State office vs. county office
Orange County sits within New York, which means birth and death records are held by the state — the New York State Department of Health, Vital Records at 800 N. Pearl St, Menands, NY 12204, reachable at (518) 474-3077. The state agency holds the official copies of birth and death events that occurred anywhere in Orange County since statewide registration began in 1880.
Marriage licenses and divorce decrees, however, are typically handled at the county level: marriage licenses by the Orange County Clerk, divorces by the trial court (superior, circuit, or district court depending on New York's naming convention) sitting in Orange County. Pick a record type below for the specific routing.
Records for Orange County
Birth Certificates
Birth certificate guide for Orange County.
Open guide → OrangeDeath Records
Death certificate guide for Orange County.
Open guide → OrangeMarriage Licenses
Marriage license guide for Orange County.
Open guide → OrangeDivorce Decrees
Divorce decree guide for Orange County.
Open guide →Quick reference
| State | New York (NY) |
|---|---|
| Statewide office | New York State Department of Health, Vital Records |
| State office address | 800 N. Pearl St, Menands, NY 12204 |
| State office phone | (518) 474-3077 |
| Statewide registration since | 1880 |
| Standard turnaround | 6-8 months by mail (NYC handled separately) |
About Orange County
Orange County is one of the larger counties in New York 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 Orange 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.