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    • How to obtain copies of Iowa vital records, such as Iowa birth certificates, Iowa death records, Iowa marriage licenses & Iowa divorce decrees. See the guidelines for general information on how to order vital records. Check the related links for additional vital records and genealogical information on Iowa.

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      Please Note: The information contained on these pages is not guaranteed, as addresses and prices change frequently. It is recommended that you confirm the price and address by calling the vital records office before you place your order. This web site is not associated with any government office.

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      Iowa State Vital Records Office Information

        Iowa Department of Public Health
        Bureau of Vital Statistics
        Lucas State Office Building, 1st Floor
        321 East 12th Street
        Des Moines, IA 50319
        (515) 281-4944 recording
        Find Lost Family and Friends

        Iowa prefers you get all Vital Records from the State Office in Des Moines and NOT at the County Clerk's office.

        Written requests: You must complete the Application for Copy of a Vital Record form and attach a check or money order payable to the Iowa Department of Public Health.

        Phone requests: Credit cards currently being accepted include American Express, Discover, Mastercard, and Visa for an additional $5.50 processing fee. NOTE: Due to the volume of calls received daily, callers may expect to hold the line (possibly 20 minutes or more) while waiting for the next available operator. Also, credit cards may not be used to pay for family history requests.

        Requests for the purpose of family history take at least 60 days, regardless of the method of request.

        Please Note: Effective January 1, 2005, all state and county fees will increase to $15 for searches and certified copies of records.

      • Search Iowa Databases online for birth, marriage, census, death, immigration, naturalization, military records and more at Ancestry
      • Search the Social Security Death Index online for FREE

        Record Cost Dates Ordering
        Birth$15.00since July 1880Mail Order

        Commemorative Birth$35.00Mail Order

        Death$15.00since July 1880Mail Order

      • Click here to search the Social Security Death Index

      • Marriage$15.00since July 1880Mail Order

        Commemorative Marriage$35.00Mail Order

        Divorcesince 1906
        Brief statistical records only

        Census1790 through 1940Search U.S. Federal Census Records Online

        *** The mail order form can be downloaded and viewed by using Adobe Acrobat Software


      Index to Iowa County Vital Records Offices

        Iowa prefers you get all Vital Records from the State Office in Des Moines, NOT at the County Recorder's office.

        At the county level, all vital records occurring in that county (excluding fetal death, adoptive records, and out-of-wedlock births prior to July 1, 1995) are open to the public for inspection. County offices may set and charge a reasonable fee to inspect the records.

        To secure a certified copy of a record from the county-of-event, applicants must have direct or tangible interest in the record. In other words, you must be the registrant (person named on the record) or have a lineal relationship to the registrant, such as a legal parent, grandparent, spouse, brother, sister, child, legal guardian, or legal representative. All requests or applications for each certificate must be in writing and include the purpose for the certificate. County registrars do not have code authority to have the following on record: 1) Single-parent births prior to July 1, 1995; 2) Adoptions; 3) Any record ordered seal by a court of law; 4) Birth, death, and marriage records between the years 1921 to 1941.

        Follow this link to Rootsweb to determine what county a city or town is in.

