State office vs. county office
Thurston County sits within Washington, which means birth and death records are held by the state — the Washington State Department of Health, Center for Health Statistics at 101 Israel Rd SE, Tumwater, WA 98501, reachable at (360) 236-4300. The state agency holds the official copies of birth and death events that occurred anywhere in Thurston County since statewide registration began in 1907.
Marriage licenses and divorce decrees, however, are typically handled at the county level: marriage licenses by the Thurston County Clerk, divorces by the trial court (superior, circuit, or district court depending on Washington's naming convention) sitting in Thurston County. Pick a record type below for the specific routing.
Records for Thurston County
Birth Certificates
Birth certificate guide for Thurston County.
Open guide → ThurstonDeath Records
Death certificate guide for Thurston County.
Open guide → ThurstonMarriage Licenses
Marriage license guide for Thurston County.
Open guide → ThurstonDivorce Decrees
Divorce decree guide for Thurston County.
Open guide →Quick reference
| State | Washington (WA) |
|---|---|
| Statewide office | Washington State Department of Health, Center for Health Statistics |
| State office address | 101 Israel Rd SE, Tumwater, WA 98501 |
| State office phone | (360) 236-4300 |
| Statewide registration since | 1907 |
| Standard turnaround | 4-8 weeks by mail |
About Thurston County
Thurston County is one of the larger counties in Washington 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 Thurston 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.