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.
To start with, birth and death records are usually available from the State’s Vital Office section or the County Department where the event occurred. For divorce decrees and marriage certificates, reports are available from the probate court or the county clerk where the cases were filed and granted. Marriage and divorce records are not obtainable from the Vital Records Office; however, the Office has an index or abstract of marriage and divorce reports, which can be useful for one to locate the actual court or county where the papers were filed 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.
For certified copies coming from the State’s Vital Office, walk in or in person is accepted. The Office is open during weekdays but is closed during state holidays. Researchers can go to the Office during business hours and fill up the request form. Payment for each record is at $21.50 each. The Office accepts money order, credit cards, cash and check payments. Records can be obtained on the day itself; however, for requests made after 4:30pm, same day release is not guaranteed. Researchers can however request to have the records mailed or picked up at a day they prefer.
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.
For those who are unfamiliar or do not know when the actual event took place, they can avail of the extra service that the Office offers. The search service costs about $3 for up to 10 years coverage. For more than the 10 years, the fee doubles for every 10 years added to the search. It would take up to 6 months or more for the processing to be completed. Another option open for those who only require basic information is to check out public search websites that offer public records search. The websites usually offer free basic search and charge a minimal fee for full detailed reports and this would be the easiest way for one to find records that they need.
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