Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Ohio Public Records

By Ben Kingsley


If you are looking for public records Ohio, then you might find this article helpful in your search. There are several options or ways for you to obtain public records in Ohio. In fact, one can obtain these records through phone, mail, online ordering and even by in-person or walk-in application.

Public records such as births and deaths are available from the State's Local Vital Statistics Office and can be requested through the local County Health Department Office. The State's Office however only has abstracts or indexes for marriage and death records and as such certified copies are not issued. Certified Marriage certificates and divorce decrees are available from the County Clerk Office and the Probate Court where these were issued and granted.

To obtain birth and death records, researchers can check out the Office of Vital Statistics. The Office has a large database and in fact has records that date back to 1908 for births and 1954 for death records. Some records though might no longer be accessible from the Office, as they have already been moved to the Ohio Historical Society for archiving. These records are those that are 125 years old (for births) and 50 years old (for deaths). To obtain copies, one can request for plain paper copies of the record from the Ohio Historical Society.

To get records from the Office of Vital Statistics, one can visit the records office during weekdays and fill up a request form. The cost for each certificate is $21.50 and this can be paid through cash, money order, credit card or check payment method. Same day issuance is available; take note that for those who requested after the 4:30pm cut-off, the service is not guaranteed. One can however pick up the records at a later date or have the records mailed to them.

For the mailing process, those who request the records must send the payment through money order or check. Each record costs about $21.50 each. Processing time takes about 3 weeks. For online ordering, the person requesting the records can place their order to the State Office or to their county health department and pay the order with credit cards. Processing time is 3 weeks; however, processing can be shortened in some counties or city health departments depending on the volume of the requests that the office may have received. Fees of counties and cities can vary from that of the state's office.

The Office also provides searching services for those who are unsure of the exact year the event occurred. Each search service would cost $3 and covers up to 10 years. The search fees double in multiples of 10. For example, when a person wants to cover 20 years in the search, they have to pay $6. The search fee is in addition to the records fee that one has to pay. For researchers who do not need the certified copies or need only basic information, they can check out online public record sites that offer free basic public records search. Alternatively, for full access, they may be charged a minimal fee. This is the fastest and the most convenient way to retrieve information.




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