Find Sex Offenders in Branch County

Branch County residents can look up registered sex offenders through the Michigan Public Sex Offender Registry. The registry covers everyone required to register in Branch County, including people who live, work, or attend school here. Searches can be done by name, address, or ZIP code at the state level. The Branch County Sheriff's Office in Coldwater processes all local sex offender registrations and keeps that data updated in the statewide system.

Branch County Sex Offender Registry Access

The Michigan Public Sex Offender Registry at mspsor.com is the official database for sex offender records in Branch County and across the state. The Michigan State Police maintains it. Anyone can search for free without creating an account. You can enter a name, address, city, or ZIP code and get a list of registered offenders who match. Each result shows the person's photo, registered address, offense description, and tier level under Michigan's three-tier classification system.

The PSOR search tool lets you filter by county, so you can pull up everyone registered specifically in Branch County. The county has a smaller population than many Michigan counties, but the same registration rules apply. Michigan law under MCL 28.728 requires the Sheriff's Office to keep this data current. Offenders must report any changes within three business days, and failure to do so is a felony.

For searches that span multiple states, the National Sex Offender Public Website at nsopw.gov searches all state registries simultaneously. This is useful if you suspect someone moved to Branch County from out of state and may still be under registration requirements from their home state.

Branch County Sheriff and Local Registration

Sheriff Fred Blankenship oversees the Branch County Sheriff's Office, which is located at 379 Keith Wilhelm Drive in Coldwater. The main number is 517-278-2325. The sheriff's office handles all sex offender registration for the county. If you are required to register, you must go in person to this address. Phone calls to 517-278-2325 can help you confirm hours before you visit.

The jail is in the same building as the Sheriff's Office. The jail phone number is 517-278-2942. Visitation is allowed on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, though the specific hours should be confirmed by calling ahead. Sex offender registration is handled separately from jail operations, but both functions run out of the same location.

Branch County is a rural county in south-central Michigan, and the Sheriff's Office serves as the primary law enforcement agency for most of the county's area. Local police departments in Coldwater and other municipalities coordinate with the sheriff on registration matters. If you are uncertain where to register based on your address, call the Sheriff's Office directly at 517-278-2325.

The Sheriff's Office website is at countyofbranch.com/sheriff. That page provides contact information and directions for anyone who needs to visit in person.

Note: If you move from one address to another within Branch County, you still need to report the change in person at the Sheriff's Office within three business days.

Sex Offender Tiers and Registration Rules in Branch County

Michigan's Sex Offenders Registration Act, which starts at MCL 28.721, sets out who must register and for how long. Branch County sex offenders follow the same tier rules as everyone else in the state. The tier level is based on the offense of conviction, not on individual assessments or case-by-case decisions by local officials.

Tier I is the lowest level. These offenders register for 15 years and verify their information once per year. They include people convicted of certain fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct offenses and other lower-level sex crimes under statutes like MCL 750.520e. Tier II covers a wider range of offenses and requires 25 years of registration with twice-yearly verification. Tier III, which applies to the most serious offenses under statutes such as MCL 750.520b, means lifetime registration with address verification every three months.

Every registered offender pays a $50 fee when they first register and another $50 each year after that. The total fee is capped at $550, which means once an offender has paid $550 over time, no more fees are charged. This cap matters most for Tier III offenders who face lifetime registration.

Violating registration requirements is serious. Under MCL 28.729, a first offense for failing to register or update can bring up to four years in prison and fines up to $5,000. A second violation can result in up to seven years. A third or subsequent violation can mean up to ten years in prison.

Branch County Court Records and Criminal Case Search

Michigan's court case search tool is available free at courts.michigan.gov/case-search. This system, sometimes called MiCOURT, lets you search by name or case number across all Michigan courts. Branch County cases appear here, including criminal sexual conduct convictions that triggered registration requirements.

Branch County's circuit court handles felony-level offenses, including first, second, and third-degree criminal sexual conduct under MCL 750.520b and MCL 750.520c. District court handles misdemeanor-level cases and some fourth-degree CSC charges under MCL 750.520e. Both courts feed into the state case search system.

If you need a more detailed criminal history, the Michigan State Police iCHAT system at michigan.gov/ichat provides name-based background checks for $10 per search. This pulls conviction data from across the state, not just Branch County. It's a useful tool if you want to verify someone's full Michigan criminal record rather than just checking the sex offender list.

The OTIS system at mdocweb.state.mi.us tracks individuals currently or previously supervised by the Michigan Department of Corrections. Sex offenders who served prison time may appear in OTIS even after their release.

Michigan PSOR and State-Level Resources for Branch County

The Michigan State Police operates the statewide sex offender registry and provides several ways to get information. The main PSOR site at mspsor.com is the primary public portal. For questions about registration status or the registry process, the SOR Unit can be reached at (517) 241-1806 or at psors@michigan.gov. Their mailing address is P.O. Box 30634, Lansing, MI 48909.

The image below shows the Michigan PSOR homepage, which is the starting point for any search involving Branch County sex offenders or offenders from other parts of the state.

The Michigan PSOR homepage at mspsor.com gives Branch County residents direct access to the statewide sex offender database, allowing searches by name, address, city, or ZIP code.

You can also contact the PSOR unit through the contact form at mspsor.com/Home/Contact for questions about a specific registration record or to report a potential violation. For in-person registration matters, the Branch County Sheriff's Office at 517-278-2325 is the correct first point of contact.

Note: The PSOR does not remove information about offenders whose registration period has ended automatically in all cases. If there is a question about whether someone's registration period is over, contact the MSP SOR Unit directly.

Cities in Branch County

Branch County includes Coldwater as its county seat, along with other communities like Union City and Quincy. None of these communities currently have dedicated city-level pages on this site. To search for sex offenders in any Branch County city or township, use the Michigan PSOR at mspsor.com/Home/Search and search by city name or ZIP code. The state registry covers all addresses in Branch County regardless of whether they fall within a city or township.

Nearby Counties

Branch County sits in south-central Michigan and borders several counties. Each has its own sheriff's office handling local registration, with data feeding into the same statewide PSOR system.