How to Get Kentucky Vital Records (Start Here)
Vital records in Kentucky — birth certificates, death certificates, marriage records, and divorce records — are handled at the state level by Kentucky CHFS Vital Statistics. Marriage licenses are issued locally by the County Clerk.
What this page covers: Kentucky vital record ordering, eligibility requirements, and related databases. What it does not cover: Genealogy records older than the state vital records system (check the Genealogy Resources page for historical records).
Where to start: For certified copies of birth or death certificates, contact Kentucky CHFS Vital Statistics. For marriage licenses, contact the County Clerk in the county where the ceremony will occur. For divorce records, contact the court that granted the decree.
Common mistake: Birth and death certificates, marriage licenses, and divorce decrees come from different offices. Do not assume one office handles all vital records.
Statewide vital-records agency
Online ordering
Marriage license issued by
Local intake
Kentucky: Local History & Genealogy Resource Guide
Population
4,588,372
Households
1,810,400
Median Income
$60,183
Median Home Value
$173,300
SearchSystems Editorial
Edited by Sam Rokni — Editor & Owner, SearchSystems.net. Public records professional since 1999. NAPBS founding member. Full bio & credentials.
Last reviewed: June 04, 2026 · Methodology: Kentucky vital records URL verified against the official state publisher at chfs.ky.gov on the review date. 7 primary .gov sources cited below.
Kentucky Vital Records — Key Facts (2026)
Birth, death, marriage, and divorce records for Kentucky — who can request, how to order, and what 2026 changed.
State-only
Issuing authority
Not federal
Restricted
Birth/death access
Usually self + family
75-125 yr
When records become public
Genealogy threshold
VitalChek
3rd-party portal
Used by many states
CDC NVSS
National statistics
Data only, no certificates
The person named
100%
Parent of subject
100%
Spouse of subject
90%
Adult child
90%
Legal representative
80%
General public (recent)
10%
General public (historical 75+yr)
95%
Unit: % likely to receive a certified copy.
What Changed in 2026 — Kentucky Vital Records
2026
Kentucky vital records portal active
The official Kentucky portal at chfs.ky.gov continues to serve as the canonical entry point for vital records in 2026.
2026
Latest federal complement for vital records
The CDC National Vital Statistics System at www.cdc.gov provides federal-level context that complements Kentucky state records.
2026
Kentucky access in 2026
For 2026, Kentucky continues to publish vital records information through state-authorized portals; check chfs.ky.gov for current fees and processing times.
2026
Federal records framework refresh
Federal record types (federal liens, federal land, federal vital statistics) continue to live OUTSIDE Kentucky's state portal — see the Primary Sources below for the .gov complement.
The 4-Step Kentucky Vital Records Pathway
1
Step 1 — Confirm state of event
Vital records are issued by the state where the event happened. For events in Kentucky, start with the Kentucky health department.
2
Step 2 — Verify eligibility
Most states restrict birth/death to self, parents, spouse, child, or legal rep.
3
Step 3 — Choose ordering method
Kentucky typically allows mail, in-person, or online (often via VitalChek).
4
Step 4 — Genealogy fallback
Kentucky records older than 75-125 years are usually public — try FamilySearch or NARA.
Five Things People Get Wrong About Kentucky Vital Records
❌ Myth: "I can request anyone's Kentucky birth certificate."
✓ Truth: False. Most states (including Kentucky) restrict access to immediate family or legal representatives.
❌ Myth: "Vital records are federal."
✓ Truth: False. They are state-issued. The CDC compiles statistics but does NOT issue certificates.
❌ Myth: "VitalChek is the government."
✓ Truth: False. VitalChek is an authorized third-party vendor used by many states, NOT a federal or state agency.
❌ Myth: "Older Kentucky marriage records are private."
✓ Truth: False. Marriages older than ~75 years are usually public and indexed by genealogy sites.
❌ Myth: "A Kentucky death is recorded the day it happens."
✓ Truth: False. CDC NVSS data has a 1-2 year lag for final figures; provisional data takes 6+ months.