          Adair .   Adams .   Allamakee .   Appanoose .   Audubon .   Benton .   Black Hawk .   Boone .   Bremer .   Buchanan .   Buena Vista .   Butler .   Calhoun .   Carroll .   Cass .   Cedar .   Cerro Gordo .   Cherokee .   Chickasaw .   Clarke .   Clay .   Clayton .   Clinton .   Crawford .   Dallas .   Davis .   Decatur .   Delaware .   Des Moines .   Dickinson .   Dubuque .   Emmet .   Fayette .   Floyd .   Franklin .   Fremont .   Greene .   Grundy .   Guthrie .   Hamilton .   Hancock .   Hardin .   Harrison .   Henry .   Howard .   Humboldt .   Ida .   Iowa .   Jackson .   Jasper .   Jefferson .   Johnson .   Jones .   Keokuk .   Kossuth .   Lee .   Linn .   Louisa .   Lucas .   Lyon .   Madison .   Mahaska .   Marion .   Marshall .   Mills .   Mitchell .   Monona .   Monroe .   Montgomery .   Muscatine .   O'Brien .   Osceola .   Page .   Palo Alto .   Plymouth .   Pocahontas .   Polk .   Pottawattamie .   Poweshiek .   Ringgold .   Sac .   Scott .   Shelby .   Sioux .   Story .   Tama .   Taylor .   Union .   Van Buren .   Wapello .   Warren .   Washington .   Wayne .   Webster .   Winnebago .   Winneshiek .   Woodbury .   Worth .   Wright .  



      Using Iowa Vital Records to Make Your Family Tree

        You have made the right decision to record your family history. It is such a noble way to honor your heritage, and this historical document can be a resource for generations to come. Fortunately, the resources available to you in this day and age can help you trace your ancestry very easily. All you have to do is have patience. Your time and effort in this genealogical project will be well worth it. You may not even know it, but you can get started on your family tree without libraries, computers, or public records departments. Just talking to uncles, sisters, or grandmothers might be the spark you need to sprout the roots to your family tree.

        Getting Started on Your Family Tree

        Unless you’ve been in the doghouse every year for forgetting a birthday, you know your spouse’s birthday. Also, you probably know the dates of birth for most of your family members. You can fill in the initial blanks on your family tree by writing down the dates of birth and death of the family members you can recall. Perhaps another family member—a great-aunt, a nephew, a sister-in-law—is interested in genealogy. The recording of your family history can also be a family affair.

        Once you’ve established which branches have correct dates of birth and death, it’s essential to have a game plan. Like any big project that takes lots of time, you may be best to tackle smaller portions of the family tree project. If you feel like you can gather information from your father’s side more quickly, you might first fill in this data. You will feel like you have accomplished quite a bit on your genealogical job when you can see how much you’ve written down. Then, knowing that you can do this ancestry activity, you can start to see how much you know about your mother’s side. By talking to family members and conducting initial research, you may discover that you know more than you thought about this side of the family.

        Digging Deeper to Research Your Family’s History

        The first branches have life, so now it’s time to see your family tree grow larger. Investigating the Iowa vital records will give you the information you need to expand your profile of descendants. The birth certificates and death records are Iowa vital records. This data, if you need to know where to find such important ancestral evidence, is simple to find. The state offers this information to the public in one place: the Iowa vital records location. Savvy searching on the internet can get you to this accessible place. It will behoove you to visit genealogy websites and forums for more advice on how to expand and/or complete your family tree.

        Genealogy is such a rich and rewarding activity. This hobby has brought many people who share the interest of ancestry and family history together. Researching the history of local families can be enriching to an entire community. Thankfully, the Iowa vital records provides you with accurate information about the state’s citizens, giving you the evidence you need to document generations of loved ones.


      Searchable Databases and other Helpful Links

      • Iowa USGenWeb Project
        genealogical gateway to the state and counties
      • Search Iowa Databases Online
        Search for birth, marriage, census, death, immigration, naturalization, military records and more at Ancestry
      • Now Available! Family Tree Maker 2012!
        the bestselling, easy-to-use family tree software will help you create, grow, and share the story of your own
      • Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet - Iowa
        your genealogy starting point online for more than a decade!
      • Iowa Census Records at CensusFinder
        features a directory of census records available online for Iowa
      • Genealogy Today
        unique collection of databases and innovative search tools, original articles from experienced genealogists
      • Iowa Marriages to 1850
      • Iowa Marriages, 1851-1900
      • Iowa Union Soldier Burial Records
        Listing of 30,000 Civil War veterans who served or lived in Iowa following the war at Ancestry
      • Iowa Cemetery Records

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