• Vital records are kept for those birth, marriage, death, or divorce events that occurred in Arizona. If you need a copy of a vital record from another state, you must contact that state’s office of vital records.

• Arizona vital records are considered closed records. This means that records are not made public; each is kept confidential and is only released to specific parties upon their request. However, once a certain time limit has passed (75 years for birth and 50 years for death certificates), the records become public records.

• Birth and death records are kept on file at the Office of Vital Records in Phoenix. Marriage and divorce records, however, are maintained at the county level under the Clerk of the Superior Court.

How to Obtain Arizona Vital Records

Birth records may be requested by the individual named on the certificate (if over the age of 18), the parents named on the certificate, a spouse, grandparents, an adult child, a legal guardian, foster parents, or attorneys or other personnel needing it for a legal matter. Birth records may also be obtained to aid in genealogy research. Requesting parties may apply for the certificate in person, by mail or fax, or in the case of births after 1989, they may request records from the county office. Identification and a fee will be requested.

Death certificate requests are handled much in the same way, with spouses, immediate family members, and attorneys being the primary individuals that can be granted the certificate. Deaths occurring after 2008 are kept on file at the county level, as well as the state level. Death certificates may also be requested online.

Arizona Vital Records and Genealogy Research

Arizona vital records are frequently requested by individuals conducting genealogy research on their ancestors. Birth, death, and marriage certificates provide crucial bits of knowledge in determining family connections because they contain detailed information, including full names, important dates, places events occurred, and sometimes even names of other family members and how they are related. Non-certified copies can be obtained by providing a name and place of birth or death for an individual. As another option, the State of Arizona also offers a genealogy web tool that contains microfilm images of birth and death certificates prior to 75 and 50 years, respectively.