Search the Clare County Clerk Records

About the Clare County Clerk and Register of Deeds

Clare County runs a unified clerk office. Lori Mott holds the combined role of County Clerk and Register of Deeds and Official Abstractor, and Stacy Pechacek serves as chief deputy. There is no separate district clerk here. In Michigan, the county clerk also performs the circuit-court clerk function locally, so one office touches court files, land records, and vital records under the same roof.

The office works out of the courthouse in Harrison at 225 W. Main Street. It handles walk-in requests, mailed requests, and phone questions during regular county hours. Because the clerk is also the register of deeds, the counter that hands you a marriage record is the same counter that records a deed or a mortgage.

The details below are the fastest way to reach the office directly.

What the Clare County Clerk Handles

The clerk is best understood as a records hub, not a single-purpose desk. The county routes several distinct record types through this one office, so it helps to know what falls under its scope before you call or visit. The list below reflects the services the county clerk page actually exposes.

• County clerk duties, including support for the circuit-court file
• Register of deeds and land-records recording
• Vital records such as birth and death records
• Marriage licenses and marriage records
• Land records search through Official Records Online and Tapestry Search
• Genealogy searches for older county records

Divorce is the main thing this office does not treat as its own. A divorce is a court file, so the judgment lives with the Clare County Circuit Court and the certified certificate comes from the state vital-records system. Marriage stays with the clerk; divorce moves to the court and the state.

Marriage and Vital Records at the Clare County Clerk

Vital records are one of the busiest parts of the office. The clerk keeps birth and death records for events tied to the county and issues certified copies to eligible requesters. These are the documents people need for passports, benefits, estates, and school or family matters, so the office treats them as high-demand records rather than archival curiosities.

The county publishes a dedicated Clare County birth records page that explains how the office handles birth certificates and who may order them. That page is the right starting point when a birth record is the goal.

Birth records carry the strongest privacy limits, so proof of eligibility usually matters more here than for other records. Death records sit alongside them in the same vital-records stack. The county's Clare County death records page covers ordering a certified death certificate, which estates and insurers routinely require.

When a record predates the county's holdings or you are out of state, Michigan's central system is the backup. The state's MDHHS vital records guidance confirms that birth, death, marriage, and divorce records are on file at the state and can be ordered by mail, in person, or online. State turnaround for marriage and divorce copies runs about four to five weeks for regular service and two to three weeks when expedited.

For marriage license applications and the full marriage-versus-divorce picture, the county also runs a live online portal explained on the Clare County marriage and divorce records page.

Note: Certified copies from the clerk are the accepted version for legal use, while unofficial printouts are not valid for court or government purposes.

Marriage License Fees in Clare County

The marriage license is one of the few clerk services with a fee fixed by statute rather than by local policy. That makes it a clean, reliable number. Michigan law, not the county, sets the amount, and it also sets a deadline for using the license after it is issued.

The fee comes straight from the marriage license statute, MCL 551.103, which places the license fee at $20.00. Because the amount is statutory, it does not change from clerk to clerk across the state.

A license does not stay valid forever. Under MCL 551.103a, the license is void unless the marriage is solemnized within 33 days after the application. Couples who miss that window have to apply again, so timing the ceremony matters.

Who may perform the ceremony is also set by statute. MCL 551.7 lists the people who may solemnize a marriage, including district judges, district magistrates, probate judges, federal judges, mayors, county clerks, and ministers or clerics. The county clerk sits on that list, which is one more reason the office is central to the marriage process.

The table below shows the fees this page can confirm from research. Certified-copy and plain-copy charges were not published in a county schedule, so confirm those directly with the office before you send payment.

Land Records at the Clare County Register of Deeds

The register of deeds side of the office keeps the county's property record. Deeds, mortgages, liens, and related instruments are recorded here, and the office holds the historical chain that title and abstract work depends on. Because Lori Mott also carries the Official Abstractor role, the same office that records a document can help trace its history.

The county exposes two land-records search tools through the clerk. Official Records Online is the county's own document search, and Tapestry Search is a broader access route into recorded land documents. Both let a searcher look up recorded instruments rather than court files.

Genealogy work often runs through the same records. Older deeds, marriage records, and death records can trace a family through the county over many decades. When a search reaches back before modern indexing, the office's vault holdings and the online tools together are usually the practical path.

How to Request a Certified Copy in Clare County

A certified copy carries the clerk's seal and is the version accepted for legal proceedings, estates, and government filings. An uncertified printout may confirm that a record exists, but it will not satisfy a court or an agency. The steps below outline the ordinary path for a clerk-held record such as a marriage, birth, or death record.

1. Identify the exact record you need, including full names and the approximate date, so the office can locate the right file in the vault.
2. Confirm you are eligible to receive it, since vital records like births carry stricter access limits than most documents.
3. Contact the office by phone at (989) 539-7131 or visit the counter to confirm the current certified-copy fee before paying.
4. Submit your request in person or by mail to P.O. Box 438, Harrison, MI 48625, with the required identification and payment.
5. Pick up the certified copy at the counter or wait for it to arrive by mail if you requested delivery.

Note: The public vault closes to searching at 4:00 pm even though the office stays open until 4:30 pm, so allow time if you plan to search in person.

Records Request Fields for the Clare County Clerk

When a record is not a simple over-the-counter copy, a written public-records request is the fallback. Michigan's Freedom of Information Act, at MCL 15.231, sets the policy that the public is entitled to full information about public records, and MCL 15.233 lays out how a request is processed. A clear request moves faster, so include the details in the table below.

Vault Hours and FOIA Records at the Clare County Clerk

Timing is part of using this office well. The counter runs Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm, but public searching in the record vault stops at 4:00 pm. Anyone planning to search deeds, older files, or genealogy records in person should arrive with time to spare before that cutoff.

When a record request needs the FOIA route, the copy charge is governed by MCL 15.234. The statute lets a public body charge for the actual cost of searching, reviewing, and copying, within limits the law sets, rather than any fixed per-page number the county publishes. That is why this page does not list a flat certified-copy price. The office confirms the exact charge when it processes the request.

The clerk is one channel among several. The sheriff handles crash reports and law-enforcement FOIA files, the courts handle case-specific procedures, and the state portal handles many case searches. Sending a request to the right office the first time saves the most time.

For court files rather than clerk-held vital or land records, access is controlled by the Michigan Court Rules, which keep court records public unless a rule, statute, or order restricts them. Marriage and land records stay with this office; court judgments and divorce files route to the court and the state system.