The Illinois Department of Public Health says in plain terms that death records are not public records. A copy goes only to someone with a personal or property right interest in the decedent, and the department defines property right narrowly as something owned and tangible, its examples being a car title or a property deed. A requester who is not a relative of the deceased must send a letter or document from the office or agency that needs the certificate. Every request rides on the Application for Search of Death Record Files, completed in full, with a readable, unexpired government photo identification; a missing, unreadable or expired ID sends the whole request back unprocessed.
Two products come out of that file. The certified copy is the one used for legal purposes, and the department's own examples are settling an estate, claiming under a will and insurance. The uncertified copy is a plain paper copy meant for genealogy or research, and it cannot be used for anything legal. The state office moved this autumn: the Division of Vital Records left 925 East Ridgley Avenue in Springfield on September 9, 2026 and opened at 110 W Lawrence Avenue on September 14, 2026, so older forms and directory listings that carry the Ridgley address are out of date.
- Nineteen dollars: a certified state copy costs $19, with $4 for each extra copy in the same request.
- About 12 weeks: the department's own estimate for a mail request, with no updates sent while it waits.
- Genealogy at $10: plain copies of deaths more than 20 years old, from 1916 on, cost $10 and $2 for extras.
- Cook County at $17: the county clerk sells Chicago and suburban Cook deaths at $17, with $6 extras, often printed while you wait.
Written by SearchSystems.net from Illinois's own systems: IDPH death records, IDPH obtain a death certificate, IDPH correct a death certificate, IDPH information for researchers, IDPH genealogy, IDPH vital records fee schedule, IDPH application for search of death record files, Cook County Clerk death certificates, each read on October 15, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
What a Springfield order costs and how long it sits
The state fee schedule describes the certified death certificate as a full copy of the original certificate on file and prices it at $19 for the first copy and $4 for each further copy requested at the same time. The plain white genealogical copy of a certificate more than 20 years old is $10 for the first and $2 for each additional copy, and a certified statement that no record of death was found costs $10. Payment by post is a check or money order made out to IDPH.
Speed is the weak point. The department posts a notice on its ordering page that mail requests take approximately 12 weeks from the day the paperwork arrives and that it sends no update during that time. The same page lists a fax line, 217-523-2648, for certified orders, though genealogy requests must be made in writing, and an online route through the VitalChek network, which adds a $15 handling fee to the $19 copy and charges $22 for UPS delivery within the United States if chosen. The department also points readers to the county clerk where the death occurred as an alternative.
Urgent requests and the proof the state wants
Illinois does have a fast lane, but it has to be earned with paper. An urgent request goes in by any overnight delivery service, carries proof of immediate need and includes a prepaid overnight return envelope. The department then processes a certified copy within 5 to 7 business days, or a correction within 15 business days. The proof it suggests is a travel itinerary or plane tickets showing departure within 30 days of the application date, a letter explaining the urgent need, a statement from an insurance agency on its letterhead saying a death certificate is required, or a notice from an immigration authority requiring one.
Chicago and suburban Cook County go through the county clerk
For a death that happened in Chicago or anywhere in suburban Cook County, the Cook County Clerk is the official record keeper and runs a faster, slightly cheaper counter than the state. Its first copy is $17 and each further copy of the same record ordered at the same time is $6, prices it dates to July 1, 2012 under Public Act 97-0679, so the county's first copy costs two dollars less than Springfield's while its extra copies cost two dollars more. The clerk applies the same state law test, a relative or someone able to prove a financial interest in the death.
The clerk offers five ways in. Online orders through VitalChek need the place of death, the full name and the date of death, add $13.45 for processing and standard postage, and take a further 10 to 15 business days by regular mail or 5 to 10 days by UPS once approved. Phone orders go to (866) 252-8974. Mail orders, to the Bureau of Vital Records at P.O. Box A3390 in Chicago with proof of relationship or financial interest, a photocopied photo ID, payment to the Cook County Clerk and a stamped return envelope, average 20 working days.
Currency exchanges in Chicago and the suburbs issue records for a $5 surcharge. At the downtown office and the three suburban courthouses most records are printed while the customer waits, payment is cash or card only with a $1.25 debit or $1.75 credit card charge, and checks are refused.
Correcting an Illinois death certificate
Corrections follow the Vital Records Act, 410 ILCS 535, and Part 500 of Title 77 of the Illinois Administrative Code, and the department says each request is unique. Every correction starts with the Affidavit and Certificate of Correction Request and the same valid photo ID rule as a copy request. The correction page matches each kind of error to the evidence it expects: a birth record for names, sex, age, date of birth and birthplace, medical records from the place of death for the date of death, and a Certificate of Death Worksheet signed by the certifying physician for the cause, manner and time of death, autopsy details, injury date and place, and the date the physician last attended the deceased.
Two entries carry unusual conditions. Changing the marital or civil union status or the surviving spouse calls for a marriage, civil union, divorce or dissolution record, the surviving spouse's birth record, or financial proof such as tax returns, bank statements, loan accounts or insurance policies, and all of that proof must have existed within two years of the date of death. Changing the funeral home named on the certificate requires notarized statements from both funeral homes. Where the documents do not clearly support the change, the department warns that a court order may be needed.
Genealogy copies, the 1916 line and the archives
The genealogy page draws two lines. A person who died more than 20 years ago, but not before 1916, can be researched through an uncertified genealogical copy from either the Division of Vital Records or the county clerk of the county where the death occurred. Deaths filed before 1916 are held only by that county clerk or by the Illinois Regional Archives Depository System where it holds that county's death records. The department also lists among its resources a searchable database of Illinois death certificates covering 1916 to 1972, published by the Illinois State Archives.
Research projects and the National Death Index
Academic and medical researchers have their own two routes, each charging $10 per certificate by check to the department and each addressed to the Research desk at the Lawrence Avenue office. The shorter route accepts a copy of the National Death Index death certificate request form naming each person sought, a current Institutional Review Board approval and a signed acknowledgment form. Without the NDI form, the researcher must send a full study protocol, data processing methods, the confidentiality safeguards, the time frame, the funding source, the principal investigator's curriculum vitae with a list of collaborators, a statement of the identifying information needed and how it will be used, the IRB approval, payment and the acknowledgment. Payment is returned if a request is not approved.
Questions about Illinois death records
Related Illinois records
Other Illinois guides on SearchSystems.net include Illinois birth certificates from the same Division of Vital Records, the Illinois vital records overview, Illinois court records for probate cases, the Illinois public records law guide, and the Illinois county pages for each county clerk.