State office vs. county office
Valdez-Cordova County sits within Alaska, which means birth and death records are held by the state — the Alaska Bureau of Vital Statistics at 5441 Commercial Blvd, Juneau, AK 99801, reachable at (907) 465-3391. The state agency holds the official copies of birth and death events that occurred anywhere in Valdez-Cordova County since statewide registration began in 1913.
Marriage licenses and divorce decrees, however, are typically handled at the county level: marriage licenses by the Valdez-Cordova County Clerk, divorces by the trial court (superior, circuit, or district court depending on Alaska's naming convention) sitting in Valdez-Cordova County. Pick a record type below for the specific routing.
Records for Valdez-Cordova County
Birth Certificates
Birth certificate guide for Valdez-Cordova County.
Open guide → Valdez-CordovaDeath Records
Death certificate guide for Valdez-Cordova County.
Open guide → Valdez-CordovaMarriage Licenses
Marriage license guide for Valdez-Cordova County.
Open guide → Valdez-CordovaDivorce Decrees
Divorce decree guide for Valdez-Cordova County.
Open guide →Quick reference
| State | Alaska (AK) |
|---|---|
| Statewide office | Alaska Bureau of Vital Statistics |
| State office address | 5441 Commercial Blvd, Juneau, AK 99801 |
| State office phone | (907) 465-3391 |
| Statewide registration since | 1913 |
| Standard turnaround | 4-6 weeks by mail; 1-2 weeks in person |
About Valdez-Cordova County
Valdez-Cordova County is one of the larger counties in Alaska by population, which means its courthouse handles a high volume of marriage license applications and divorce filings each year. Higher-volume counties typically offer more flexible request channels — in-person, mail, fax, and increasingly online — and frequently maintain a public-facing case search for civil filings, including divorce indexes.
If you are uncertain whether your event was filed in Valdez-Cordova County rather than a neighboring county, consider both the address listed on the original document (if you have a copy) and where the parties were living at the time of filing. For old marriage licenses in particular, the license was issued in the county where the couple applied — not necessarily where they were married.
If you are out of state and unable to visit the courthouse in person, this remote document-retrieval comparison outlines the trade-offs between mailing a request, using the state's approved online vendor, and hiring an authorized agent.
Tips for working with the county courthouse
- Call before you visit. County clerk and court clerk hours vary, and some windows close earlier than the rest of the courthouse for cash handling.
- Bring exact change or a money order for older records that may not be in the credit-card system.
- For divorces, know the case number if you can — the clerk may charge a per-name search fee on top of the per-page copy fee if a full lookup is required.
- For marriage records older than the county's digital index, expect a longer wait while staff retrieve the physical book.