Primary Sources (All .gov / Official)
- chfs.ky.gov — Official Kentucky Vital Records — State portal for Kentucky vital records
- CDC National Vital Statistics System — National Vital Statistics System
- CDC — Where to Write for Records — CDC state-by-state directory
- National Archives — Vital Records — Federal genealogy & vital guide
- Social Security Death Master File — Social Security death records
- Census — Births and Deaths — Census Bureau vital statistics
- VA — Veterans Records — Veterans Administration records
Related Vital Records Resources
📍 Other Kentucky records:
- Kentucky Court Records →
- Kentucky Criminal Records →
- Kentucky Property Records →
- Kentucky Voter Records →
- Kentucky Wants & Warrants →
- Kentucky Licenses →
- Kentucky Recorded Documents →
🇺🇸 Vital Records in other states:
- Alaska
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- Arizona
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- District of Columbia
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Iowa
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Louisiana
- Massachusetts
- Maryland
- Maine
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Mississippi
- Montana
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- Nevada
- New York
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Virginia
- Vermont
- Washington
- Wisconsin
- West Virginia
- Wyoming
National: U.S. Vital Records hub →
Related Public Records
More Kentucky records: Court records · Criminal records · Wants & warrants · Property records · Voter records · Licenses · Recorded docs
National view of this topic: All states: Vital records
Vital Records Databases
26 official Kentucky vital records sources.
Vital Records
- 0 - KENTUCKY REGISTRAR GUIDELINES Revised 01/2024
Official Free
Moreover, each health department has been provided birth and death microfiche index files and ... MADE ACCESSIBLE FOR PUBLIC VIEWING. ONLY THE INFORMATION SPECIFIED · ABOVE FOR BIRTH VERIFICATIONS MAY BE PROVIDED, UPON WRITTEN REQUEST, TO PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS. ANY OPEN RECORDS REQUESTS SHOULD BE SENT · DIRECTLY TO THE OFFICE OF VITAL STATISTICS. ... Birth Microfiche. Consists of two (2) sets of microfiche for the years 1911 through 1988: One
Marriage and Divorce Certificates - Cabinet for Health and Family Services
Official Free
The Kentucky Office of Vital Statistics will, upon receiving the application and fee, perform a search for the record . If the record is on file, a certified copy will be mailed to you. The fee is a search fee, and no refunds are issued in instances where a certificate is not found within Kentucky's ...
Notable People - Lexington Cemetery
Official Free
Todd, Robert S. (1790-1849) Section F, Lot 26 A Kentucky senator from Fayette County, Robert S. Todd was the father of Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of Abraham Lincoln. Townsend, William H. (1890-1964) Section 45, Lot 512 A prominent corporate and trial lawyer, William H. Townsend was a nationally recognized authority and writer on Abraham Lincoln and collector of Lincolniana. A reconteur of rare talent, his recorded speech on Cassius M.
Gallatin County, Kentucky Cemetery Records – Access Genealogy
Official Free
Kentucky Cemetery Records: A directory of resources providing online access to Kentucky Cemetery records.
Choose this link for Unofficial 2024 General Precinct Results
Official Free
The Hardin County Clerk's Office provides services involving deeds registrations titles tags various licenses real estate and marriage licenses. Located in Elizabethtown KY 42701 Hardin County Kentucky.
kenton county online records
Official Free
While Kenton County strives to make the information on this website as timely and accurate as possible, the county makes no claims, promises, or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the contents of this site, and expressly disclaims liability for errors and omissions ...
🌐 kcor.org
Ancestry
Official Free
Original data: Commonwealth of Kentucky, Health Data Branch, Divisision of Epidemiology and Health Planning. Kentucky Death Index, 1911-present. Frankfort, KY, USA: Kentucky Department of Information Systems. This important database contains an index to more than 2.6 million death records of ...
Christian County KY KYGenWeb
Official Free
The idea was to provide a single entry point for all counties in Kentucky, where collected databases would be stored . In addition, the databases would be indexed and cross-linked, so that even if an individual were found in more than one county, they could be located in the index.
1911-1920
Official Free
Harlan County Births from 1911-1920 Each listing includes childs names, date of birth, mothers name, volume number, volume year and certificate number. To obtain a copy of the birth record you can visit the Kentucky Vital Records web site and order online or through regular mail .
