State Court Administrative Office

The State Court Administrative Office (SCAO) is the administrative agency of the Michigan Supreme Court. Article VI, Section 3 of the Michigan Constitution states that the Michigan Supreme Court "shall appoint an administrator of the courts and other assistants of the supreme court as may be necessary to aid in the administration of the courts of this state." The Supreme Court has administrative oversight of Michigan's courts and exercises that oversight through the SCAO.

What's New for Trial Courts

​​ Click link for the judicial branch's response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

michigan problem-solving courts help lower recidivism, unemployment

​​Michigan Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth T. Clement announced the publication of the FY 2020 Problem-Solving Courts Annual Report​, highlighting the success of Michigan’s 199 problem-solving courts. In particular, the report shows that graduates of adult drug court programs were nearly 2 times less likely to be convicted of a new offense within three years of admission to a program. Also, sobriety court graduates were more than 3 times less likely to be convicted of a new offense within three years of admission.​ Read more here.

new clean slate laws take effect 

Recent legislation makes Michigan a national leader in helping residents more easily

set aside criminal records and a get a "clean slate." The new laws make set asides

automatic for certain offenses; however, for some offenses, parties will need to apply for a set aside. While these new laws take effect on April 11, 2021, court and law enforcement authorities were allowed two years to secure funding and coordinate plans to allow for automatic set aside of some offenses. That means automatic set asides will not be implemented until April 2023, at the earliest. Learn more here. ​

apply by may 1 to serve on foster care review board