Search the Arenac County Clerk

About the Arenac County Clerk

Nancy A. Selle is the Arenac County Clerk. She leads a single county-clerk office that covers both records work and elections. In Michigan the county clerk wears two hats. Selle runs the clerk's office, and she also serves as clerk of the 23rd Circuit Court. That link means the same official who issues a marriage license also helps keep circuit case files in order.

The office sits inside the county complex in Standish. Public hours run Monday through Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Counter visits, phone calls, and mail all reach the same staff. The clerk is also the county FOIA coordinator, so public-records requests for county files route through this desk too.

The county clerk page is the best starting point for forms, fees, and contact details. The lead-in link below opens the official page for the Arenac County Clerk, where the office posts its marriage, vital-record, and election materials.

That page gathers the clerk's public services in one place, from vital records to jury and election work. It confirms the office hours and the direct contact line used throughout this office.

What the Arenac County Clerk Handles

The clerk's office does far more than stamp forms. It is a public-facing hub for vital records, marriage licensing, elections, and business filings. It also takes in the county's public-records requests. Because the clerk also serves the Circuit Court, the office ties into the county's court-record work as well.

The main services handled at this counter include the following.

• Marriage license applications and issuance.
• Certified copies of death, marriage, and DD214 records.
• Freedom of Information Act request intake as county coordinator.
• Elections, election results, and inspector applications.
• Concealed pistol license (CPL) applications.
• Doing business as (DBA) assumed-name filings.
• Notary public applications and juror excusal forms.

Divorce judgments and other case files are a different track. Those live with the court, not with the vital-records counter. For a divorce file, the Arenac County marriage and divorce records path points to the 23rd Circuit Court and the statewide case search. The clerk still helps because it is the clerk of that circuit court.

Certified Vital Records in Arenac County

A certified copy is an official record with the clerk's seal. Courts, banks, the Social Security office, and probate matters often demand a certified copy rather than a plain printout. The Arenac County Clerk issues certified copies for death, marriage, and DD214 military discharge records, plus certified DBA and assumed-name records.

Some vital records carry protected information under state law. Birth records and similar files are limited to qualified requesters, which is why the request form asks who you are and why you need the record. If the protected portion cannot be answered, the office may issue only a redacted copy for a specified use. That rule follows Michigan's vital-record access statute, MCL 333.2882.

Payment is cash or check only. Checks are made payable to the Arenac County Clerk. Plan for that before you arrive, since cards are not the payment path for these records.

How to Request a Certified Copy

The request runs through the clerk's office by mail or at the counter. A short, clean request moves faster than a vague one. Have the names, dates, and record type ready before you start.

1. Identify the record you need, such as a death, marriage, or DD214 record, and confirm the clerk holds it.
2. Fill out the vital-records certified-copy request form with the names on the record and the event date.
3. State how many copies you want, since the first copy and each extra copy carry different fees.
4. Include your eligibility details if the record holds protected information.
5. Submit the form with cash or a check payable to the Arenac County Clerk.
6. Pick the copy up at the Standish counter or wait for it to arrive by mail.

Bring a photo ID for protected records. If a request is for a redacted copy, the office notes the specified use before it releases the record. Simple death or marriage records for the requester are usually the quickest to complete.

Arenac County Records Request Fields

The clerk uses two main intake forms. The vital-records certified-copy form collects the record details, and the county FOIA request form collects the public-records ask. The table below blends the fields from both so a requester knows what to have ready.

Note: a FOIA request must describe the records well enough for staff to find them, since a vague request slows the whole response.

Filing a FOIA Request in Arenac County

Not every county document is a court file. Budgets, meeting minutes, contracts, and other county records fall under Michigan's Freedom of Information Act. The county clerk is the FOIA coordinator, so those requests come to this office. Nancy Selle receives them at the clerk's Standish address, by fax, or by email.

The county has five business days to answer a written request. It may take a single ten-day extension when a request is large or complex. The answer can grant the request, deny it, or grant part and deny part. Fees may apply for staff time, copies, and redaction, and the cost worksheet spells out how those charges are figured.

The lead-in link here opens the official Arenac County FOIA page, where the coordinator contact and the request forms are posted.

That page confirms the clerk as coordinator and links the request form and the itemized cost worksheet. It is the correct entry point for any county record that is not a court file.

Michigan's FOIA statute sets the policy behind all of this. The lead-in below opens MCL 15.231, the act's short title and public-policy section.

The statute says the public is entitled to full and complete information about its government, except where the act limits that access. It is the reason a county-records request has real force.

What the Clerk May Withhold

Open access has limits. Some records, or parts of them, can be held back under the FOIA exemptions. Personal data, certain law-enforcement records, and other statutorily exempt material can be redacted or denied. A denial must point to the exemption it relies on, which lets a requester weigh an appeal.

The exemptions live in a single statute. The lead-in link opens MCL 15.243, the section that lists what an agency may withhold.

Reading the exemptions helps set fair expectations before a request goes in. Court files follow a separate track under the Michigan Court Rules rather than the county FOIA process, so a case file request usually goes to the court counter or the statewide case search.

Arenac County Clerk Fee Schedule

The clerk posts flat fees for its most common services. Most of these are paid by cash or check, with checks made out to the Arenac County Clerk. The table lists the amounts shown on the county clerk page.

The extra-copy rate applies to more copies of the same record ordered at the same time. FOIA copies are priced apart from this schedule, through the cost worksheet. When a fee is due, bring the exact payment method the counter accepts, since cards are not the path for these items.

Jury and Election Work

The clerk's office reaches past records into civic duty. It posts the juror excusal form for people summoned to serve. It also runs county elections, publishes election results, and takes applications from residents who want to work as election inspectors.

Because this office is also clerk of the Circuit Court, it sits close to the county's felony, family, and civil case work in the 23rd Circuit. Readers who need a case file rather than a vital record can move from here to the Arenac County Circuit Court for hearings, dockets, and case lookups. Marriage licenses stay with the clerk, and the office keeps the county's public notices current for anyone tracking local government.