Illinois, Cook County
Where Chicago's records are kept. Chicago has its own city government, clerk's office, police department and fire department; county and state offices keep its other public records.
Start here
The cards below include Chicago's own offices, along with State of Illinois offices; the Cook County offices are on our Cook County page. Use the category buttons to narrow the list.
Police & jail
Illinois' state prison agency, with links to the Individual in Custody Search, victim notification, wanted fugitives, sex offender information and Freedom of Information Act requests.
Open official site Illinois Department of CorrectionsState records
Illinois State Archives genealogy and historical records for Chicago.
Open official site Chicago Illinois Archives and GenealogyCounty court
Northern Illinois federal bankruptcy court with clerk's offices in Chicago and Rockford, open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; the site links PACER, electronic filing, unclaimed funds, online payments and a volunteer attorney panel.
Open official site U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of IllinoisCounty court
Official site of the Illinois Judicial Branch, with Supreme and Appellate Court news and opinions, a Find Your Court guide to each county, e-FileIL information and Re:SearchIL for documents filed through eFileIL.
Open official site Illinois CourtsVital records
Handles mailed requests for Illinois birth and death records, which take about 12 weeks; death records go only to people with a personal or property interest, and marriage copies come from county clerks.
Open official site Illinois Department of Public Health Division of Vital RecordsPolice & jail
Keeps Illinois criminal history records tied to more than five million fingerprint files; people review or challenge their own record through a Live Scan Access and Review request, and the Joliet office requires appointments.
Open official site Illinois State Police Bureau of IdentificationPolice & jail
Names people wanted on fugitive warrants issued at the request of the Illinois Department of Corrections; tips about where they are go to a toll free line, and information from the public stays confidential.
Open official site Illinois Department of Corrections Wanted FugitivesPolice & jail
The Illinois State Police posts every sex offender required to register, except adjudicated juveniles, with name, birth date and address, and maps murderer and violent offender against youth registrants as well.
Open official site Illinois State Police Sex Offender RegistrationCity records
Chicago city government site for 311 service requests, utility bill and parking ticket payments, FOIA requests, permits and licensing, plus the Mayor's Office, City Clerk and aldermen.
Open official site City of ChicagoCity records
Administration of public records 121 N La Salle St # 107A Chicago, IL 60602-1232 Phone: (312) 744-6861
Open official site Chicago City ClerkPolice & jail
Law enforcement services 3120 S Halsted St Chicago, IL 60602-1232 Phone: (312) 747-8227
Open official site Chicago Police DepartmentCity records
Fire prevention and safety 121 North LaSalle Street Chicago, IL 60616 Phone: (312) 745-3705 Fax: (312) 745-3880
Open official site Chicago Fire DepartmentEverything else, organized
15 more Chicago sources not listed above.
Local record guide
Local profile
Chicago, a place of 2,746,388 people, is the seat of Cook County. Court and property records sit with Cook County, and birth and death certificates come from the State of Illinois. Chicago's own offices are in the cards above, and our Cook County page lists each county office.
Abandoned mine records
Where the workings are, and the office that holds the mine maps.
From the old mine records
The mine records hold 13 mine sites inside the city or town limits: 6 past producers, now closed, 2 sites producing when the record was made, 5 processing plants, which are not workings; the old survey maps add 5 holes drawn inside the city or town limits, 0 of them shafts or tunnels. The mineral the records name is crushed stone.
A point in either file is a location, not a property line: the sheet shows the opening on the surface, not the rooms under it. The record that shows what runs under a parcel is the mine map. The OSMRE National Mine Map Repository holds scanned underground mine maps and answers requests for a named mine or an area. The Illinois Mine Subsidence Insurance Fund is a not for profit created by statute, not a state agency; the cover is bought through the homeowner insurer.
Rows taken off the old survey maps open the USGS record of what sits at that spot, because no single feature on those maps has a page of its own. Rows from the mine records open their own USGS page.
Illinois abandoned mine maps ranks every county and town in the state by the workings recorded inside it, names the office that holds the mine maps, and says what to do if the ground moves.
Disclaimer: The mine information here is for general information only. Old mine records can be incomplete, outdated or wrong, and finding nothing here does not mean there is nothing there. Check with the mine map office named here before you rely on it, and have a qualified engineer look at any ground you are worried about. PublicRecordCenter.com assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors, omissions, or consequences arising from the use of this information.
Labor Department file
The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division closed 2,523 investigations with a Chicago address since fiscal 2005 and recorded $40,446,191 in back wages agreed for 33,142 workers. Snapshot of April 22, 2026; a case here is a finding by the Division, not a court judgment, and the city is the one written on the employer's record.
The 25 employers with the most back wages agreed, of 2,055 whose address on the record is in Chicago; 706 employers have a page of their own and open from the table, the rest show their whole record here. The 2,030 more with smaller records are on the Illinois wage theft records page, whose search answers for every employer in the state.
Straight answers
Open only the answer you need.
Voter registration in Illinois is run by the Illinois State Board of Elections and local election officials. Its site lists the registration deadline, online voter registration, polling places and the local election office for Chicago.
Deeds for property in Chicago are recorded by the Cook County office that records deeds, and the county office that assesses property keeps the tax values. Our Cook County page lists the county offices.
Certified birth and death certificates for events in Illinois come from the state vital records office, Illinois Division of Vital Records. Its site lists who may order a copy, the fee and how to order.
Same county
Use the city page when a record was created by a municipal police department or city office; use the county page for courts, deeds, vital records and jail custody.