The Vital Records division of the Mississippi State Department of Health holds the state's birth and death records from November 1912 to the present, and its birth certificate page sets the price at seventeen dollars with six dollars for each additional copy of the same record. Certificates can be ordered online, by post, by telephone or in person at the division's office in Ridgeland, which is open for customer service on weekdays from eight in the morning until four in the afternoon.
Access is restricted. The department states that Mississippi vital records are not open to the public, that access to birth, death and marriage records is limited to eligible applicants, and that a valid photo identification is required both to prove identity and to prove that the applicant is eligible. A certified copy may be issued only to a person with legitimate and tangible interest as defined by the rules governing the registration and certification of vital events. Local offices that issue vital records appear on the Mississippi county pages.
- Seventeen dollars, six for extras: the certificate fee and the charge for additional copies of the same record ordered together.
- No refund on a failed search: fees are non refundable even where no record is found, though extra copy fees are returned.
- Photo identification required: it proves both who the applicant is and that they are eligible to receive the record.
- Plain paper for genealogy: genealogy requests must state that purpose and produce plain paper copies rather than certified ones.
Written by SearchSystems.net from Mississippi's own systems: the Mississippi State Department of Health birth certificates page, the department's questions and answers about vital records, the department's page on ordering records online or by telephone, the department's birth certificate application instructions, each read on October 15, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
Who may receive a certified copy
The department lists the people with legitimate and tangible interest. Primarily they are the registrant, meaning the child named on the record, if of legal age; the parents listed on the birth record, provided the office has not been notified of a termination of parental rights; a spouse, sibling, grandparent or child of the registrant; a legal guardian, who must provide guardianship papers; and a legal representative of one of those people, who must provide proof of representation.
Two further categories complete the list: licensed adoption agencies working within their statutory authority, and other people acting under a court order, who must provide a certified copy of the order. Anyone outside those categories must prove direct and tangible interest, and the department suggests the documents that may help, including joint property deeds, an insurance policy listing both the subject and the applicant, or pertinent court documents.
Identification, and the way round not having any
A valid photo identification is required, and the department publishes the list it accepts: a photo driving licence, a photo state issued identification card, an employment identification, a school, college or university identification, a United States military identification, a tribal identification, an alien registration or permanent resident card, a temporary resident card, or a United States passport, with a photocopy rather than the original sent with the request.
For an applicant with no photo identification there are two alternatives. An immediate family member may order the certificate using their own photo identification as the applicant. Or the applicant may include two documents from the department's secondary list, which includes a social security card, a utility bill showing an address, a Medicaid card and a food assistance card showing an address.
What it costs, and what is refunded
Birth, death and marriage certificates each cost seventeen dollars, with six dollars for additional copies of the same record ordered at the same time. The refund rule is precise: vital record fees are non refundable even where no record is found, but a refund is given for the additional copy fees paid at the time of the initial order. So an applicant who orders three copies and whose record cannot be located loses seventeen dollars and recovers twelve. That makes accuracy on the application worth the time it takes, particularly the spelling of surnames and the county of birth.
Paying, by route
The accepted methods differ by channel. In person, the office takes cash, a money order from a bank or post office, a cashier's cheque or a credit card, and personal cheques are never accepted. By post, payment must be a money order or a cashier's cheque, and cash should not be sent. Online and telephone orders are placed through a private records service and paid by any of the major credit cards, with that service charging its own additional fee, which the department describes as small for telephone orders.
The office also handles changes and corrections, with a telephone number and email address published for those enquiries.
Genealogy, and what comes back
Mississippi handles family history requests through the same office but issues a different document. Genealogy must be stated as the purpose of the certificate, the relationship to the applicant must be provided, and plain paper copies are issued for genealogy requests rather than certified copies on security stock. That distinction matters for anyone who needs proof of identity: a genealogy copy will not serve, and the ordinary certified route with its eligibility and identification requirements has to be used instead.
For records the state does not hold, the department points to the circuit court clerk for marriages licensed between July 1938 and December 1941, and to the national guidance for births in other states or to the relevant embassy for births abroad.
Where the register begins
The division's birth and death records start in November 1912, and marriage statistical records in January 1926. Before those dates the state has nothing to search, which is why a genealogist working on a nineteenth century Mississippi family will find county, church and census material more useful than a certificate application. The department reviews and dates its pages, and publishes the office location and directions for Ridgeland, where in person service is available during the published hours; for anyone travelling, arriving well before the four o'clock close is prudent, since identification and eligibility have to be checked before a certificate is issued.
Questions about Mississippi birth certificates
Related Mississippi records
Mississippi's other records guides on this site are the Mississippi public records law guide for the Public Records Act, the Mississippi death records guide for the same division, the Mississippi court records guide for the circuit and chancery clerks, and the Mississippi county pages for every county office.