Guide
How to Search County Records
Select Your County
Choose a county from the grid below to access that county's official public records portal, court system, and government offices.
Identify the Record Type
Decide what you need: court records, property deeds, vital records, business filings, or tax assessment records, each is held by a different county office.
Search Online or In Person
Each circuit clerk runs its own online case search, county recorders of deeds post land record indexes, and birth and death certificates are ordered from the county clerk or IDPH by mail.
Pay Any Required Fees
An IDPH certified birth certificate costs $15 and a certified death certificate $19; county clerks set their own rates, such as $16 plus $6 per extra copy in Kane County, and the first 50 FOIA pages are free.
Verify Identity if Required
Open records need no ID. Birth certificates require a valid government-issued photo ID and go only to the person named if 18 or older, a parent or a legal representative.
Guide
What Records Are Available
- Court RecordsCivil, criminal, family court, probate, traffic cases
- Property RecordsDeeds, mortgages, tax assessments, liens, transfers
- Vital RecordsBirth, death, marriage, and divorce certificates
- Business RecordsBusiness licenses, DBAs, UCC filings, permits
- Voter RegistrationRegistered voters, party affiliation, districts
- Tax RecordsProperty tax assessments, payment history, exemptions
Guide
Select a County in Illinois
Back to Illinois Public Records
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Straight answers
Illinois County Public Records, questions
Are county records public information?
Yes. The Illinois Freedom of Information Act, 5 ILCS 140, opens county records and requires a response within five business days, extendable by five more. Court dockets, recorded documents and assessment records are open. Birth records are not public under the Vital Records Act, 410 ILCS 535; only the person named if 18 or older, parents and legal representatives get certified copies, though uncertified genealogical copies are available for births 75 years old or more and deaths 20 years old or more.
How much do certified copies cost?
A certified Illinois birth certificate costs $15 from the Department of Public Health and a certification is $10; a certified death certificate is $19 and a genealogical copy $10, and a commemorative birth certificate is $40. County clerks issue the same records at their own rates, for example $16 for the first copy and $6 for each additional copy in Kane County, plus VitalChek or card fees. Under FOIA the first 50 black and white pages are free and later pages cost 15 cents each.
Can I search county records online?
Illinois has no statewide trial court portal; each circuit clerk, including the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, runs its own online case search, and the Illinois Courts site covers the Supreme and Appellate Courts. County recorders of deeds post land record indexes online, LaSalle and Adams counties among them, and assessors publish parcel data. Birth and death certificates are not searchable online; order them from the county clerk or IDPH by mail.
What identification do I need?
Open records need no ID. For an Illinois birth or death certificate you must show or enclose a valid government-issued photo ID, and county clerks require the same. Birth certificates are limited to the person named if 18 or older, a parent or a legal representative, so anyone else needs a court order or written authorization.
How long does it take to receive records?
Mailed requests to the IDPH Division of Vital Records take about 12 weeks to process, and the office sends no status updates during that time, so county clerks are the faster route: most issue certificates over the counter. Circuit clerk case searches and recorder indexes are immediate.