Public Records

Marriage records are part of what are known as vital statistics, which also include birth records. Marriage records are easily accessible online from the Vital Statistics webpage of Oakland County. It is run by the clerk/ record of deeds office. The County does also allow visitors to make an in-person request or mail-in request.

Before making an online request for a marriage certificate copy, you’ll need to know the names of the parties BEFORE they were married in addition to the marriage date. There are also fees for ordering through credit card, including $15 for 1st copy (birth, death, and marriage records), $10 for 1st copy (birth records only – seniors 65 or older of your own record), and $5 for each additional copy of same record. Service fees also apply for online orders.

To order online, visit the Vital Statistics page at https://apps.oakgov.com/crts0005/forms/buyMarriage.jsp. You can then look for your marriage record, birth certificate, or death certificate and order a copy. Alternatively, you can get help using the genealogy service site, which is free to browse marriage records as early as 1868 and death records from 1900 to today. Alternatively, the The State of Michigan Vital Records Department also allows you to browse and order birth, death, and marriage records at https://www.michigan.gov/mdhhs/doing-business/vitalrecords.

The vital records, life events and services division of the Clerk’s office is also responsible for overseeing notary public applications, concealed pistol licenses, assumed names and co-partnerships for businesses. All of these records can be viewed at https://www.oakgov.com/government/clerk-register-of-deeds/life-events-services.

Lastly, another big part of running the Clerk’s office is handling the massive amount of deeds, property and land records. The Clerk’s office creates a public record for all land in Oakland County, includes deeds (which show the previous owner), mortgages (which show a current bank loan on the property), and liens (a hold on a property by someone other than the owner). These records are available for public viewing by using the Oakland County Super Index, which has property records dating back to January 1, 1964, with the exception of subdivision plat maps. You can use this same index to use the inmate locator and view mugshots of defendants.

If, for some reason, you can’t find the records you’re looking for using any of these methods, you can also submit an open records request, also known as a FOIA request. This allows you to access any public records that are not readily available through the Clerk’s office. To submit a FOIA request, you can visit the Oakland County FOIA website, sign up for an account, and check the progress of your request here https://oaklandcountymi.mycusthelp.com/WEBAPP/_rs/(S(ub3q3l4lxvdbp0glhdvvu1w5))/SupportHome.aspx.