What if I don’t know the date or location of a record? (Searching Procedures)

The State of Ohio Vital Statistics Office maintains birth and death certificates, and marriage and divorce indexes (1954 to present).  The following chart illustrates the beginning dates of vital records that are kept in our office.

• Birth or death records prior to 1908 are located in the probate court of county where birth/death occurred.

• Death records from Dec. 20, 1908 through December 31, 1953 are at the Ohio Historical Society.

• Marriage records prior to 1949 are located in the probate court of county where marriage occurred.

• Divorce records prior to 1949 are located in the county clerk of courts where the divorce occurred.

• Marriage and Divorce abstracts from Jan. 1, 1949 to Dec. 31, 1953 are at the Ohio Historical Society.

To request a 10-year search, a $3 fee is assessed for every 10-year period searched.  If the spelling of the last name is unknown, then each spelling difference will require an additional searching fee (e.g. Green, Greene-$3 for each name searched).  If the request is located and you would like a certified legal copy, an additional charge of $16.50 is required with the order (for birth and death records only).

Searches for certified copy(s) of records can take 3 to 5 weeks to process.

Submit a written, signed request providing as much information known for this event, such as name, date, city and county.  If all information is not known, simply give as much information as possible.  Send a written, signed request with payment, in the form of a check or money order drawn on a U.S. bank, made payable to Treasurer, State of Ohio.  Please do not send cash. It should be sent to:

Ohio Department of Health
Revenue Room
246 North High Street
P.O. Box 15098
Columbus, OH 43215-0098

Last Reviewed: 7/31/08