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. 

County Index:

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

Please email the webmaster with corrections or suggestions. 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.