Macomb County court opens first staffed self-help center
MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich (FOX 2) - The 16th District Court in Mount Clemens recently opened a staffed self-help center, the first of its kind in Macomb County.
Two part-time employees will run the center Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., along with an intern, and eventually a few volunteers.
The Self-Help Center is located in the Macomb County Circuit Court Building, 40 North Main Street, on the third floor, room 360.
What is a Self-Help Center?
A Legal Self-Help Center is a place where people can get assistance with simple legal problems. Visitors to the center can utilize the computers and workstations to find information, forms, and instructions. Although the Self-Help Center staff cannot give legal advice, they can assist visitors to navigate a complex legal system that can sometimes be very intimidating, especially for people representing themselves. The Macomb County Circuit Court processes thousands of new cases every year, and hundreds of litigants do not have attorneys to represent them in their cases.
The Center provides a place for these unrepresented individuals to obtain forms, prepare documents for filing, and to e-file their pleadings.
The Court was able to secure grant funding through the State Court Administrative Office to assist in the expenses to staff the center, as well as to provide some much-needed upgrades to the computers (previously located in an unstaffed room of the Old County Building), which were becoming obsolete.
