Official registration of Vital Records:
Began in Iowa on July 1, 1880. However, some records may be available at the county level before those dates.
According to the State of Iowa website: Vital Records may be available at the either the county or state level.
County Records:
All vital records at the county level, 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.
State Records:
Vital records obtained at the state level are closed to public inspection, may be purchased by contacting:
Iowa Department of Health and Human Services
Bureau of Health Statistics
Lucas State Office Building
1st Floor, 321 E. 12th Street
Des Moines, Iowa 50319-0075.
To secure a certified copy of a record from the state, applicants must have the same direct and tangible entitlement as for a county record. Requests may be in writing or by telephone using a credit card.
All applications must be accompanied by a valid, current government-issued photo I.D. (legible photocopy if applying by mail) and all applicants must satisfactorily prove entitlement. Administrative processing fees at the state level are $15 as of July 1, 2019. This includes for amendments, delayed registrations, legal change of names, recision of paternity affidavit, paternity registry searches by adoption attorneys, revelation of county of adoption, private paternity establishment judgments, court orders, and any other action requiring an administrative processing fee. The application fee for the Mutual Consent Voluntary Adoption Registry remains unchanged at $25. For further information on Birth, Death, or Marriage Certificates: Call 515-281-4944, or email all general vital record questions to vitalrecords@hhs.iowa.gov
