Clare County 72 Hour Booking Lookup

Clare County 72 hour booking records list people brought into the county jail in Harrison over the past three days. The Clare County Sheriff's Office manages all jail bookings in this central Michigan county. There is no online inmate roster at this time, so you need to call 989-539-7166 to ask about recent bookings. This page walks you through the ways to search for Clare County booking records, file a records request, and use state tools to check on someone after a booking.

Clare County Sheriff 72 Hour Booking

The Clare County Sheriff's Office runs the only jail in the county. It sits at 255 Schoolcrest St. in Harrison. Every person arrested within Clare County comes through this facility for booking. The staff takes down the person's name, date of birth, height, weight, and other details. They record the charges, set a bond if one applies, and take a mugshot. All of this goes into the booking record.

Clare County is in central Michigan. The area is mostly rural and the jail handles a modest number of bookings compared to bigger counties. Because of its size, the office has not set up an online booking roster. That does not mean the records are hard to get. It just means you need to use the phone or file a written request.

Harrison is known as a resort area, and seasonal changes can affect how many bookings the jail sees.

How to Check Clare County Bookings

Call 989-539-7166. That is the most direct path. Tell the staff you want to check on a recent booking. Give them the full name and any other info you have. They will look it up and tell you if the person is in custody. You can ask about the charges and bond too. This is public data and they are used to these calls.

You can also try VineLink as a starting point. Some Clare County data may appear on VineLink, though smaller counties do not always sync with the system right away. Select Michigan, search by name, and see if there are results. VineLink is free to use and it runs 24 hours a day. If the person does show up, you can register for alerts and get a call or text when their status changes. This is good for people who need to track a release date or a transfer to a different facility.

Clare County FOIA and Booking Records

Michigan's Freedom of Information Act gives you the right to request booking records from Clare County. The law is at MCL § 15.231 et seq. and it covers all public bodies in the state, including the sheriff's office. Write a request that says what you want. Name the person, give the dates, and list the specific records, whether that is the booking log, the arrest report, or the mugshot.

Send it to the FOIA coordinator at the Clare County Sheriff's Office at 255 Schoolcrest St., Harrison, MI 48625. The office has five business days to respond under MCL § 15.235. They can stretch that to fifteen days for bigger requests. Fees for copies run $0.10 to $0.25 per page. The office can also charge for labor at the rate of their lowest paid employee who is able to do the work. Deposits may be required if costs exceed $50. For those who meet the indigency standard, the first $20 in fees is waived up to twice a year. You never have to explain your reason for the request. Under MCL § 15.233, the right to access exists without needing to justify it.

The Michigan Legislature site where you can read the full FOIA text is shown below.

Look up MCL 15.231 through 15.246 for the complete FOIA rules that apply to Clare County booking record requests.

After a 72 Hour Booking in Clare County

Once someone is booked into the Clare County Jail, their case moves through the court system. The Michigan Courts Case Search lets you track what happens next. Search by name to find charges, hearing dates, and case outcomes from any Michigan court. This tool covers all 83 counties.

If the person ends up sentenced to state prison, you can then track them using OTIS, the state corrections database. OTIS shows the facility, sentence details, and parole eligibility for anyone under MDOC supervision. It does not cover county jail stays. For criminal background checks that go beyond a single booking, the ICHAT system costs $10 and pulls up arrest records, convictions, and warrants from across the state. All official records in Michigan are public property under MCL § 750.491, and no agency can withhold them without a valid exemption.

Clare County Mugshots and Booking Photos

Mugshots taken during a 72 hour booking in Clare County are public records. Michigan courts have ruled that booking photos cannot be withheld under privacy exemptions. The Patterson v. Allegheny ruling and the Detroit Free Press v. Oakland Cty. Sheriff case both confirmed this. If you want a copy of a mugshot from the Clare County Jail, include it in your FOIA request to the sheriff's office.

Clare County does not post mugshots on a public website. You have to ask for them through a formal request or in person at the jail. The fee for a photo copy is typically part of the standard FOIA charges. Since the jail in Harrison does not have its own online search, mugshots are only available by request. Larger counties in Michigan often put booking photos right on their jail rosters, but Clare County has not adopted that practice yet. Keep this in mind if you need a photo for identification or other purposes.

Nearby Counties

Search for 72 hour booking records in counties close to Clare County.