If you are looking for birth records, including certificates, you need to know the timing of each state’s requirements. Each state in the U.S. started requiring birth registrations in different years. Generally, some types of records were created prior to the official state laws, either at the county, city, or town levels. But state records weren’t required until a law was passed. Some states passed laws that mandated that records be kept at the local level, even though there was no mandated state registration. Furthermore, even though registrations and certificates were mandated, general compliance was not achieved by all entities for just a few years or even a few decades in some instances.
This Quicksheet lists for each state when registration was required, when it started at local jurisdictions, and when general compliance with the state law was achieved. Please note that local-level registration and records were not adhered to by all local jurisdictions. If the year is blank, I could not find the information for that entry.
For all the previously published Quick Reference Guides, click on QuickSheets
Genealogy QuickSheets – Frequently Asked Questions
- 100 Best Free Online Genealogy Websites
- Beyond the Search Engine: Using Google Databases for Genealogy Research
- 64 Genealogy Items to Collect from Your Home
- United States Genealogical and Historical Societies
- 24 Places Where You Can Find Your Ancestors Occupation
- 13 Types of Genealogical Information You Can Find in Old Yearbooks
- 16 Places Where You Can Find Genealogy and Family History Books
- Easy Cousin Relationship Chart
- The Easiest Way to Find Every Historical Newspaper in America
- The Best Way to Find 20% More Pertinent Newspaper Articles Online
One reply on “When Were State Birth Records Started and Required”
What is the trick to downloading these quick tip sheets as a pdf?