Vital Records - Kentucky: Local History & Genealogy Resource Guide - Research Guides at Library of Congress
Official Free
Based on the date of the vital event (birth, death, marriage, divorce), determine whether you are seeking a state, territory, county, or parish level record. If the record you are seeking has been digitized, you can access it online, through the projects described below.
Find a Grave - Millions of Cemetery Records
Official Free
Search or browse cemeteries and grave records for every-day and famous people from around the world. ... Please select a location with GPS coordinates indicated by a map icon() to continue. Please select a cemetery indicated by a Find a Grave icon() to continue. ... When searching in a cemetery, use the ? or * wildcards in name fields. ? replaces one letter. * represents zero to many letters. E.g. Sorens?n or Wil* Search for an exact birth/death year or select a range, before or after.
Campbell County Kentucky
Official Free
Campbell County Kentucky · Marriages · 1836-1845 · Jan 1 1836-Washington HOPPINGS to Celia COOPER;Jesse COOPER bsdm · Jan 2 1836-John M BIGGS to Harriet E CORBIN;Thomas W KENNEDY bsdm · Jan 5 1836-Benjamin CARNEY to Mary FAGAN dau of Henry;Basil YOUNG bsdm ·
County Birth (**see note for other Birth Records) Marriage Death
Official Free
1803-1985 · Burned: 1789- 1802 · Will Books · 1793-2016 · 1780-1986 · (1780?) 1866- 1986 · Fleming · 1852-1853, 1855-1859, 1874-1876, 1878-1879 · 1798-2011 · 1852-1853, 1855-1859, 1874-1876, 1878, 1911- 1967 · 1798-2012 · 1798-1866 · 1798-2010 · 1800-1985 · 1800-1985 · Floyd ·
Rootsweb
Official Free
RootsWeb is funded and supported by Ancestry.com and our loyal RootsWeb community. Learn more. About Us | Contact Us | Copyright | Report Inappropriate Material Corporate Information | Privacy | Terms and Conditions | CCPA Notice at Collection ...
Jessamine County Index Page
Official Free
Welcome to Jessamine County, Kentucky Genealogy · About Jessamine County · Bible Records · Biographies · Birth Records · Books Available for Research · Cemeteries05-19-17 · Census Records · Court Records · Death Records · Deeds08-20-16 · Diaries · Families04-01-17 ·
Rootsweb
Official Free
Search the Webster County Birth Records 1911-1912 · Search the Kentucky Death Records Index 1911-2000 · SEARCH THIS SITE · Searches everything at this site + the Webster County Family Album + Mt. Lebanon Cemetery records. These sites are reindexed regularly .
Kentucky Delayed Birth Certificate Index ...
Official Free
The Kentucky Historical Society also has 45 rolls of microfilmed delayed birth certificates. According to Ms. Hogan KHS also has an index. My impression, gathered from searching for Owsley County birth records, is that there is no single index to all the delayed birth certificates and that the KHS rolls are not included in the VS microfiche.
County Birth (**see note for other Birth Records) Marriage Death
Official Free
1852-1859, 1861, 1875- 1878, 1893-1894, 1903- 1904, 1911-1967 · 1797-2004 · 1797-1977 · 1798-2004 · none · none · Breathitt · 1852-1859, 1874-1876, 1878-1879, 1909-1910 · 1852-1859, 1873-2009 · 1852-1859, 1874-1879, 1911-1967 · 1873-2010 · 1873-1977 ·
Vital Records - Kentucky: Local History & Genealogy Resource Guide - Research Guides at Library of Congress
Official Free
Create a free account and login to view digital images of original documents from censuses, churches, courthouses, military draft cards, state vital records, and much more. Also use the sites wiki pages for timelines of records kept and current contact information to local repositories. ... FamilySearch provides useful state and county wikis that make excellent starting points for research. The Kentucky Wiki External includes links to each of its counties. FamilySearch has digitized many of its microfilms containing county courthouse records including birth, death, and marriage.
