Sheriff

Mecosta County Sheriff's Office
225 S. Stewart
Big Rapids, MI 49307

Admin:
(231) 592-0150
Fax (231) 796-5577

Jail:
(231) 592-0156 (answered 24 hours a day)
Fax (231) 796-7130

To register and schedule a visit with an inmate visit https://www.icsolutions.com/

We now have a Tip email designed exclusively for tips! Please provide this information to friends and family in Mecosta County. Together, we can make our county a safer place!

Our Mission
The men and women of the Mecosta County Sheriff's Office share a common goal and purpose: To provide the highest quality law enforcement for our citizens and families in Mecosta County through compassionate, personal care and superior service, a positive environment for our citizens, families, and employees, collaboration for better services and organizational vitality and fiscal responsibility. We will accomplish our mission by applying these shared values:

Compassionate Care

To always place the needs of our citizens and their families first.
To recognize each person's uniqueness, and provide them the highest quality law enforcement service in a warm, respectful and friendly manner regardless of race, gender, creed, age or financial status.

Education and Research
  • To support community programs and safety education that promote innovation and progress.
  • To provide community policing and educational programs and classes.
  • To promote and support education and learning opportunities for our employees.
Personal and Professional Growth
  • To enhance the delivery of primary law enforcement and specialty care through the development of selected areas of specialties in law.
  • To educate, recruit, and retain high quality, dedicated law enforcement professionals.
  • To maintain up-to-date facilities and advanced technology.
  • To promote a positive working environment so all employees can seek the highest level of quality in their jobs and be recognized as a vital part of our office.
Collaboration
  • To cooperatively involve our community in the careful planning and growth of a progressive, responsive and efficient law enforcement system to meet the needs of a changing community.
  • To deliver cost-effective service and, where practical, work cooperatively with other law enforcement agencies.
Fiscal Responsibility
  • To remain a good corporate citizen through sound fiscal philosophy and practices that strengthen our Mecosta County Sheriff's Office role as a major employer and human service provider.

Programs and Services

Snowmobile Safety -- Age Group 12 Years Thru Adult

2-3 classes per year depending on the weather.

Boaters Safety -- Age Group 12 Years Thru Adult

Two open classes are taught in the county parks, one at School Section Lake and the other at Brower Park.

Boater Safety Classes:

10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

June 8, 2024 – School Section Lake Veteran’s Park 

July 13, 2024 – Brower Park 

To register for the class, go to https://michigan.storefront.kalkomey.com/em/programs and click “Sign Up” in the upper tool bar.  Once an account has been created for the student, you can register for the class.  An account must be created for each student and each student must be registered for the class.  If you decide after registering that you cannot attend, please cancel your registration to make that seat available for another student. 

ORV Safety - Age Group 12 Years Thru Adult

2-3 classes per year. Classes are held at the Big Rapids Antique Farm & Power Club Grounds.

Mecosta County ORV Ordinance #2011-1

Hunters Safety - Age Group 12 Years Thru Adult

3-4 classes per year. Classes are held at the Mecosta Rod & Gun Club.

Livery Inspections:

Conducted for businesses that rent boats and personal watercrafts. The inspections are scheduled by appointment only.

Additional information on any of the above activities may be obtained by calling the Mecosta County Sheriff's Office at (231) 592-0150.

  1. A check is written to a business located in Mecosta County.
  2. Check is returned account closed or NSF on the date the check was passed.
  3. The Proprietor receiving the bad check shall mail to the check writer a 5 DAY BAD CHECK NOTICE by certified mail.
  4. The proprietor must wait 10 days for a response.
  5. If no response, send the original bad check, pink copy of the bad check notice and the certified mail receipt to Deputy Otto Kamptner at the Mecosta County Sheriff's Office.
  6. he Mecosta County Sheriff's Office will attempt to get you the restitution for the check as well as a $15.00 service charge.
  7. The bad check writer will mail, or otherwise deliver, your restitution directly to you.
  8. If you do not receive restitution within 21 days of step 7, contact (231) 592-0150.

If the above steps have not produced payment, we will initiate prosecution procedures.

The Mecosta County Prosecutor's Office MAY NOT Prosecute if:

  1. You accept partial payment.
  2. You accept a two party check.
  3. You accept a check from an out of state account.
  4. You cannot identify the passer of the check.
  5. You accept a check from a person who resides outside of a 100-mile radius and the check is in an amount under $500.00. (The expense of transporting a bad check suspect from Detroit to Mecosta County can be in excess of $500.00. It would be a disservice to our taxpayers to incur these types of costs.)
  6. You accept a post-dated check.
  7. A check is returned with a stop payment order.
  8. The prosecutor does not feel the case can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
* If a case is not prosecuted, the proprietor may still file a small claim to seek restitution.

If you have any questions concerning this, please contact (231)592-0150

Civil Process:

  • Served to address in Mecosta County
  • Garnishments ($18.00 + mileage)
  • Evictions ($35.00 + mileage)
  • Sum & Comp, subpoenas, postings, PPO ($25.00 + mileage)
  • Do not require prepayment (will bill for service)

Other programs and services provided through the Sheriff's Office include:

  • Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE): This program is taught to all 5th and 6th grade students in Mecosta County.
  • School Liaison Officer: The liaison officer works in the Big Rapids, Chippewa Hills and Morley Stanwood School Districts.
  • Marine Division: Marine patrol of the County's waterways, a hovercraft equipped search and rescue team, and a six-man dive team are services provided through the Marine Division.
  • Fire Investigation and Traffic Accident Reconstruction: Specially trained Deputies provide fire investigation and traffic accident reconstruction services.
  • Victim's Advocates: A nine member team of volunteers provides advocate services to victims of crime in Mecosta County.
  • Sheriff's Posse: Twenty-one volunteers comprise the Sheriff's Posse. The posse provides crowd and traffic control at various events and assists in search and rescure efforts as needed.
  • Posse Work Order Request
Purchase Permits for Handguns:
  • Issued Monday thru Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • No Charge for gun registration
  • Bring picture ID with current address in Mecosta County
CCW Permits (Concealed Pistols License):
  • Safety training class must be completed first.
  • Application is available at the Mecosta County Sheriff's office or the Mecosta County Clerk's office.
  • Application must be turned in at Clerk's Office before prints can be taken at the Community Corrections Office.
Fingerprint hours are:
  • Monday thru Friday 8:30am – 4:30pm at the Community Corrections Office
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If you have been involved in a traffic crash in Mecosta County and would like to obtain a copy of that report, you may do so in person or by going online to LexisNexis. (All insurance companies seeking traffic crash reports are required to use the Docview Website.) All traffic crash reports are $9.00.

OR

You may obtain a copy of your traffic crash report Monday through Friday, between 8:30am and 4:00pm, at the Mecosta County Sheriff's Office. Please call our Records Department at 231-592-0150 to make sure your report is ready.

Incident Report

$2.00 for the first page of each report, $1.00 for each additional page. The person requesting the report must complete a Freedom of Information form and be approved by administration before the report will be released.

Freedom of Information

FOIA requests may be made in person or by mail to the Mecosta County Sheriff's Office, 225 S. Stewart, Big Rapids, MI or emailed to MCSO-FOIA@mecostasheriff.org

Note: Bad Check Collection Division for entire Mecosta County excluding City of Big Rapids