Working prototype. Built by Stoa as a redesign concept for Cheboygan County. The official County site remains at cheboygancounty.net.

Cheboygan County Michigan's Shoreline County · Est. 1853

Cheboygan County · Michigan

Michigan's Shoreline County, built to get things done.

County services for the 25,600 people who live where Lake Huron meets the Inland Waterway. Clear steps, plain words, and a direct office phone number where the County provides one.

Mullett Lake, on the County's 38-mile Inland Waterway. Photo: Cbower729, CC BY-SA 4.0
About this prototype

Stoa built this working concept for the County's 2026 website redesign RFP. Everything here runs for real: the search service, the document finder, and the accessibility scoreboard. Buttons that would reach a County system point at the County's real current endpoints and say so. Document records are modeled on the County's published materials. This is not the official County site.

Underway now

Notices residents are checking

  • Flood recovery

    Flood damage self-reporting is open

    High water this spring damaged homes and shoreline. Report your property damage so the County can document impacts and connect you with repair guidance and permits.

  • Flood recovery

    Flooding and erosion guidance for property owners

    What to check before you repair, when a permit is required, and who to call about shoreline and erosion work.

  • Administration

    County seeks proposals for a new website

    The County invited qualified firms to design, build, and support a modern, secure, accessible County website. This prototype is Stoa's response.

All notices & alerts

Next public meeting

Committee of the Whole

Tuesday, June 23, 2026

9:30 a.m. · Commissioners Room, County Building, 870 South Main St.

Agendas, packets & minutes →

The Board meets the second Tuesday (Finance & Business) and fourth Tuesday (Committee of the Whole) of each month. Public comment is on every agenda.

Find your way

Where you are headed, marked plainly

County government, sorted by the moment you are in rather than by the org chart.

  • Own property here

    Taxes, assessments, the parcel viewer, deeds and land records, and the principal residence exemption.

    Property & land →
  • Build or repair something

    Building, electrical, mechanical, and plumbing permits, zoning rules, and soil-erosion permits near the water.

    Permits & zoning →
  • Go to court, pay a ticket, serve on a jury

    The 53rd Circuit, 89th District, and Probate courts, plus the Sheriff and Prosecutor.

    Courts & law enforcement →
  • Vote in 2026

    Register, request an absentee ballot, and find your polling place before the August primary and November general.

    Elections & voting →
  • Served in the armed forces

    County Veterans Service Officers help with VA claims, a certified DD‑214, and emergency relief.

    Veterans services →
  • Get on the water or the trails

    Marina slips, boat launches, the 38‑mile Inland Waterway, and 290‑plus miles of trails, the most of any Michigan county.

    Marina & recreation →

Your government

A direct line to every office

No phone trees and no runaround. Every department lists who answers, what they handle, and how to reach them.

All departments & offices

The Cheboygan Crib Light, a small white lighthouse with a red lantern roof on the Lake Huron pier at the mouth of the Cheboygan River.
45°39′N 84°28′W · Cheboygan Crib Light, 1884Photo: Eric Rae, CC BY 2.0

The channel stays open

Home port of the icebreaker, gateway to the Inland Waterway

Cheboygan is where the Coast Guard icebreaker Mackinaw ties up and where a 38‑mile chain of lakes and rivers meets Lake Huron. The county that keeps a shipping channel open through a northern Michigan winter can keep its services open too. That is the standard this site is built to.

25,579residents, 2020 Census
38 miInland Waterway, Crooked Lake to Lake Huron
290+ mirecreational trails, the most of any Michigan county
1853county organized, seat at the City of Cheboygan
The US Coast Guard cutter Mackinaw, a 240-foot icebreaker with a red hull, underway on calm water.
45°39′N 84°28′W · USCGC Mackinaw (WLBB‑30), home‑ported in CheboyganPhoto: Eric Rae, CC BY 2.0

Built for every resident

Easy to read. Easy on a phone. Measured, not promised.

More than a quarter of Cheboygan County residents are 65 or older, and many reach the County from a phone on a lake road. This prototype is mobile‑first, written in plain language, and built to WCAG 2.1 AA, the federal accessibility standard.

We did not just claim it. On June 3 we ran the same automated audit a court would use against twelve of the most‑used pages on the current County site and against this prototype, and published both scores.

123 → 0 automated accessibility failures, current site vs. this prototype, page for page

See the live scoreboard