Illinois Public Records

Illinois makes many of its records available to the public. However, Illinois birth records and death records are restricted to authorized recipients. The Department of Public Health satisfies requests for birth and death records. Illinois marriage records must be requested from the local County Clerk that issued the record, and these are not restricted. Part of Illinois public records are divorce records, which are available from the Circuit Clerk of the court that handled the case. Illinois court records are available online through individual Circuit and District Courts. Court records available include divorce, civil and criminal records. The State Police handles requests for Illinois criminal records and makes conviction information available to the public on request. To search public records in Illinois of an historic nature, visit the State Archives, which offers online access to its digital collection of military, cemetery and vital records. Some Illinois obituaries are available also.

About Illinois Public Records

Illinois public records are widely available. The major exceptions are access to Illinois death records and birth records from the Department of Public Health. After 75 years, birth records are released to the public. After 20 years, Illinois death records are released to the public, making it easier for those researching family history to obtain copies. Otherwise, authorized recipients include the person of record, family members or legal representatives. Illinois public records also include marriage and divorce records, both of which are not restricted from public access.

However, there is no state repository for marriage and divorce records.  Although the Department of Public Health does maintain a marriage and divorce index for certain years, the County Clerk where the marriage occurred must make copies. Divorce records are handled by the Circuit Clerk of the court that handled the case.

Accessing Online Illinois Gov Public Records

Although the Illinois Courts’ website provides an overview of the various types of state courts, along with contact information for each individual court, there is no universal online access to court records here. Many of the counties and individual Circuit Courts offer free online access to Illinois gov public records, although this depends on the county. When online access is available, it generally provides more recent civil and criminal court records, as well as divorce records. Some counties only offer access to civil and divorce records, such as Cook County.

Illinois court records are readily available in person at the specific courthouse that handled the action. Unless sealed by a judge, civil and criminal court records are public record. Also available are Illinois criminal records, which include conviction information, to the public. Anyone may request a criminal background check for a fee through the State Police.

Historic Public Records Search in Illinois

The Illinois State Archives enjoys a large and varied historic records collection that is available to the public. Included are Illinois military records from conflicts like the Civil War, Spanish American War, Black Hawk veterans, Mexican War and Winnebago War, for example. Also housed here are Illinois cemetery records for certain areas of the state and some vital records. Access to a death records index from 1916 through 1950 and one prior to 1916 are available to search. Also available is access to a marriage index dating back to 1763.

In addition, many newspapers are indexed and archived with access to Illinois obituaries. Anyone may visit the State Archives. There is only a fee to make copies of records. Also available online to those who cannot make a public records search of Illinois in person are the Digital Archives, which offers online access to thousands of historic records collections. These can be searched and viewed online for free.