Indexed Public Record Copy Requests (NOT OHIO DEATH CERTIFICATES)

The base fee is $12.00 (plus 6.75% tax for OH residents) per record request or name. The base fee includes up to 4 pages of copies (per record or item requested) plus the cost of a first class postage stamp. The charge for each additional page is $0.25. Copy requests must be PREPAID with checks or money order payable to the Ohio Historical Society. DO NOT SEND CASH. No refund will be provided for records that are searched but not found.

This fee applies ONLY to the record types listed on the Copy Request Form:

• Probate Court Birth, Death, Marriage, Will, and Estate Records
• Military Roster Entries
• Veteran's Grave Registration Entries
• Incarceration/Prison Records
• County Auditor Tax Records
• Naturalization Records
• Secretary of State Incorporation Records

All requests for copies of other types of records are treated as research requests. Use our Online Collection Catalog to determine if we hold the records that you want. Indexed Public Record Copy Requests must include a specific citation as described below. Requests that do not provide specific citations will be treated as research requests.

Due to the number of requests received by the Archives/Library, please allow up to thirty (30) days for a response to your inquiry. We do not cash payment until we have finished processing the request.

Indexed Public Records Copy Request Form is available in the following formats, Microsoft WORD (MS WORD) and Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF). The forms will load in new browser windows.

• Indexed Public Records Request Form (MS WORD) or (91k PDF)

A SPECIFIC CITATION to a public record must include:

1. Full Name of the person documented by the record
2. Type of record
3. Year or Date that the event occurred
4. City or County in Ohio where the event occurred

An example of a public record copy request is: Please send me the 1890 birth record of John Doe from Franklin County, Ohio

You can find county government public records in our Online Collection Catalog by doing a Browse by Author search for the county name (search term: Franklin County Ohio). This search will retrieve a list of links to our holdings for the county's offices including auditor, clerk of courts, probate court, etc. The Browse by Author search method also works for other offices, such as city governments (search term: Columbus Ohio), that produce public records.

You can also use the Keyword by Author search to locate township records (search term: Madison Township) and State of Ohio records (search term: Ohio Secretary of State).

If there are any questions about using the Online Collection Catalog to find a public record, please contact the Ohio Historical Society's Archives/Library staff via e-mail ( reference@ohiohistory.org ) or by telephone at 614-297-2510.

Thank you for your interest in The Ohio Historical Society!