State guide · ND

North Dakota genealogy records

North Dakota's state office has some births from 1870 and deaths from July 1893, incomplete until 1920; a free State Archives index covers older births, deaths, and marriages.

North Dakota at a glance

Became a state: November 2, 1889 (Dakota Territory organized March 2, 1861)
Birth records at the state office: Some from 1870; 1870 to 1920 incomplete (federal Where to Write guide)
Death records at the state office: Some from July 1893; 1894 to 1920 incomplete (federal Where to Write guide)
State Bureau of Vital Statistics: Created 1907
Free online index (SHSND): Births 125 or more years old, deaths, marriages, divorces
Certified copies, as of 2026: Birth 15 dollars; death 15 dollars (10 for extra copies); no uncertified copies

North Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889, on the same day as South Dakota, after almost three decades as part of Dakota Territory. Its state vital records office has some birth records starting in 1870 and some death records since July 1893, but the federal Where to Write guide warns that the early years, up to 1920, are incomplete. A State Bureau of Vital Statistics, created in 1907, brought standard birth and death certificates.

The best free starting point is the State Historical Society of North Dakota (SHSND) in Bismarck. Working with the Department of Health, it offers an online index to births at least 125 years old, deaths, marriages, and divorces, and it holds pre-1925 marriage records for 40 counties, naturalization records, newspapers, and land office tract books.

Births and deaths: how registration grew

Soon after statehood, an 1893 law had the health office of each city and the superintendent of each county board of health register births and deaths in the county. The death registers recorded the name, date of death, sex, color, marital status, age, birthplace, parents' names and birthplaces, and the cause of death. A 1903 law even required the county registry to be published in an official newspaper once a week for four weeks each January under the heading "Vital Statistics," so county newspapers from those years may carry lists of births and deaths.

In 1907 the legislature created the State Bureau of Vital Statistics. Every township, incorporated village, and city became a registration district, the local clerk served as registrar, and births and deaths were recorded on standard certificate forms. Even so, the Where to Write guide published by the National Center for Health Statistics says the state office has only some records from those early decades: births from 1870 and deaths from July 1893, with the years through 1920 incomplete.

Free online indexes

The State Archives vital records index is built from Department of Health data. By state law, it only includes birth records 125 years or older, and the death index leaves out deaths within the past year. Marriage entries before 1925 come from records at the State Archives, and those from 1925 on come from the Department of Health; the detail view tells you which office to contact for a copy.

The Department of Health also has a Public Death Index on its website, where you can search and order certified copies. The death indexes give the person's full name, date of birth if known, date of death, and the county of residence and of death. In the SHSND reading room they sit beside the North Dakota Necrology for 1920 to 1926 and a Newspaper Abstract File of obituaries and death notices.

Ordering birth and death records

North Dakota Vital Records in Bismarck takes orders online, by mail, or by appointment, and as of 2026 it does not issue uncertified copies. A birth certificate costs 15 dollars. Only the person named (if at least 16), or the mother or father named on the record, may request one without a court order or legal papers. For the birth record of a person who has died, you must be an authorized representative or an immediate relative, meaning a parent, child, grandparent, or grandchild; the office says siblings, uncles, aunts, and cousins are not eligible for that birth record. If the death happened outside North Dakota, you also send a certified copy of the death record.

Death records come in three versions. A certified informational copy can be issued to anyone and includes the demographic details but not the cause of death or Social Security number. A complete death record, with the cause of death, goes only to a relative (spouse, parent or legal guardian, child, grandparent, grandchild, or genetic sibling), an authorized representative, a funeral director, or by court order. A third version, with the facts of death but no cause, also goes to those people or to an attorney who needs it for a legal determination. As of 2026, death certificates cost 15 dollars for the first copy and 10 dollars for each additional copy ordered at the same time.

Marriages and divorces

A territorial law of 1862 made marriage a civil contract with a license from a county clerk. By 1890 the judge of the county court issued licenses and kept a marriage record book with copies of the licenses and certificates, and from 1907 two witnesses also signed the certificate. Since January 1, 2008, the Department of Health no longer issues certified copies of marriage records, and the federal Where to Write guide lists marriage copies under the county, at a cost that varies.

The State Archives has pre-1925 marriage records on microfilm for 40 counties, among them Burleigh, Cass, Grand Forks, Stutsman, and Ward; Williams County's are digital only, and the rest must come from the county. For divorces, the Department of Health did not collect records from the county courts until 1949. Earlier cases are in the county where the divorce was filed, and the State Archives has divorce records for over half of the counties in its civil case files and divorce case files.

Census and naturalization records

Dakota Territory was organized on March 2, 1861, and covered both Dakotas, most of Montana, and part of Wyoming. The Census Bureau notes that the 1860 census counted "unorganized Dakota" together with areas now in Montana, while the 1870 and 1880 figures are for the area of the present state. The SHSND holds census schedules and takes research requests on a form with a fee; for censuses without an index you must give a precise location. Ancestry is free in its Reading Room and at libraries and schools across the state.

Naturalization records once kept by the clerks of the state district courts, covering the period up to 1955, are at the State Archives on microfilm, along with records from the federal district courts in North Dakota, and there is an online searchable index. Give the head of household's name and the county where the papers were filed. Records before 1906 do not include family background.

Land, newspapers, and local history

The SHSND has the Land Office tract books on microfilm, which list the first entries for public land. They are not indexed, so you need the township and range. The SHSND does not have homestead files; order them from the National Archives, and search land patents on the Bureau of Land Management's General Land Office website. Later deeds are at the county courthouse, and county plat books from 1884 show land ownership by township.

A Newspaper Law of 1905 required copies of legal newspapers to be sent to the State Historical Society, and these are on microfilm along with some earlier papers, available in the reading room or by interlibrary loan. Staff can search a paper only if you give the exact date and place of the event. For family stories, look at the WPA Historical Data Project biography files, gathered through interviews in the 1930s, and the Pioneer Mothers Project histories, both arranged or indexed by name.

Search in this order

Search the State Archives vital records index for births, deaths, marriages, and divorces.
For a death, check the Public Death Index for the date and county, then order an informational copy if you are not a close relative.
For a birth under 125 years old, check whether you are eligible before ordering.
Find the marriage county, then check the State Archives microfilm list for pre-1925 marriages.
Look for the family in the 1870 and 1880 censuses of Dakota Territory and in later federal censuses.
Search the naturalization index by head of household and county.
Get the township and range, then check the tract books and land patents.
Look for death notices in the county newspaper, including the January vital statistics lists after 1903.

Where to see them for free

State Historical Society of North Dakota, State Archives, Bismarck, for the free vital records index, pre-1925 marriages, divorce case files, naturalizations, newspapers, and tract books.
North Dakota Vital Records (Department of Health and Human Services), Bismarck, for certified birth and death records.
The county where the marriage license was issued, for marriage copies, and the county where the divorce was filed, for divorce cases.
The county courthouse for deeds and land ownership records.
The Bureau of Land Management General Land Office records website for land patents, and the National Archives for homestead files.
FamilySearch and Ancestry, as places to search federal censuses; Ancestry is free at the State Archives reading room and North Dakota libraries.

Sources

How to cite this page

Daily Ancestor. "North Dakota genealogy records." State guides. https://dailyancestor.com/states/north-dakota. Last checked 2026-10-12.