slate may not be reported or considered at all.
What if the record belongs to somebody else?
Name-based systems can produce false positives, and the state prints that warning on every result. Never take adverse action on a state record alone. Instead, send the applicant a copy, open a dispute with us, and point them to the fingerprint record challenge described above.
Run your first Michigan search today
Open an account, submit a name, and read the result in real time. Our team in Coral Gables answers the phone when a record needs a second look.
(800) 661-0278 • support@usabackground.com • Our quality review team works 24/7/365
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