Ohio birth, death, marriage and divorce records: where to look
Ohio's state office holds birth records from December 20, 1908 and death records only from 1971; earlier deaths are with the Ohio History Connection and local health departments. Marriage and divorce are county records.
At a glance
| Record | Years at the state | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Birth | Births from December 20, 1908. (The ordering page says birth records older than 125 years may be moved to the Ohio History Connection.) [1][2] | $21.50 search fee, charged whether or not a record is found. [1] |
| Death | State office: 1971 to present. All pre-1971 deaths are in the custody of the Ohio History Connection, which lists death certificates 1908 to 1970 for research. [1][3] | $21.50 search fee for birth or death. [1] |
| Marriage | Not confirmed on the official pages we read. | Not confirmed on the official pages we read. |
| Divorce | Not confirmed on the official pages we read. | Not confirmed on the official pages we read. |
Superscript numbers point to the official page each fact came from, listed at the bottom of this page.
Birth records
- Where it is kept
- The state Bureau of Vital Statistics, or one of more than 100 local health department offices that can give same-day copies. [1][2]
- Years covered
- Births from December 20, 1908. (The ordering page says birth records older than 125 years may be moved to the Ohio History Connection.) [1][2]
- Who can get a certified copy
- Ohio law says the registrar issues a certified copy of a vital record to any applicant who signs an application and pays the fee, unless the record has stopped being public. Limits: the medical and health section of a birth record is left off unless the person, a parent or guardian, a lineal descendant or a law-enforcement official asks for it; for five years after a death the Social Security number is left off unless a listed person (such as the spouse, a lineal descendant, executor, or attorney) asks for it. [4]
- Fee
- $21.50 search fee, charged whether or not a record is found. [1]
- Processing time
- Online: processed within 5 business days, about 3 weeks delivery. Mail: typically 4 to 6 weeks. [1]
The state says not to order online for genealogy; use the mail application for that.
Death records
- Where it is kept
- The state office for deaths from 1971 on. Earlier deaths: the local health department where the death occurred (certified copies), or the Ohio History Connection (research). [1][2][3]
- Years covered
- State office: 1971 to present. All pre-1971 deaths are in the custody of the Ohio History Connection, which lists death certificates 1908 to 1970 for research. [1][3]
- Who can get a certified copy
- Ohio law says the registrar issues a certified copy of a vital record to any applicant who signs an application and pays the fee, unless the record has stopped being public. Limits: the medical and health section of a birth record is left off unless the person, a parent or guardian, a lineal descendant or a law-enforcement official asks for it; for five years after a death the Social Security number is left off unless a listed person (such as the spouse, a lineal descendant, executor, or attorney) asks for it. [4]
- Fee
- $21.50 search fee for birth or death. [1]
- Processing time
- Same as birth: about 3 weeks by online order, 4 to 6 weeks by mail. [1]
State: how to order certificates Ohio History Connection: archives and library
Marriage records
- Where it is kept
- Not kept by the state. Copies come from the county probate court where the license was issued. [2]
- Years covered
- Not confirmed on the official pages we read.
- Who can get a certified copy
- Not confirmed on the official pages we read.
- Fee
- Not confirmed on the official pages we read.
- Processing time
- Not confirmed on the official pages we read.
Divorce records
- Where it is kept
- Not kept by the state. Decrees come from the county where the divorce was finalized; the state points to the Ohio County Clerks Association list for clerk contacts. [2]
- Years covered
- Not confirmed on the official pages we read.
- Who can get a certified copy
- Not confirmed on the official pages we read.
- Fee
- Not confirmed on the official pages we read.
- Processing time
- Not confirmed on the official pages we read.
Archives and other places to look
- The Ohio History Connection Archives & Library (Columbus) has a research guide for Ohio death certificates 1908 to 1970 and is open by appointment on Thursdays and Fridays. Its page does not say whether any index is online or free. [3][1] Ohio History Connection: archives and library
The National Archives describes FamilySearch.org as free with account creation (see our census page), but we could not open FamilySearch's own pages, so we do not describe what it holds for Ohio.
Historical newspapers
The Library of Congress's Chronicling America lists 219 digitized newspaper titles published in Ohio, with issues dated from September 19, 1812 to December 27, 1963. Coverage is uneven inside that span: it is a list of titles, not a promise that every town or year is there. Chronicling America includes select digitized newspapers through 1963.
Browse Ohio titles at the Library of Congress
New to newspaper research? See our guide to finding old newspapers (obituaries, marriage notices, birth announcements).
Counts come from the Library of Congress's "All Digitized Titles" list, read October 27, 2026. The Library of Congress says it believes these newspapers are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions.
How we verified this page
Last verified October 27, 2026. Offices change fees and rules without notice. If something here no longer matches the official page, trust the official page.
Confirmed on official pages
- State birth records from December 20, 1908; state death records from 1971 only.
- Pre-1971 deaths are with the Ohio History Connection and local health departments.
- $21.50 search fee for a birth or death record, charged even if nothing is found.
- Marriage records are county probate court records; divorce decrees come from the county.
Could not verify
- Which records have actually moved to the Ohio History Connection. The ODH ordering page only says birth records older than 125 years and death records older than 50 years may be moved.
- Which Ohio office issues divorce copies. The Department of Health says county clerks, but ohio.gov's Life's Milestones page (seen only in search results) says probate court, so check the county first.
- Fees and processing at county probate courts and clerks.
- A free FamilySearch collection for Ohio. We could not open FamilySearch's pages.
Ohio Department of Health's website returned 404 to our direct download, so these pages were read through a web-fetch tool and saved as text in our evidence folder (raw/oh_*). The wording is the state's.
Sources
- ODH: How to order certificates Official state page read 2026-10-27
- ODH: Vital Statistics Official state page read 2026-10-27
- Ohio History Connection: Archives and Library Official state page read 2026-10-27
- Ohio Revised Code 3705.23: copies of vital records Official state page read 2026-10-27