Data You Give Us Directly
Search Queries
When you enter a name, a date of birth, or another term into a search box on this site, that text goes to the outside provider that runs the search. The provider processes the query and returns whatever it has. We do not keep or log what you typed.
Messages and Contact Submissions
If you send an email, we keep the message so we can write back. It stays with us. We do not pass it to anyone outside our organization unless a legal obligation forces it, and we cannot answer case-specific questions about an Otsego County warrant.
Data We Gather Automatically
Each time a page loads, our servers record a few technical details about the visit:
- The device IP address
- Your browser name and version
- The device type and operating system in use
- The pages visited and the time spent on each
- The referring site, when there is one
- The time and date of every page view
Cookies and Analytics
Cookies are small files a site stores on your device. We use them to see which pages get traffic and where readers leave. Analytics services pull that information into aggregate reports. You can block cookies in your browser at any time, though some parts of the site may act differently once you do.
What We Do With This Data
We put the information to a short list of uses, all of them tied to running the site:
- Keeping pages up, available, and quick to load
- Routing your search terms to the right partner service
- Learning which pages help readers and which need work
- Finding and fixing technical problems
- Serving advertising that may relate to your interests
No Warrant Data on File
This site does not host, build, compile, or sell any database of warrants. We publish general guidance about where warrant records in Otsego County are kept and how to request them, and those records belong to the 87-A District Court, the County Clerk, and the Sheriff's Office. Michigan has no public statewide warrant search, so there is no list here to mirror. We are not a consumer reporting agency under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and nothing collected about visitors is assembled into a report about any person.
Third-Party Search Partners
The search boxes on this site belong to outside companies. Whatever you type into one is handled under that company's privacy policy rather than this one. Those partners decide their own retention periods and sharing practices, and we have no control over either. Read a partner's policy before you submit a search.
Links to Other Websites
Pages here link out to court pages, sheriff's office pages, state agencies, legal aid organizations, and outside search tools. Following one of those links takes you away from this site, and the destination's privacy policy then applies to your visit. Read it before you share personal details.
Some advertising partners track activity across sites to target ads. That tracking runs on their systems, not ours, and we cannot switch it off for you.
Who Might See Your Data
We do not sell personal data. A limited set of parties may still see some of it:
- Search partners that handle the queries you run here
- Analytics providers that measure traffic and performance
- Ad networks that place advertising on our pages
- Law enforcement or government offices when a valid legal order requires disclosure
How We Protect Your Data
We use standard security practices to protect what we collect. No site connected to the internet is completely safe, and we cannot promise that a breach will never occur. We do what we reasonably can to keep the information secure.
Users Under 18
This site is written for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe a minor has sent us information, contact us and we will remove it.
Your Data Rights
Michigan does not have a single comprehensive consumer privacy statute, so the rights you have over the limited data described here are the ones set out in this policy. That includes the ability to:
- Ask for a copy of what we hold about you
- Ask us to correct something that is wrong
- Ask us to delete your information
- Opt out of certain kinds of processing
Requests about public records, as opposed to this site, follow a different path. Michigan's Freedom of Information Act, MCL 15.231 et seq., governs requests to public bodies like Otsego County, and court files are requested under the Michigan Court Rules instead.
Updates to This Policy
This policy can change. When it does, the revised version appears on this page with a new effective date, and the date is the signal that something moved.
Effective date: September 15, 2026