January 2025

Monthly Newsletter

Upcoming Events:

1/7/2025 - Board of Commissioners Organizational Meeting

1/20/2025 - Martin Luther King Day

1/20/2025 - Georgetown Library Oreo Mock Election

2/2/2025 - Groundhog Day

2/17/2025 - Presidents' Day

3/17/2025 - St. Patrick's Day

4/17/2025 - Bring Your Kid to Work Day

5/6/2025 - Election Day

5/7/2025 - 5/16/2025 - Board of County Canvassers

5/26/2025 - Memorial Day - Office Closed

Letter from the Clerk/Register of Deeds

Dear Ottawa County Residents,

As we begin this new year, I want to express my personal thanks to you for the interest you’ve shown in subscribing to our newsletters and updates.  Thank you for the ways in which so many of you have expressed interest, support and appreciation to our team as they have served customers throughout the last year.  Each interaction we have with you is another opportunity for our team to grow, learn, and often be encouraged.

We have just ended another tremendously busy and productive year!  Just a few of the significant milestones and accomplishments of 2024:

• Our Circuit Court Records team underwent significant change as part of the staff officially moved into the newly built Family Justice Center, as well as a migration to a new case management system.
• Our Register of Deeds and Vital Records team had a busy year with over 35,000 land records, over 4,000 birth and death records and over 700 passport applications. They continue to be at the front line of our customer service, interacting personally with thousands of customers each year.
• Our Elections team worked tirelessly during a record-breaking election cycle that saw a total of over 350,000 ballots cast during the four elections held last year. The Elections Division also oversaw the implementation of Early Voting for the first time in Michigan, where nearly 40,000 total voters cast their ballots in person ahead of Election Day in February, August and November.
• Our Board of Commissioners team continued to attend every meeting of the County Commission, including all committee meetings. They are responsible for documenting and making public all actions of the Board, as well as preparing all public notices and postings required by law. This team also worked toward the implementation of a new software platform that will make Board meeting minutes more searchable, and Board votes more transparent. We look forward to implementing this software in 2025.

We look forward to keeping you updated with all that’s in store for 2025!   At the core of all that we do is our mission: to help customers, and encourage their trust in government.  We believe that trust is earned, and it’s the basis for all successful relationships.  Thank you for your trust in us, and please do reach out to us if there is ever anything that we can do for you!

Best Wishes,

Justin

New Year, New Case Management System

On December 16, 2024, the 20^th Circuit Court went live with a new case management system (CMS) for Ottawa County. This CMS is known as MiCOURT or the JIS (Judicial Information Services) platform. JIS is a division of the State Court Administrative Office that provides core platform and software products for the courts in the State of Michigan. By choosing the MiCOURT solution, the Clerk/Register’s office and the 20^th Circuit Court joined the 58^th District Court who has been on this platform since early 2024. 

Along with the implementation of MiCOURT, the Court also upgraded our Pilot MiFILE solution to the MiFILE Standard Solution. While this system is similar there are some major changes that occurred. The Court is now able to accept case-initiating documents as well as all documents following case initiation. Additionally, the court can now also accept documents for all appeal cases, name changes, emancipations and infectious disease related cases. Upgrading to the standard solution will give our filers the same e-filing experience as they would have in other courts!

These two changes have created an environment of learning for our court records staff. Please be patient as we navigate and learn these two new systems!

Congratulations Emma!

At Ottawa County we are afforded many opportunities; one of which is the opportunity to participate in Ottawa County's Emerging Leaders Program.  

The Emerging Leaders Program provides participants tools for professional growth and to prepare to compete for supervisory roles. This program is challenging but so rewarding.  We were so proud this year's Clerk/Register of Deeds participant Emma!  Emma worked so hard this year to complete the Emerging Leaders Program.

_{Pictured from left to right: Court Records Supervisor Nicole Poel-Skofic; Emma Peterman; Clerk/ROD Justin Roebuck}

Clerk/Register of Deeds Office Holiday Celebrations

This year the Clerk/Register of Deeds Office celebrated the holiday season with a Grinch theme party!

We were very thankful to be able to spend time with the whole team in one spot.

We shared great food, fun, and many laughs.  It was a great way to end the year and we are looking forward to what 2025 bring us!

We want to hear from you!

The Clerk/Register’s office is dedicated to serve you, and it is our mission to ensure that you leave our office having had a good interaction no matter the outcome. If you had an interaction with our office recently, we'd love to get your feedback.  Your comments will help us improve our service and better tell our story. Please submit your feedback here.

Justin F. Roebuck

Clerk | Register of Deeds

414 Washington Ave. Room 320 | Grand Haven, Michigan 49417

12220 Fillmore St. | West Olive, Michigan 49460| 616-994-4537

jroebuck@miottawa.org | www.miottawa.org/ClerkROD

Find us on Facebook @OCClerkRegister and on Twitter @OttawaElections