Iowa Marriage Records

Certified copies of Iowa Marriage Records are issued by the Iowa Vital Records Office at the State Department of Health. This is one of its two essential functions, the other being Health Statistics. The information on Iowa Marriage Records is used in a variety of applications – legal proceedings and other official and private purposes. Official registration of marriages began in Iowa on July 1, 1880 with the Iowa Department of Public Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics. Iowa Marriage Records are also available from local registrars if the county where the marriage took place is known but these offices are somewhat restricted in code authority.

The fee for Iowa Marriage Records and certificates are $15 each. They can be requested by telephone, in-person or mail. Payment should be made in the form of personal check or money order to the Iowa Department of Public Health. In-person requests may also be paid in cash. The charges are for the search of the records and are non-refundable. They must be paid at the time of the application. Applicants must bring along with the request his or her government-issued photo identification or a clear notarized photocopy of it in the case of mail request. Only parties who are entitled can apply for this information. They include the person named on the records, direct family members and legal guardians or representatives. The turnaround time can be longer than 60 days when ordering for the purpose of genealogy.

Iowa Bureau of Vital Records:
Address: Lucas Office Building
321 East 12th Street
Des Moines, IA 50319-0075
Phone: (515) 281-4944

Iowa Marriage License Public Records

Although the Iowa Bureau of Vital Records has an interstate exchange agreement with all of the other states for all vital records including Marriage, only statewide information can be available to the Iowa public. Folks are better off with the faster and easier option of the World Wide Web for marriage records of states other than Iowa. Plenty of online commercial service providers offering very affordable professional service can now be readily found on the Internet. You can have a try with one right here. Yes, check out Archives.