Michigan Municipal Court Information

The municipal court of Michigan was established under the Michigan Uniform Municipal Court Act (Act 5 of 1956). This act set up and maintains a uniform system of municipal courts in the cities of Michigan. Grosse Pointe, Grosse Pointe Farms, Gross Pointe Shores, Grosse Pointe Woods and Grosse Pointe Park retained their municipalities upon the enactment of the legislation authorizing district courts. There are four municipal courts. The Municipal Courts in Michigan are limited jurisdiction courts. The locally funded courts are served by four judges. A jury trial is held in most of the cases.

The Michigan Municipal Court is authorized to preside over cases under the laws of the state and the local ordinances of each city. All civil cases where the amount of claim does not exceed $3,000 and criminal cases of misdemeanors occurring in each city fall under the Municipal Court’s jurisdiction.

Punishments in these criminal cases cannot be more than 93 days. The municipal court is also responsible for handling cases of arraignment and for conducting the initial examination in felony cases. Traffic violations, ordinance and charter violations within the city and disputes between landlords and tenants are also solved under the jurisdiction of the municipal courts.

As per directions from the Supreme Court of the state of Michigan, the municipal court is not supposed to accept cases of small monetary claims, litigants with civil claims up to $3,000 may approach the general civil division of the Municipal Court.

Judges in the Michigan Court System

A judge in the municipal court is elected to serve a term of four years. The Court Clerk is appointed by the city administrator. The city administrator also has the influence to appoint the deputy court clerk and the warrant officer.

The presiding judge of the municipal court of the city of Grosse Pointe Woods is William J. Giovan. The court clerk is Susan Tobin. It is located at:

20025 Mack Plaza
Grosse Pointe Woods, MI 48236

The office is open from 8.30 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. Monday through Friday. The contact information is provided below:

Telephone: (313) 343-2455
Fax: (313) 886-6284

The municipal court of Grosse Pointe offers the provision of paying fines through the online Government Payment Services or GPS. You only have to provide a few basic details like the date of issue, ticket or case number, driver license number, the license plate number, date of birth, and offense. You also need to be a MasterCard or a VISA card holder in order to be able to pay the fines online. You can call the 24 hour services at 1-888-604-7888 if you need any assistance.

The page http://www.gpwmi.us/departments/http://www.peoplepublicrecords.org/mcScheduleOfFines.html lists the amounts you have to pay for the types of traffic infractions.

Michigan Municipal League

In 2004, the choices of a municipality were widened and those of cities with a certain population got the option of blight violations. Zoning violations, building or property maintenance violations, and illegal dumping of solid wastes are considered blight violations.

The Michigan Municipal League vows to make municipality rules and regulations understandable and clear for all. Visit http://www.mml.org/pdf/iptreports/municipal-prosecution.pdf to know more. The address and contact numbers of the Michigan Municipal League are

Michigan Municipal League
Municipal Litigation Center
1675 Green Road
PO Box 1487
Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1487
(734) 662-3246
Fax (734) 662-8083

Specific Michigan Municipal Court Information:

Detroit Court