Sunday, September 1, 2013

Iowa Public Records Available Online

Iowa Public Records Available Online

By Ben Kingsley


Should you wish to obtain vital records in Iowa, you can either acquire such record straight from the Vital Records Division, Department of Public Health or from the County Clerk's office where the event occurred. Pursuant to the Public Records law, all state agencies and institutions are accountable to the citizenry. It broadly creates a presumption that records created and held by public agencies are public. Free Iowa public records consist of births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, and deaths documented on registers and certificates.

In requesting a copy of any vital record, an application for must be filled out and acquiesced together with the corresponding fee required for a particular vital record. Such application form can be downloaded from the Department's website or obtained directly from the said office. Additionally, a personal check or money order should be made payable to the state's Department of Public Health. Written requests for certified copies of vital records will not be accepted unless they include a clear photocopy of the applicant's current government-issued photo ID and the applicant's notarized signature.

Vital records that are available in the said office and in the county clerk's office only cover specific dates. For instance, records of birth that date back to July 1880 up to present are the only birth records available from such agencies. Each copy of a birth record costs $15. For marriage and divorce records, only those recorded from 1880 to present are available. A copy of a marriage certificate is $15 whilst a copy of a divorce decree costs around $6 depending on which county the divorce was granted. For divorce records, it is advised that you contact the Clerk of the District in the county where the divorce was filed and settled. Death records that are only obtainable are those documented from 1880 up to present and a copy of such is worth $15. However, records prior 1904 do not include parents' names. State law restricts access to the registrant and family members, genealogists representing the family, or others with a tangible interest.

Usually, the turnaround time for record requests takes about 4 to 6 weeks depending on what method is utilized. Ways to obtain vital records in the state of Iowa are through walk-in or in person, via phone, mail, or online. If you want to get the vital records personally, then you can go to any agency mentioned above. For marriage and divorce records, you can choose to go to the District Clerk's office where the marriage license was issued or where the divorce was filed and approved. In any of these agencies, you are required to bring with you the abovementioned requisites. The vital record you have requested for will be mailed to you the following business day.

In appealing for a copy of vital record, you can also call the Vital Statistics Division. Their phone number can be obtained from the website of the Department of Public Health. The turnaround time for requests via phone is 7 to 21 days depending on the volume of requests in their office. If your request is returned to you via regular mail, expect that this will take 5 days before you receive it. This goes for mail requests as well as mail orders take 5 business days to reach the Vital Records Office, and an additional 5 business days to be returned to you. However, the turnaround time for such requests depends on the volume of requests and may take up to 20 business days. The only requests accepted by mail are genealogy requests. Such requests require a minimum of 30 business days processing.

If you want to obtain vital records with ease and deftness, then pull a quick online record review. The State's Bureau of Vital Statistics, Department of Public Health has affiliated with an independent company called VitalCheck to provide online services. An additional fee is charged by VitalCheck though for such service. Moreover, if you want to obtain government records free of charge, then you can resort to other independent online records providers. Online record providers range from free to fee based. They only require you a minimal fee and with such fee, you can already have access to their database where all government records in the state can be obtained. What's more, instead of the usual days to month turnaround time, they can give you comprehensive results in just minutes. Indeed, with such providers, you will be able to save money, time, and effort.




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