Ohio is a county state. There is no statewide trial court index, the Supreme Court's site searches only its own docket and opinions, and the Bureau of Vital Statistics says plainly that marriage licenses are at the county probate courts and divorce decrees at the county clerks. On October 13, 2026 the Secretary of State's business search, voter lookup and Safe at Home pages all answered with a website maintenance notice, and the eSORN registry did not answer at all, so those are named here without description. Each system below is drawn from its own page as it read that day.
The order to use: the DRC offender search for custody, eLicense for a profession, the county clerk of courts for cases and the county offices for property, both listed on the Ohio county pages at SearchSystems, with the Bureau of Vital Statistics for births and deaths and the probate court for marriages.
- In custody: the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Offender Search.
- Licenses: eLicense verification.
- Courts: the Supreme Court of Ohio docket and opinion search, with trial court records at the county clerks of courts.
- Registered offenders, companies and voters: eSORN, the Secretary of State's business search and voter lookup, all unavailable to an automated read.
- Certificates and money: the Bureau of Vital Statistics and the Division of Unclaimed Funds.
Written by SearchSystems.net from Ohio's own systems: the Supreme Court of Ohio, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, the Ohio Department of Health Bureau of Vital Statistics, the Ohio Attorney General, the Ohio Secretary of State, the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Unclaimed Funds, each read on October 13, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
The courts: the Supreme Court online, the trial courts at the clerk
The Supreme Court of Ohio site offers a docket search and an opinion search for its own cases, daily case announcements and slip opinions, a case inquiry form and, when read, notices about a Thomson Reuters data matter and the court's America 250 program. It carries no search of the trial courts; those records are kept by the clerk of courts in each county, and the Ohio county pages at SearchSystems list each clerk's site. An Ohio case search is therefore a county search, run in the county where the person lives or lived.
The DRC offender search
The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction's Offender Search answered SearchSystems with its title and no text, so its fields, and whether it covers people on supervision as well as in prison, are set on the page. It is the department's official lookup for the people in its custody.
eSORN, eLicense, and the Secretary of State under maintenance
Ohio's sex offender registry, eSORN, did not answer an automated read, and the Attorney General's page describing it returned not found, so the registry is named here and not described. eLicense, the state's license verification across its boards, answered without text, so its fields are on the application. The Secretary of State's business search, voter lookup and Safe at Home address confidentiality pages all returned an Ohio Secretary of State's Office Website Maintenance notice on October 13, 2026, so this guide gives their addresses and claims nothing about their terms.
Vital statistics: births since 1908, deaths since 1971, marriages at the county
The Department of Health's Bureau of Vital Statistics runs the statewide registration of births, deaths and other vital events, maintaining birth records from December 20, 1908 and death records from 1971 to the present, along with fetal death records, heirloom birth certificates and stillbirth certificates, with fees, instructions and hours on its How to Order Certificates page. When read, the bureau announced that the death registration module of the new Ohio Vital Records System was live and that certified birth certificates had a new look. The bureau does not maintain marriage or divorce records: certified copies of marriage licenses come only from the probate court of the county where the license was issued, each with its own contact page, and divorce decrees from the clerk of courts in the county where the divorce was finalized, listed by the Ohio County Clerks Association. Adopted people may request their adoption file for all years of birth records the bureau holds.
Unclaimed funds and the Sunshine Laws
The Department of Commerce's Division of Unclaimed Funds answered with its title only, so its search is described on the site. The Attorney General's Sunshine Laws page explains that Ohio's Public Records and Open Meetings laws give citizens access to government records and meetings at every level, and the office publishes the Sunshine Laws Manual, the Yellow Book, every year, offers free three hour trainings that satisfy the requirement for elected officials, provides a model public records policy for local governments and tips for making and responding to requests, and answers at sunshine@ohioago.gov. The 2025 edition of the manual was current when read.
BCI WebCheck and the name search request
The Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigation runs background checks through WebCheck, the electronic fingerprint system with locations across the state, and its page lists the governing documents: BCI and FBI civilian background check procedures, reason fingerprint codes, a request for challenge and review of one's own record, a request for exemption from electronic fingerprinting, and a Request for BCI Name Search form. The existence of the name search form means a non fingerprint check can be requested; who may request one and at what fee is set on the form.
Ohio: DRC, eLicense and the county offices
An Ohio search runs through the county: the clerk of courts for civil and criminal cases, the probate court for marriages, the county offices for deeds and parcels, all listed on the Ohio county pages at SearchSystems. The state adds the DRC offender search, eLicense, and the Bureau of Vital Statistics for births and deaths, with the Secretary of State's searches and eSORN to be consulted directly once they answer.
Paid people search reports on Ohioans are compiled from county records above all; the county clerk of courts and the county property records are where their claims are checked.
County Starting Points
Questions about finding someone in Ohio
Every Ohio Guide
The full set: arrest records, background checks, inmate search, offender registry, birth certificates, unclaimed property, business search, and the Ohio records law that opens every door on this list.