Vital Records

All Births, Deaths, and Marriages that took place in Effingham County are maintained in the County Clerk’s office. In the State of Illinois, vital records were not required to be filed until 1916. Our records go back to that time and beyond. A certified copy is a legal document with both the county and state seals.

In order to obtain one of the above records, identification is required.  A list of acceptable forms of identification are as follows; one of the following may be presented:  Illinois driver’s license, Illinois state identification card, out-of-state driver’s license, out-of-state state identification card, US government driver’s license, Naturalization certificate, US military identification card, US immigration card, Selective Service card, Illinois public aid identification card with medical card, FOID card.

If none of the above are possible, then we will accept any two of the following:  Social Security card or print-out, voter registration card, W2 form, bank statement (within 90 days), utility bill (within 60 days), vehicle registration card, active insurance policy/medical card (at least one year old), checkbook or savings book (showing name and address), photo work identification card, traffic ticket, resident alien card, school identification card.  All documents must be current and valid.

Contact Info for the Illinois Department of Public Health is:

IDPH
Division of Vital Records
952 E. Ridgely Ave.
Springfield IL 62702
Email: dph.vitals@illinois.gov
Telephone: 217-821-6553
Website: www.dph.illinois.gov