Search Calhoun County Circuit Court Records

Calhoun County Circuit Court Overview

Michigan vests its judicial power in one court of justice. Article VI of the 1963 Michigan Constitution splits that power among the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, the circuit court, the probate court, and courts of limited jurisdiction. Calhoun County works inside that frame through three trial courts. The circuit court is the general-jurisdiction court, and it carries the heaviest caseload. It takes felony matters after they leave the district court, plus civil lawsuits, family and juvenile cases, adoptions, name changes, and personal protection orders.

In Calhoun County the circuit court is the 37th Judicial Circuit. That circuit covers Calhoun County alone, so the court and the county share the same borders. It was created by Public Act 40 of 1901 and took effect on April 4, 1901. The circuit also runs a business court and other special dockets. Appeals from the circuit court go to the Michigan Court of Appeals, Fourth District, and from there to the Michigan Supreme Court.

You can read the county's own summary of the court on the 37th Circuit Court page, which links to dockets, filing fees, and judge biographies.

Calhoun County Trial Court List

Three trial courts serve the county, and all three sit under one roof at the Justice Center in downtown Battle Creek. The circuit court owns the civil, family, and felony files. The district court is the first stop for traffic, misdemeanors, and small-dollar civil cases. The probate court keeps estates, guardianships, and mental-health matters. The table below lists each court with its role, address, and main phone line.

Because the three courts share a building, a single visit can touch more than one office. The clerk still owns the paper file for each court, and daily hearing times show up on the county's docket pages rather than inside the case file. Those hearing lists are summarized on the Calhoun County court dockets page.

Note: The 37th Circuit Court is not a MiFile court at this time, so many circuit file requests still run through the clerk in person or by email.

Circuit Court vs. District Court vs. Probate Court

Michigan has no county court and no justice or JP court, so the split runs across just these three trial courts. The line between them is drawn by subject and by dollar amount. The circuit court takes the serious criminal and larger civil work. The district court handles the smaller civil, traffic, and misdemeanor load. The probate court is its own trial court for estates and protective cases. The comparison below shows how the jobs divide.

The practical takeaway is simple. A felony charge starts in the district court but ends up in the circuit court. A speeding ticket or a small claim stays in the district court. A will contest or a guardianship petition belongs to the probate court. Once you know the subject, the correct court almost always follows.

How a Calhoun County Case Moves Through the Courts

Cases do not stay in one place. A criminal matter often begins in the district court and moves up to the circuit court, while a civil suit may start and finish in a single court. The two flows below trace the common paths. The criminal path shows how a felony climbs from arrest to sentencing, and the civil path shows how a lawsuit runs from filing to judgment.

Criminal flow: Arrest › Arraignment (District Court) › Preliminary Exam › Bindover › Circuit Court › Trial › Sentencing › Court of Appeals

Civil flow: Complaint Filed › Answer › Discovery › Motions › Trial › Judgment › Appeal

Traffic and misdemeanor cases usually stay in the district court from start to finish. Only felonies and larger civil matters land in the circuit court, and appeals from either court rise to the Michigan Court of Appeals before any move to the Michigan Supreme Court.

Civil, Family, and Criminal Divisions

The circuit court's work sorts into a few broad divisions, even though one bench of judges shares the load. The criminal division handles felony charges once they bind over from the district court. That work runs from arraignment through pretrial, plea or trial, and on to sentencing. The circuit judges preside over jury trials for the county's most serious cases.

The civil division hears lawsuits that clear the $25,000 line, along with contract disputes, property claims, and personal-injury suits. The court also runs a business court, and Judge Brian K. Kirkham serves as the business court judge for complex commercial matters. The family division covers divorce, custody, child support, juvenile delinquency, neglect and abuse, adoptions, name changes, and personal protection orders. Juvenile files are nonpublic by law, so those cases do not appear on the public schedules.

Because all three divisions sit in the same Justice Center, the counter you visit and the clerk you reach depend on the case type rather than the address. The circuit clerk keeps the felony, civil, domestic, and family files.