Ordering Kentucky Vital Records
Official Free
Certain Kentucky cities did maintain their own records of deaths and births that took place before 1911. Four of those cities are: Louisville (18981911), Covington (18901911), Newport (18901911), Lexington (19061911) They each registered births with their local health departments, but the records were incomplete. Early vital records (from 1852 to 1910) have been recorded at the Kentucky Historical Society, as well as at the Kentucky Department for Libraries. They are organized according to the county ...
William H. English Family
Official Free
Lebanon, Jessamine County, KY.5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 Children of Lafayette English and Sarah Underwood: Lafayette English married Elizabeth E. “Lizzie” Duncan on July 4, 1900 in Jessamine County, KY, born about 1870 in Madison County, KY and died June 14, 1929 in ...
Deaths
Official Free
1874 & 1875 Owsley County Deaths · 1876 Owsley County Deaths · 1877 Owsley County Deaths · 1878 & 1879 Owsley County Deaths · DISCLAIMER: All materials furnished on these pages are for free, non-commercial use by individuals. The information presented on them was either obtained from sources permitting free distribution, submitted by other researchers, or generated by myself.
Early Allen County Marriage Records 1815-1889
Official Free
The marriages listed here are from the books "Allen County Kentucky Marriage Records 1815-1865" by Miss Ona Willoughby (dec'd) c.1938, "Marriages, Allen County Kentucky 1866-1889" by Erskins Garrison (dec'd), and "Allen County KY Vital Statistics 1852-1861" by Elizabeth Rabold & Mary Price ...
Ordering Kentucky Vital Records
Official Free
Those records tend to date back ... In a few cases, county records of marriages pre-date the year when the county was organized. For example, records going back as far as 1785 are available for the counties of Lincoln, Jefferson, and Fayette....
Descendants of Shadrack Slone
Official Free
Born: Pike Co.; 12. Witnesses: Mattison Bevins, Marshel Good. <54>:Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky Marriage Records, Page 672. 6-24-58. Slone, Morgan - Slone, Nelly. D. of John. <55>:Seventh Census of United, Page 442-A, ln 10, dw 120, fm 120: Jane SLONE, 12, female, ... Benet' was given. Bond, stating that 'a Marriage Shortly Intended to be had and Solemnized · between Frederick Slone and Susannah Bennett of this county', was signed by Frederick
Oak Grove Cemetery | City of Paducah
Official Free
Oak Grove Cemetery is managed by the Paducah Parks & Recreation Department (Paducah Code of Ordinances Chapter 26). The cemetery has an estimated 35,278 platted lots with more than 33,000 sold. The cemetery is divided into four additions: Old, New, Mausoleum, and Rushing.
Kentucky Counties
120 Kentucky counties are indexed on SearchSystems.net — top 28 counties shown below. Browse the full directory or click any county for local court, sheriff, recorder and assessor links.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do I order a Kentucky birth certificate?▼
Certified birth certificates for events in Kentucky are issued by the Official Kentucky Vital Records at chfs.ky.gov. Requests can be made by mail, in person, or (in most cases) online through the state's authorized vendor. The county of registration may also be able to issue certified copies for recent local events.
How do I get a Kentucky death certificate?▼
Kentucky death certificates are issued by the Official Kentucky Vital Records; eligibility (next of kin, executor, legal representative) and ID documentation requirements are listed at chfs.ky.gov. For deaths within the last year, the county clerk or local registrar where the death occurred can often issue a copy more quickly.
Can I look up a Kentucky marriage or divorce record online?▼
Kentucky marriage and divorce records are not generally available in a free, name-searchable online index. The Official Kentucky Vital Records (chfs.ky.gov) handles certified copies; the underlying license/decree is filed with the county clerk or court that issued it, which is also a primary search point.
How long does it take to get a Kentucky vital record?▼
Standard Kentucky vital-record processing times vary from a few business days (in-person same-day at some county clerks) to several weeks for mailed requests. The Official Kentucky Vital Records publishes current turnaround times at chfs.ky.gov. Expedited processing is usually available for an additional fee.
What ID do I need to order a Kentucky certified vital record?▼
The Official Kentucky Vital Records requires government-issued photo identification (driver's license, state ID, passport, or military ID) and proof of your relationship to the record holder, if applicable. The full list of acceptable ID and supporting documents is published at chfs.ky.gov.