Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel sued the Hoffmann Family of Companies on Thursday, November 12, 2026, accusing the Florida-based firm of illegally monopolizing passenger ferry service to Mackinac Island and the long-term parking that island travellers depend on. The antitrust complaint, filed in Ingham County Circuit Court in Lansing under the Michigan Antitrust Reform Act, names nine defendants, including Hoffmann Family of Companies, Hoffmann Marine, Shepler's Mackinac Island Ferry and Arnold Transit, along with affiliated holding and real-estate companies. The claims are allegations in a court filing; they have not been proven in court.
Source: MLive
WCMU Public Media reported the same filing from Nessel's Thursday press conference, where she said the company had “leveraged massive power” by threatening to suspend ferry services to the island if officials did not comply on pricing. Hoffmann Marine told WCMU it was disappointed by the lawsuit and believes it is not violating state or federal antitrust laws.
Source: WCMU Public Media
What the state alleges
According to the complaint, as reported by MLive and 9&10 News, Hoffmann bought a controlling stake in Shepler's Mackinac Island Ferry in March 2022 and then bought the Mackinac Island Ferry Company — the former Star Line, now operating as Arnold Transit — in June 2024. With both ferry lines under one owner, the state says, Hoffmann now controls every commercial passenger ferry dock serving the island and about 80 percent of long-term parking near the mainland terminals in Mackinaw City and St. Ignace, the two towns where travellers leave their cars before crossing the Straits of Mackinac.
The filing points to prices island travellers now pay: an adult round-trip ticket runs $39 on Shepler's and $37 on Arnold Transit before added fees, and both lines have filed plans for another $2 increase in 2027, The Mitten Daily reported. At her press conference, Nessel argued the company charges two to three times more than operators running shorter routes to other Great Lakes islands — that comparison is the attorney general's claim, presented as part of the state's case, and the company disputes the lawsuit's account of its conduct.
Source: The Mitten Daily
That is how Attorney General Dana Nessel described the case at her Thursday news conference, reported by 9&10 News. She is asking a judge to force Hoffmann Marine to sell ferry assets — including a forced sale of the Mackinac Island Ferry Company — to restore competition at the Straits.
The company's answer
Hoffmann Marine said in its statement that it is disappointed by the lawsuit and does not believe it is violating state or federal antitrust laws. It also pointed to the separate federal litigation between the ferry operators and the City of Mackinac Island, noting that, in its words, “the federal court has already twice rejected the City of Mackinac Island's antitrust claims in its federal litigation against us.” That federal history is real context for this new case, but it is not a ruling on the state's complaint: Nessel's suit is brought by Michigan itself, under state law, in state court, and no judge has yet heard or decided it.
Source: WCMU Public Media
A fight years in the making
Thursday's lawsuit is the newest chapter in a dispute that has been building since the two ferry companies came under one owner. Litigation between the operators and the City of Mackinac Island began in March 2025 over the city's power to regulate fares; a similar antitrust suit brought by the island government itself was dismissed for lack of standing, a problem Nessel says the state does not have. In March 2026, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the city could regulate ferry fares while the federal litigation continued. In April 2026, after Hoffmann's companies sent letters saying they reserved the right to stop operating for the 2027 season if franchise extensions were not reached on acceptable terms, Nessel publicly urged the two sides into mediation; the current franchise agreements expire on June 30, 2027.
The island's own voters weighed in days before the filing: on November 3, 2026, Mackinac Island residents approved a charter amendment by 465 votes to 42, giving the city authority over ferry fees and mainland parking charges. Mackinac Island is a car-free community in Lake Huron whose residents, workers and large seasonal visitor economy have no road in or out — the ferries from Mackinaw City and St. Ignace are the island's lifeline for people, food and supplies for most of the year, which is why control of the boats and the mainland parking lots carries unusual weight here compared with an ordinary tourist attraction.
What happens next
The state is seeking a court-ordered breakup, including the forced sale of the Mackinac Island Ferry Company, plus restitution for residents and businesses it says were overcharged, repayment of profits, civil penalties and treble damages under the Michigan Antitrust Reform Act, and it has requested a jury trial, 9&10 News reported. The defendants must now respond in Ingham County Circuit Court; no hearing date or ruling has been announced. Nessel, whose term ends in January because of term limits, said Attorney General-elect Eli Savit is aware of the lawsuit and supports continuing it, so the case is set to outlive her time in office whichever way the first rulings go.
Source: 9&10 News