The 37th Judicial Circuit and Its Judges

The 37th Judicial Circuit began as a one-judge court in 1901 and grew into a four-judge bench over the last century. Today the circuit is served by John A. Hallacy, Brian K. Kirkham, Sarah S. Lincoln, and Tina Yost Johnson. Judge Hallacy serves as chief judge pro tempore and was a district judge before joining the circuit bench. Judge Kirkham handles the business court. Judge Lincoln is the presiding circuit judge and the first female circuit judge in county history. Judge Johnson came from the prosecuting attorney's office and once served as a circuit-court referee.

The 10th District Court works below the circuit court and shares the same building. Its judges are Tracie Tomak, Michelle Richardson, Jason Bomia, and Paul Beardslee, with visiting Judge William G. Kelly rounding out the roster. District judges handle the arraignments and preliminary exams that feed felony cases up to the circuit court, so the two courts work in close step. Michael L. Jaconette sits on the probate side.

The county profiles each circuit judge on its judicial biographies page, and the district bench is described on the 10th District Court page. Appeals from these courts go to the Michigan Court of Appeals, Fourth District, which the state describes on its Court of Appeals overview.

Note: The Michigan Supreme Court re-appointed the Calhoun County judges in late 2025, which keeps the bench current across the circuit, district, and probate courts.

Calhoun County Specialty Courts

Beyond its standard dockets, the county runs three problem-solving courts on the district-court side. Each one is a court-supervised treatment program with a judge, a team, a review schedule, and confidential staffing discussions. They target impaired driving, veteran-related conduct, and severe mental illness. These programs sit within the district court rather than standing as separate courts, but they matter to anyone tracing how the county handles treatment-based cases.

The Sobriety Court is led by Hon. Jason C. Bomia and aims to treat alcohol and drug dependence as a disease while cutting repeat drunk and drugged driving. It is a four-phase program with strict supervision, and advancement depends on compliance and days sober. The county explains the mission and eligibility on the Sobriety Court page.

That page shows the four-phase structure and the review schedule participants follow. The Veterans Treatment Court, led by Hon. Paul K. Beardslee, serves veterans whose military-related health or behavior issues contributed to criminal conduct. It uses the same four-phase model, and each participant is paired with a mentor who is an active or former member of the Armed Forces. The county lays out the program on its Veterans Treatment Court page.

The mentor role is a live part of the program, and the county actively recruits volunteers to fill it. You can see the requirements on the veterans court mentor application, which shows how veterans support fellow veterans through the court process.

The mentor page underlines that the veterans court leans on peer support as much as clinical treatment. The Mental Health Treatment Court is led by Hon. Michael L. Jaconette and serves people charged with a crime who live with severe mental illness, developmental disability, or a co-occurring substance-abuse disorder. It is a three-phase program with bi-weekly court review, and it connects participants to local support providers. The county details it on the Mental Health Treatment Court page.

That page describes the team model and the privacy protections built into each case.

Note: All three specialty courts protect participant privacy, so their team discussions and staffing meetings stay confidential and do not appear on the public docket.

History of the Calhoun County Circuit Court

The circuit court has deep roots in the county. Public Act 40 of 1901 created the 37th Judicial Circuit, effective April 4, 1901, and it started with a single judge, Herbert E. Winsor. As the county grew, so did the bench. A 1949 act added a second judgeship in 1950. Public Act 125 of 1976 added a third in 1977. A 1990 act added a fourth judgeship in 1993, which built the four-judge court that serves the county today.

The county's courthouse story runs even longer. The first courthouse cornerstone was laid in October 1837, and the first building was finished in 1838. A new courthouse followed in 1875, and the present County Building went up in 1955. The Justice Center that now houses the circuit, district, and probate courts was dedicated on June 22, 1994, at a cost of $39.1 million. Along the way, Judge Sarah S. Lincoln became the first female circuit judge in Calhoun County and only the third woman to serve on any county court.

To request an older civil or family file, or to certify a copy, the circuit clerk is the office to contact. The clerk's role and file-access rules are covered on the Calhoun County Clerk of Court page.