Idaho Public Records

Idaho is an open records state, which means that few restrictions are in place to prevent public access to various types of information. However, Idaho birth records, death, marriage and divorce records are restricted to authorized individuals. These Idaho public records can be requested from the Department of Health and Welfare, which maintains a state repository of vital records. The Idaho State Judiciary website provides free online public records in Idaho access to civil and criminal court records, plus divorce records. Court records are reported by every county. The Idaho State Police satisfy criminal records requests, which are available to anyone. Both name-based and fingerprint searches are available. Third-party requests will only return conviction information. To access Idaho military records and vital records, visit the State Archives. To access Idaho cemetery records by county, go online to the Idaho USGenWeb Archives.

About Idaho Public Records

Most Idaho records are readily available to the public with a few exceptions. Vital records, which include birth, death, marriage and divorce records, are restricted. Authorized recipients include the person of record, immediate family members or legal guardians, or someone with a court order. Otherwise, these Idaho public records are restricted 100 years for birth records and 50 years for death, marriage and divorce records. Since most genealogists are researching historic vital records outside of these time parameters, access is often not a problem.

Idaho divorce records can be viewed through the court that handled the case.  Divorce court records are not restricted from public access and are considered Idaho public records.  However, a certified copy of a divorce record, which can be used for identification purposes, is restricted.

Searching Idaho Gov Public Records Online

Idaho offers a central court access website through the Idaho Judiciary Branch, which oversees all the state’s courts. The online access is free to the public and makes it easier to research Idaho court records. However, only court records dating back to 1995 are available electronically on this database. Also, an overview of the court record is offered, including the case number and location of the court that handled the case. This helps if you need to request these Idaho gov public records from the court.

Identifying information, like social security numbers, addresses and telephone numbers, are not included on the Idaho court records for privacy reasons. Also, since Idaho criminal court records are available here, both pending and closed, for all counties in the state, it is another way to conduct a free criminal records search on any individual. Although the State Police enable anyone to request criminal records on another person, results will only include convictions – but nothing that is pending.

Historic Public Records Search in Idaho

The Idaho State Archives, which is operated by the Idaho State Historical Society, is located in Boise and offers public access to its vast records collection. Included in their records collection are historic Idaho military records, vital records and obituaries. There are many indexed newspapers that contain obituaries for Idaho, and a public records search in Idaho for genealogy resources should include these records. An online searchable index for the Civil War is available, as are criminal records dating back to 1864. There is no fee to perform a public records search of Idaho here, although there is a fee to make copies of records.

Anyone performing genealogy research into Idaho ancestors should take advantage of the records at the State Archives. Another place to look is online at the Idaho USGenWeb Archives, which has a large amount if Idaho cemetery records broken down by county. These are online, digital records that can be searched from anywhere. Many of the individual Idaho counties listed here also feature military and vital records, in addition to cemetery records.