-
Access to Vital Records in New Hampshire
Who has Access to a NH Vital Record
New Hampshire is a "Closed Record" State. That means only certain individuals have access to birth, death, marriage or divorce records. Access is granted to the individual the record belongs to, or their immediate family members. Immediate family members include:
- Mother
- Father
- Spouse
- Child
- Sibling
- Step Parent
- Grandparents
- Foster Parents
- Aunt
- Uncle
If you have questions about access to a vital record please contact the City Clerk's Office to discuss your individual circumstances.
Vital Records Availability
Over one million records have been added to the Statewide Vital Records Database by the State of New Hampshire. By doing this, the Department of Vital Records Administration has completed one of the most significant projects affecting all of the 234 city & town clerks that use the Statewide System. City and town clerk's across the State now have ready access to the following vital records:
• NH Birth records from: 1935 to the present (except 1949 and 1950)
• NH Death records from: 1965 to the present
• NH Marriage records from: 1960 to the present
• NH Divorce records from: 1979 to the present
-
Requesting a Vital Record
-
Online
You may order a certified copy of a birth, death, or marriage record online using your credit card through our approved Internet ordering service, eb2Gov.
The Keene City Clerk does not accept credit cards or online orders directly; however, for your convenience, you can process online requests through either independent companies that we have partnered with to provide you with this service. An additional fee is charged by eb2Gov for using this service, and all major credit cards are accepted, including American Express®, Discover®, Mastercard®, or Visa®.
Other internet vendors are not authorized by the Keene City Clerk and may charge additional fees without providing approved services. Neither the Keene City Clerk nor eb2Gov has control over the services and fees other Internet vendors offer and charge, nor can we guarantee the confidentiality of any vital record data provided by vendors other than eb2gov.
-
Other Options
Requesting certified copies in person:
- Obtain copies of birth, death, or marriage records from the office of the City Clerk.
- The charge is $15.00 for making a search. (This includes payment for the issuance of a certified copy.)
- Additional copies ordered at the same time for the same record are $10.00.
- Be prepared to confirm your identity with picture identification.
- Office hours are 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, Monday through Friday.
Requesting certified copies by mail
When requesting by mail include a bank check or money order payable to the City of Keene and a photocopy of picture identification to confirm your identity, along with the following:
For Birth Certificates, supply a written request including the following information:
The child's name at birth, the date of birth, parent name(s) including Mother's maiden name, your relationship to the person named on the certificate, and your signature as the requestor.
For Marriage Certificates, supply a written request including the following information:
The names of the two individuals, their date of marriage, the date of marriage, your relationship to the person(s) named on the certificate, and your signature as the requestor.
For Death Certificates, supply a written request including:
The decedent's name, the date of death, your relationship to the person named on the certificate, and your signature as the requestor.
Mail the written request including all pertinent information and a self-addressed stamped envelope to:
City Clerk's Office
3 Washington Street
Keene, NH 03431If you do not have any photo identification please call for further information. You may contact the City Clerk at: 603-352-0133 extension 2.
If you need your vital record immediately and need it to be overnighted, please submit your overnight shipping label to keenevitals@keenenh.gov.
-
-
Genealogy
The Keene City Clerk’s Office has the ability to research genealogy for events occurring within the City of Keene. We require the name(s) and the date of the event in order to search for the record. If a name or the date of the event is unknown, then the search would need to be completed by the State of New Hampshire. The search fee for the City of Keene is $15.00 and is non-refundable.
The State of New Hampshire has all records for the entire state. Records that are open to the public, unrestricted include: Birth records 100 years old and older; and death, marriage and divorce records 50 years old and older. The State of New Hampshire has genealogical volunteers available Monday through Friday, from 8:30 – 3:30 PM, that will assist visitors in doing their own research of archived records in their facility located at 71 South Fruit Street, Concord, NH. The only cost for this self-serve research is the cost of a photocopy of the record. In order to make copies, you will need to bring quarters for the coin operated copier.
You may also mail in your genealogical research request to the State of New Hampshire. Requests may be mailed to New Hampshire Department of State, Division of Vital Records Administration, 71 South Fruit Street, Concord, NH 03301-2410. Please click here for the form they require. They do require a copy of photo ID along with the application. The cost will be $15.00 for each record requested.
If you are in search of a more recent birth, death, marriage or divorce record that falls outside the unrestricted dates listed on this page, please click here for further information.
