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About VitalRecordsHub

VitalRecordsHub is an independent guide to obtaining certified vital records in the United States. We collect, organize, and re-publish the official information that state Departments of Health, county clerks, and superior courts post about birth certificates, death records, marriage licenses, and divorce decrees — and we present it in a single place so you do not have to hunt across fifty separate state websites.

What we do

For each US state and the District of Columbia, we maintain a profile of the office that issues certified vital records: the official name of the office, its mailing address and phone number, the current fees for each record type, the typical turnaround time for mail and in-person requests, and the year that statewide registration of births and deaths began. For each of the four core record types — birth, death, marriage, and divorce — we explain who is allowed to order a certified copy, what identification is required, and which alternative routes (county clerks, superior courts, online vendors approved by the state) exist.

We also maintain detailed county-level pages for the most populous counties in each state, since marriage licenses and divorce decrees are typically issued and held at the county level rather than by the state vital records office.

What we are not

VitalRecordsHub is not a government agency. We do not process applications, accept payments on behalf of any office, issue certificates, or have access to any non-public record. Every certified copy must be ordered directly from the official agency listed on the relevant page.

We are also not affiliated with VitalChek, USAGov, the CDC, or any state health department. Where we link to those sites, we do so to send you to the authoritative source — never to suggest sponsorship or endorsement.

How we compile information

Our state and county profiles are compiled from three primary public sources: the USAGov vital records index at usa.gov/vital-records, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's NCHS "Where to Write for Vital Records" directory at cdc.gov/nchs/w2w, and the individual websites of the state Departments of Health and Bureaus of Vital Statistics. Where a state delegates marriage or divorce records to a county clerk or superior court, we cross-reference the county website itself.

Fees, processing times, and office addresses change. We re-check each state profile on a rolling basis, but you should always verify the latest fee on the official agency website before mailing a check.

Editorial standards

We aim for plain English. We avoid telling readers their request is "easy" or "fast" — both of those words mean different things in different states — and we try to flag the small number of states with unusually long backlogs (notably California and New York, which can take several months for some record types). When we are uncertain, we say so and link to the official source.

Corrections are welcome. If you spot an outdated fee, a closed office, or an incorrect link, please let us know.