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Michigan County
Gratiot County, Michigan
Alma Highland Festival and Michigan sugar beet country - from the Alma Highland Festival (one of the largest Scottish Highland Games in North America, the annual Alma Highland Festival draws over 50,000 visitors to this small central Michigan city for bagpiping, Scottish athletics, clan tents, and Celtic culture - an unexpected cultural institution that gives Alma College's hometown a nationally recognized annual event) to Gratiot County's productive sugar beet and corn belt (the county's flat, fertile soils support significant sugar beet and corn production in the Saginaw Valley agricultural region, contributing to Michigan's important beet sugar industry).
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Office: Gratiot County Emergency Management – Ithaca, MI 48847; Director Dan Morden; coordinates the county’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and Emergency Operations Plan (EOP), part of the local LEPC.
Gratiot County Central Dispatch/911 (GCCDA) – dispatches Michigan State Police, the Sheriff’s Office, and all municipal police/fire departments countywide.
Sheriff: Gratiot County Sheriff’s Office – 226 E Center Street, Ithaca, MI 48847 | (989) 875-5211 or toll-free (877) 472-8468 | Fax: (989) 875-3322; Sheriff Michael Morris; established 1855, serving over 41,000-42,000 residents across 500+ square miles; Hours: Mon-Fri 8 AM-3 PM.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-127 and M-46 serve Ithaca, the county seat, near the geographic center of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula.
Notes: Gratiot County was founded in 1855, named for Charles Gratiot. Ithaca was originally called “Gratiot Center” before being renamed in 1857 after Ithaca, New York; incorporated as a village in 1869 and a city in 1961.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Gratiot County Courthouse – 214 E. Center St, Ithaca, MI 48847; built 1900 in Neoclassical style, designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1957 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
Notes: Alma, Gratiot County’s largest city, is genuinely one of the Midwest’s premier centers of Scottish heritage – the Alma Highland Festival & Games, held every Memorial Day weekend on the campus of Alma College since 1968, is among the largest and most prestigious Scottish heritage festivals in the country. It hosts the U.S. Open Pipe Band Championship, the Great Lakes Highland Dance Championship, and Great Lakes Scottish Heavyweight Athletic competitions (including traditional caber tossing), drawing thousands of visitors and nearly 1,000 pipers and drummers for a massed-band performance.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Gratiot County Veterans Affairs – confirm current contact via gratiotmi.com.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Confirm current Ithaca/Alma-area public library address/phone via gratiotmi.com.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Alma College and the Alma Highland Festival & Games grounds, the Pine River, the Gratiot-Saginaw State Game Area, and the Gratiot County Conservation District Arboretum (30 acres) are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine, nationally prestigious Alma Highland Festival & Games is one of the most distinctive cultural facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Gratiot County Equalization Office – confirm current contact via gratiotmi.com.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Gratiot County Animal Shelter – 2675 W Washington Rd, Ithaca, MI 48847 | (989) 875-2221.
Dalis to the Rescue – 303 Valley St, Alma, MI 48801 | (989) 681-0980.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Gratiot County – confirm current contact via gratiotmi.com.
NOTES: Gratiot County is the third county in the fifth batch of the Michigan v2 A+ sourced redo. The genuine, nationally prestigious Alma Highland Festival & Games is one of the most distinctive cultural facts covered anywhere in this project. All contact information above was sourced via web search as of early August 2026 and should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit, deadline-sensitive filing, or emergency-adjacent decision.
About Gratiot County
Gratiot County is central Michigan’s Alma Highland Festival and sugar beet farming county – the unexpected world-class Scottish Highland Games that bring tens of thousands of Celtic enthusiasts to Alma and the county’s productive Saginaw Valley sugar beet agriculture define a mid-Michigan community whose agricultural and cultural identities are both more distinctive than its quiet exterior suggests.
Ithaca (the county seat, population ~3,100) is Gratiot County’s governmental hub while Alma serves as the county’s commercial and cultural center, home of Alma College and the Highland Festival.
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Gratiot County Assessor at 214 E. Center Street, Ithaca, MI 48847, phone 989-875-5215. MI assessed at 50% of true cash value.
Courts & Legal
Gratiot County Probate Court at 214 E. Center Street, Ithaca, MI 48847, phone 989-875-5258, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
214 E. Center St., Ithaca, MI 48847
(989) 875-5215
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Gratiot County Probate Court (estate/probate case files – see Probate section above).
The 1900 Gratiot County Courthouse, designed by architect Claire Allen (who also designed courthouses in Hillsdale, Shiawassee, and Van Buren counties), is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Local societies
No dedicated Gratiot County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Gratiot County Probate Court Gratiot County Courthouse, 214 E. Center Street, Ithaca, MI 48847
Gratiot County was founded 1855, named for Charles Gratiot, in mid-Michigan. Its seat, Ithaca, differs from its largest city, Alma. The 1900 Gratiot County Courthouse, Neoclassical in style, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a Michigan State Historic Site.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Michigan probate is governed by the Estates and Protected Individuals Code (EPIC), MCL 700.1101 et seq.
Transfer by Affidavit (Small Estate Affidavit) – under MCL 700.3982/700.3983, available when the estate’s gross value (after funeral and burial expenses) doesn’t exceed a threshold that’s adjusted annually for inflation (roughly $50,000-$53,000 in recent years). No real estate can be involved. At least 28 days must pass after death before this affidavit can be used. The affidavit isn’t filed with the court; it’s presented directly to whoever holds the asset (a bank, for instance), along with a death certificate.
Petition and Order for Assignment (PC 556) – a small estate process for estates at or below the same statutory threshold, but this one CAN include real property. An heir or the person who paid the funeral bill files this petition with the probate court; the judge reviews and signs the order, and there’s a filing fee plus a statutory inventory fee based on estate value.
Informal Probate – the standard track for most estates above the small-estate threshold. Filed using Application for Informal Probate and/or Appointment of Personal Representative (PC 558); the court issues Letters of Authority (PC 573) to the personal representative without a hearing when the application is straightforward.
Formal/Supervised Administration – required when the will is contested, there’s a dispute over who should serve as personal representative, or the estate needs ongoing court supervision.
Step 2: filing for probate
Gather the death certificate, the will (if any), and an inventory of the decedent’s assets to determine which path fits.
File the appropriate petition or application with the Probate Court in the county where the decedent lived.
For informal probate, the court reviews the application and issues Letters of Authority appointing the personal representative, typically without a hearing.
The personal representative gathers and inventories assets, notifies and pays valid creditors, and – no earlier than 12 months after appointment – files a Sworn Closing Statement (PC 584) for informal probate, or a Petition for Complete Settlement (PC 585) followed by a court Order of Complete Settlement (PC 586) for formal administration.
What it costs
Michigan probate generally runs 7 to 18 months and costs roughly 3% to 7% of the estate’s value in typical cases.
Filing fees vary by petition type; a statutory inventory fee, set by MCL 600.871, is calculated based on the estate’s total value and applies to most probate filings.
Michigan does not require an attorney for probate, though many people use one for anything beyond a very simple estate.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
214 E. Center St., Ithaca, MI 48847
(989) 875-5216
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
214 E. Center St., Ithaca, MI 48847
(989) 875-5215
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
MI DHHS — Central Region
(989) 875-6688
MidMichigan Medical Center — Gratiot
midmichigan.org (Alma — quality community hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Gratiot County Health Department – confirm current phone via gratiotmi.com.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Ithaca
Population: 40,000
Area: 570 sq mi
Established: 1855
Tier: 3
Public Records
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