Requesting a Certified Copy
of an Iowa Birth, Death, or Marriage Certificate

For assistance with vital records, please call (563) 326-8650.

Vital records refer to official registration of births, deaths, and marriages. Certified copies of vital records can be obtained from this office once entitlement has been proven. Call the office to verify your entitlement. Certified copies are $15.00 each.

Effective March 13, 2006, the request must be signed in front of a notary public and include a clear photocopy of the applicant’s current government-issued photo identification.

• Application for a Search for an Iowa Vital Record.pdf (36 KB)
  Use this form for both state and local requests for a certified copy of an Iowa vital record (Birth, Death, or Marriage Certificate).

Use the chart below to determine the office to contact for your record.

Record	Location
Vital Records: 1942 - Current	Scott County Recorder's Office
Vital Records: 1921 to 1941	Iowa Department of Public Health
Vital Records: 1880 - 1920	Scott County Recorder's Office
Single-parent births before July 1, 1995	Iowa Department of Public Health
Single-parent births after July 1, 1995	Scott County Recorder's Office
Legal name changes	Iowa Department of Public Health
Adoptions	Iowa Department of Public Health
Any record ordered seal by a court of law	Iowa Department of Public Health

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• Marriage Application and License fee is $35.00. Click here for complete information about marriage application.

In Iowa, official registration of vital records (births, deaths, and marriages) began July 1, 1880.  All original records that have been registered are on file with the Iowa Department of Public Health, Bureau of Vital Records.  Statewide record searches are available from the state registrar.  Local registrars are located in county recorders offices and maintain records of birth, death and marriages that have occurred in that county.

County registrars, however, do not have code authority to have on record:

• single-parent births prior to July 1, 1995;
• adoptions;
• any record ordered seal by a court of law;
• birth, death, and marriages between the years 1921 to 1941.

All applications for certified copies of vital record events must be in writing and completely identify the record, as well as satisfactorily establish entitlement to the record being requested. Entitled persons include the person named on the record or that person's spouse, children, legal parents, grandparents, grandchildren, siblings, or legal representative or guardian. Legal guardians and representatives must also provide additional proof of guardianship or representation.

Application for a certified copy requires a fee of $15 for the record search and includes one certified copy. Each additional copy of the same record is also $15. If the record is not located, the applicant receives a notification to that affect. The $15 fee is retained for the search. Fees are payable by check or money order made out to the issuing registrar's office (i.e., Iowa Department of Public Health for state-certified, county recorder's office for county-certified).