Idaho Vital Records Research Guide

Idaho Birth, Marriage, Divorce as well as Death records, also referred to as vital records, supply specifics about crucial occasions in your ancestors life.

Vital records, generally stored by a civic office, gives you a much more complete picture of your respective ancestor, assist you to distinguish between two people with the same name, and enable you to uncover links to a completely new generation. They can include information and facts like the event date and place, parents’ names, profession and residence. The cause of death is also included in most Idaho death records.

Idaho vital records certainly are a basis of Idaho genealogy and family history research simply because they were usually documented at or close to the time of the occurrence, helping to make the document more likely to be accurate. This webpage contains links, information and facts that will help you obtain copies from Idaho state and county vital records keepers. Vital records (births, deaths, marriages, and divorces) mark the milestones of our lives and are the foundation of genealogy and family tree research.

Idaho Department of Health, issues, documents, and stores certified copies of vital records including birth, marriage, divorce death certificates for occurrences that took place in Idaho.  To verify current fees or for information on how to expedite a document, call (208) 334-5988.

• Ordering Idaho Birth and Death  Certificates: The Department of Health has Birth and Death Certificates from July 1911 to present. The fee  is $18 for births and $19 for deaths. For records from 1907 to 1911, write to County Recorder in county where event occurred. Records are legally confidential for 50 years for deaths and 100 years for births.
• Ordering Idaho Marriage and Divorce Certificates:  The Department of Health  has Marriage Certificates from May 1947 to present. The fee  is $18. Earlier records are with County Recorder in county where license was issued. Records are legally confidential for 50 years. The fee for the copy varies.

• Physical Address: Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics, 450 W. State St., 1st Floor, Boise, ID 83720; (208) 334-5988
• Mailing Address: Vital Records Unit, Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics, P.O. Box 83720, Boise, ID 83720-0036. All mail orders should include a Personal check or money order made payable to Idaho Vital Statistics. Do not send cash.
• Website Address: http://www.healthandwelfare.idaho.gov/Health/VitalRecordsandHealthStatistics/
• Ordering Vital Records Online – get the certificates within 2-5 days with a credit or debit card from USAVital.com or VitalChek.com
• Ordering Vital Records by Mail: You can download an application online for Idaho Birth, Marriage, Divorce and Death Certificates Applications. Please allow up to 4-6 weeks for processing of all type of certificates ordered through the mail.

Idaho counties were not required to record deaths and births until 1907. Up until that point, some records were kept, but only by doctors, midwives, morticians, and churches. Those records that still exist are incomplete.

The same year that counties were required to record deaths and births, physicians and midwives also started to be required to do the same. Physicians and clergymen who attended dying people, or undertakers or coroners who took care of the dead bodies, were responsible for death registrations and, in many cases, making burial plans. The county recorder was responsible for keeping records of that information.

As of 1911, the state took over keeping records of deaths and births, all of which had to be reported directly to them. Most of the death and birth records for the years 1907 to 1911 have been microfilmed. They are available at the Family History Library (FHL).

There were no laws regarding divorces and marriages in Idaho Territory until 1864. Around that time, the Legislative Assembly ordered marriage contract and certificate record books to be kept. However, the law didn’t specify that marriage contracts had to be in writing. Not only that, but even written marriage records didn’t need to be recorded in public records or files. Therefore, some early Idaho Territory marriage records were matters of public record, but many were never recorded publicly at all.

County courthouses hold all records from years before 1895. Many county marriage records are also on file in microfilmed form at the FHL. The “Western States Historical Marriage Record Index” is an excellent Idaho marriage license resource. It can be found on the website for the Brigham Young University-Idaho. Records covered in the index span from the days when Idaho was a territory up until the 1930s. There are even some records for as late as the 1950s included in the index.

The first Territorial Legislative Assembly passed an act in 1864. That act gave the Idaho district court system jurisdiction over all cases involving divorces. Annulment and divorce documents were filed along with other court cases involving civil matters.

Starting in 1911, death and birth certificates were recorded in Idaho at the state level. That practice wasn’t started for divorce and marriage records until 1947. Researchers must write to Vital Statistics Unit, Idaho Department of Health and Welfare for that information. Microfilmed death certificates from 1911 to 1937 and death indexes from 1911 to 1950 can be found at the FHL. The Idaho GenWeb website also lists an index of all deaths in Idaho from 1911 to 1950.