:: County

County Records

Sherriff’s Office

The Sherriff is an elected official and his/her office maintains county records regarding crime, subpoenas, warrants and extensive jail records. 

This information is difficult to get to without going through the district attorney and having properly prepared requests.  Be prepared to appear in person, with an attorney and do your research about procedure first. 

Birth, Death And Marriage

When searching for these records, they can usually be located at both the county and states vital statistics office.  They can be accessed in person or by mail but be prepared to pay a fee and have the following information handy:

• Subject’s full name
• Gender and race
• Subject’s parents full names including mother’s maiden name
• Date of birth
• Place of birth including hospital
• Purpose for which the information is needed
• Relationship to the subject

Birth

Anyone but an adoptee can request and receive copies of an original birth certificate. 

An adoptee will only receive an amended certificate which has all of the identifying information removed.  This includes: the names, ages and places birth of natural  parents, the name of the certifier (physician), and the name of the registrar (county). 

But for our use, there are two items which are usually not deleted and these are the official number that is filed by date of birth in each county.   An adoptee who has these two things from the amended birth certificate and knows what county he was born in may be able to search county records and match up the amended certificate with the original one and find out his/her natural birth name. 

This can be very helpful in discovering the natural parents names.

Death

To obtain death records, the first place to contact is the Social Security office.  If the subject died under normal circumstances, this is the first place contacted. 

If the subject died and was separated from his/her ID (ie driver’s license, Social Security card) the coroner’s office would make all attempts to identify him/her through fingerprints, dental records, X-rays, scars, etc.

If this fails, the subjects particulars are turned over to the  county and such records as there are remain there.  If the decedent is identified but is not claimed, the name is registered with the states vital statistics office and the information may also be retained at the county level. 

These are good places to check.

When applying for these records, plan to supply the basic information listed above except for place of birth.  Include the date and place of death if known.

Marriage

An application for a marriage certificate is the source of a lot of information:

• full names
• dates of birth
• ages
• number of marriages
• date of last marriage
• if the last marriage ended it will show the date
• if it ended in divorce, annulment or death 
• birthplace of a former spouse
• grooms present address
• occupations
• type of employment
• last grade completed
• groom’s father’s name
• mother’s maiden name
• where both were born. 

The marriage certificate itself has some of this information and also includes:

• type of ceremony
• both parties religions
• name of the person who performed the ceremony
• names of the witnesses.

These records are usually filed at the county where the marriage took place and in some states you can find them in the states vital statistics office. 

Unless the couple asks that they be sealed, these are public records and should be available for a fee.

You will need to supply the basic information listed above as well as:

• Names of both the bride and groom and any nicknames
• Their address at the time of the marriage
• date of marriage
• place of marriage

Related Websites

• 450 Random Useless Facts
• U.S. Soldiers Challenge Commander-in-Chief
• How to Catch Salmon, Sturgeon, Lingcod, Rockfish, and Halibut Along the Pacific Coast: Fish On!

Tagged with: adoptee • birth death and marriage • jail records • natural birth • natural parents • parents names • sherriff • social security card • social security office • vital statistics office

Filed under: Step 3

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!