Learn Where to Find a Kansas Marriage Certificate

Are you thinking of requesting copies of Kansas marriage certificates? If so, you need to be clear in your mind about three things: what you can expect, where you can get it, and how to get it.

What Do Marriage Certificates Contain?

Marriage certificates will give the bride's and groom's full names, and the date and place where the ceremony was conducted. Some records may also give the names and birthplaces of parents of the bride and the groom, addresses of the bride and groom, records of previous marriages and names of witnesses and the person conducting the proceedings. Depending on individual choice, the certificate may also give identities of the marriage partners by religion and denomination.

Where are Marriage Certificates Filed?

You will find most records housed at the State's Office of Vital Statistics at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, 900 SW Jackson, Room 151, Topeka, KS 66612-2221. To get what you need, you will need to write or call 785-296-1400, or send a fax to 785-296-8075. If you go in person, you will find Kansas marriage certificates on file from May 1st 1913.

For records prior to those dates, you will need to contact the Clerk of the District Court in the county where the marriage occurred. To find the location of records not held by the Office of Vital Statistics, consult the Historical Records Survey-Kansas, titled "Guide to Public Vital Records in Kansas," for listing by birth, marriage, death and divorce, and then by county.

How to Get a Copy of a Marriage Certificate

Write a letter requesting your marriage certificate, which should be brief and to the point. Do not give confusing details about family lines. Do please keep in mind that you must not make more than two requests at once. Otherwise it may simply keep moving back and forth between departments, causing avoidable delay.

Submit all the data you can about a marriage. If a person goes by more than one name, mention all of them, including nicknames and alternate spellings. Be accurate about the marriage date. If you do not know the exact date, provide a time span that can be searched. Try to keep it narrow – the wider the search, the more it will cost you. Also remember to type or print all names and addresses to avoid misreading.

Make no advance payments unless you know exactly what the document/s will cost. Guesswork could leave you out of pocket or tangled in “adjustments." It’s okay to send a signed blank check with "Not to exceed $__.00" (the maximum likely amount) written preferably in red ink under the check's "$____" line.

The safest option is writing two separate letters. In the first one you should state your requirements, provide all relevant information and ask about the charges payable. The second one should carry your check. Always enclose a stamped and self-addressed envelope.

Government offices are quite often short-staffed, and swamped with paperwork. Though they often help people with genealogical queries, do remember that this is not the main work that they perform. Their staff appreciates all the patience and courtesy they can get if their responses aren’t quite as fast as you would like.

A Checklist of Essential Details

Date of request
Full name of husband (last name in caps)
Full name of wife (maiden name in caps)
Date of marriage
Place of marriage (city or town, county, state)
Relationship to you
Purpose for which the record is needed
Your name & address
Your driver's license number & state (some counties require it)
Your signature

Why Not Just Get it Online?

Did you know that you can now submit a request for these records over the Internet? Now you may wonder why you would do this when you can send a query directly to the office.

The answer is convenience and saving time. If you are sending the application the conventional way, you have to write that letter and post it, then depend on the postal system to carry it over. On the Internet, you can do the same thing with just a few clicks. This of course saves you a lot of time as well. Your application is received quicker and processed quicker. You can thus receive the Kansas marriage certificate that you need quicker too.