Ohio, Franklin County
Where Columbus's records are kept. Columbus has its own city government, police department and fire department; county and state offices keep its other public records.
Start here
The cards below include Columbus's own offices, along with State of Ohio offices; the Franklin County offices are on our Franklin County page. Use the category buttons to narrow the list.
State records
The Ohio History Connection research library in Columbus offers genealogy guides, its catalog and Ohio death certificates from 1908 to 1970; since July 2026 it opens Thursdays and Fridays, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Open official site Ohio History Connection Archives and LibraryCounty court
Courthouses in Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton serve southern Ohio, open weekdays 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; the court posts recent opinions and hearing calendars and takes copy requests and fee payments online.
Open official site United States Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of OhioCounty court
The Supreme Court of Ohio lists each county's common pleas, municipal and county courts, with links to every court's own website and local rules.
Open official site Supreme Court of Ohio Courts by CountyVital records
The bureau registers Ohio births and deaths and holds birth records from Dec. 20, 1908 and death records from 1971; marriage and divorce copies come from the county where the event was recorded.
Open official site Ohio Department of Health Bureau of Vital StatisticsPolice & jail
The Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigation is Ohio's clearinghouse for missing person data: it keeps databases of missing children and adults, issues alerts and takes tips. Families should call local police first.
Open official site Ohio Attorney General Missing PersonsPolice & jail
People wanted by Ohio's Adult Parole Authority for breaking supervision terms, listed with photo, birth date, offenses and the date each was declared at large; they may be armed, so call police or 911.
Open official site Ohio DRC Parole Violators at LargePolice & jail
Ohio.gov entry point to the Ohio Attorney General's sex offender registry, where residents can search for people convicted of sex crimes; offenders must register home, work and vehicle details with their local sheriff.
Open official site Ohio Attorney General Sex Offender SearchPolice & jail
The Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigation runs about a million fingerprint background checks a year for jobs and licenses; start one at a WebCheck location, or use its name search and record challenge forms.
Open official site Ohio Attorney General Background CheckFederal
Federal statistics table for Columbus city, Ohio, from the U.S. Census Bureau, giving basic population, business and geography facts; an information icon beside each row names the survey behind it.
Open official site U.S. Census Bureau QuickFactsCity records
Columbus City Hall at 90 West Broad Street, with 311 requests, payments for taxes, parking and permits, trash and bulk collection days, water and power outage reports and city jobs.
Open official site City of ColumbusPolice & jail
Columbus Police Department, with the incident reports, record requests and contacts the department publishes.
Open official site Columbus Police DepartmentPolice & jail
Columbus Division of Fire 3675 Parsons Avenue Columbus, Ohio 43207 Phone: (614) 645-8308
Open official site City of Columbus Fire DepartmentEverything else, organized
19 more Columbus sources not listed above.
Local record guide
Local profile
Columbus, a place of 905,748 people, is the seat of Franklin County. Court and property records sit with Franklin County, and birth and death certificates come from the State of Ohio. Columbus's own offices are in the cards above, and our Franklin 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 12 mine sites inside the city or town limits: 6 past producers, now closed, 4 sites producing when the record was made, 2 processing plants, which are not workings; the old survey maps add 20 holes drawn inside the city or town limits, 0 of them shafts or tunnels. The minerals the records name are construction sand and gravel; Calcium; Limestone, General.
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. Coverage is automatic in the 26 mandatory counties (Athens, Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana, Coshocton, Gallia, Guernsey, Harrison, Hocking, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lawrence, Mahoning, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble, Perry, Scioto, Stark, Trumbull, Tuscarawas, Vinton, Washington) and optional in 11 more.
Ohio 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 1,032 investigations with a Columbus address since fiscal 2005 and recorded $13,417,968 in back wages agreed for 16,446 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.
| Employer | Cases | Back wages | Workers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Choice Family Services, Inc. | 1 | $603,883 | 119 |
| City of Columbus Police Department | 1 | $569,214 | 1,028 |
| Snow Aviation International, Inc. | 1 | $539,290 | 67 |
| IHS Services, Inc. | 1 | $486,468 | 89 |
| American Electric Power Service Corporation | 3 | $398,126 | 606 |
| NWD Investments, LLC | 1 | $389,678 | 88 |
| Prosperity Care Service, LLC | 1 | $369,715 | 73 |
| Romanoff ELECTRIC, INC. | 2 | $278,953 | 46 |
| Residential Finance Corporation | 2 | $245,784 | 298 |
| Good Hands Supported Living, LTD | 1 | $230,696 | 74 |
| Das Gemacht, Inc. | 1 | $225,507 | 3 |
| Caregiver Inc. | 1 | $199,218 | 1,444 |
| 6 Roses Home Health Care LLC | 2 | $198,764 | 62 |
| Salo, Inc. | 1 | $193,496 | 201 |
| Vizion One INC | 2 | $165,612 | 64 |
| S & W of Ohio, LLC | 1 | $165,000 | 144 |
| Alliance Health Care Partners, LLC. | 1 | $144,519 | 41 |
| Calpal LLC | 2 | $141,480 | 98 |
| Battelle Memorial Institute | 1 | $131,152 | 37 |
| Apex Mortgage Services, LLC | 1 | $128,047 | 164 |
| Central Ohio Gaming Ventures, LLC | 2 | $123,806 | 482 |
| 1st Advanced Transportation, LLC | 1 | $121,569 | 34 |
| Airport Taxi Services, Inc. | 1 | $115,974 | 44 |
| Deemsys, Inc. | 3 | $114,967 | 26 |
| La Plaza Tapatia, LLC | 1 | $113,793 | 160 |
The 25 employers with the most back wages agreed, of 867 whose address on the record is in Columbus; 274 employers have a page of their own and open from the table, the rest show their whole record here. The 842 more with smaller records are on the Ohio wage theft records page, whose search answers for every employer in the state.
Straight answers
Open only the answer you need.
Voter registration in Ohio is run by the Ohio Secretary of State and local election officials. Its site lists the registration deadline, online voter registration, polling places and the local election office for Columbus.
Deeds for property in Columbus are recorded by the Franklin County Recorder, and the county office that assesses property keeps the tax values. Our Franklin County page lists the county offices.
Certified birth and death certificates for events in Ohio come from the state vital records office, Ohio Office of Vital Statistics. 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.