Idaho genealogy records

Births and deaths before July 1911

For births and deaths from 1907 to 1911, the federal Where to Write guide (as of 2022) says to write to the County Recorder in the county where the event occurred. The same guide notes that the state office has some birth records from before July 1911, so it is worth asking the state as well.

Birth and death certificates from 1911

The Idaho Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics maintains birth certificates filed from July 1911 to the present and death certificates filed since July 1911. It also issues stillbirth certificates. The Idaho State Archives in Boise also holds Idaho death certificates from 1911 to 1937, and it encourages booking an appointment before you visit its reading room.

Access rules: death and stillbirth certificates are legally confidential in Idaho for 50 years, according to the Department of Health and Welfare (as of 2026). The federal Where to Write guide (as of 2022) gives 100 years for birth records. To receive a certified copy of a legally confidential certificate you must have a "direct and tangible interest" in the record: the person named on it, immediate family, legal representatives, or someone who can show the record is needed to claim a property right. You may be asked for extra documents if the relationship cannot be verified.

How to order a certificate

The Bureau has no public counter, so all requests go online or by mail. As of 2026, copies of certificates cost $16 each. Mail is the most economical way: send the request form or a signed letter with the needed details, a photocopy of identification showing your signature and expiration date, and a check or money order made out to Idaho Vital Records. Online orders go through VitalChek, the department's official partner, which adds a $10.50 fee to every order and $10 per event for rush service.

The department warns that several third-party companies charge extra to obtain Idaho vital records, and recommends ordering directly by mail or through VitalChek. Orders with unsigned payments, unsigned applications, or unclear copies of identification are not processed until the missing items arrive, which doubles the processing time.

Marriages and divorces

The state has marriage and divorce records since May 1947. For earlier marriages, contact the County Recorder in the county where the license was issued; for earlier divorces, the County Recorder in the county where the divorce was granted. The federal Where to Write guide (as of 2022) says state marriage and divorce records are legally confidential for 50 years and that a copy costs $16.

Census records

Idaho Territory was organized on March 3, 1863, from parts of Dakota, Nebraska, and Washington territories, and at first it included parts of present-day Montana and Wyoming. It shrank in 1864 when Montana Territory was organized and again in 1868 when Wyoming Territory was organized, ending with generally the same boundary as the present state. Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state.

Census data for Idaho begin with the 1870 census, so for an ancestor in the area earlier, look in the records of the territory that covered it at the time. The 1890 census counted people as of June 1, 1890, though enumerators began on June 2. The part of Yellowstone National Park in Idaho was probably counted as part of Wyoming from 1880 to 1910. The Idaho State Archives has federal census schedules from 1790 to 1930.

Land and homesteads

Idaho is one of the 30 public land states, where land patents transferred land from the U.S. government to individuals. Search land patents on the Bureau of Land Management's General Land Office records website, but remember it lists only patented, completed entries. Cancelled or relinquished claims are not there, yet their case files can hold as much information as patented ones.

For those, contact the National Archives facility that holds records for Idaho and give the legal land description, township and range; staff may be able to help with a town name if that is all you have. For western states, including Idaho, the tract books are at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC, and some National Archives field offices. Also keep in mind that land called a homestead may have been a mining claim, a cash entry, a military bounty, a forest reserve claim, or scrip, each recorded separately from homestead entries.