Access Free Marion County Divorce Records (Dissolutions)

Find free Marion County divorce records on anyone today. Citizens can retrieve these records due to state and federal statutes — primarily the Oregon Public Records Law and the Freedom of Information Act.

Interested individuals can view dissolution records from county sources for free. This article provides resources such as aggregate links and contact information to the divorce record custodians in Marion County, Oregon.

How To Look Up Marion County Divorce Records for Free

Citizens who need to acquire divorce records from Marion County will need to turn to the Circuit Court – 3rd Judicial District. This court makes divorce documents available to the public due to the Oregon Public Records Law.¹ Interested parties can seek dissolution records by viewing them online, by mail and in person.

The court maintains records that date back to 1987; however, it has limited documents before this date going back to 1910 available in microfilm.

Requestors should note that while common law marriages are forbidden in Oregon, the state does recognize unions that occurred in other states that acknowledge this form of matrimony.² Therefore, common law divorce records can be found at Circuit Courts.

Patrons interested in viewing divorce records can do so online through the Marion County Case Search Tool made available by the Oregon Judicial Department. Interested persons can search for court cases by record number or name of the party. They will need to select Marion from the “Filter by Location” drop-down menu and limit the search to Civil, Family & Probate under the “Filter by Case Type” option.

Each case record set will show the case number, file date, status, and location. It will also show disposition events such as child support payment amounts and a history of events and hearings in the case.

The Oregon Judicial Department provides an additional tool to access court records, OJCIN OnLine. However, a paid subscription is required to utilize this instrument.

Patrons may also request records by completing a document request form online and detailing the needed documents.⁴ The requestor must also know the case number or hearing dates. Documents are delivered either by mail or electronically, depending on preference.

Standard copy rates for paper documents are $3.00 and $0.25 per page; certified and exemplified copies are $5.00 and $10.00, respectively, and an additional $0.25 per page.

Electronically delivered requests charge $3.00 per standard copy request and $5.00 and $10.00 for certified and exemplified copies. Applicants pay for requests via credit card and they should review this records request guide before submitting an electronic request.⁵

Patrons will need to download and print a records request form (Spanish) to initiate a mail request. Mail requests are paid in cash or check payable to the “State of Oregon.” Mail the application packet to Marion County Circuit Court at the address below:

Marion County Circuit Court
Attention: Court Records
Post Office Box 12869
Salem, Oregon 97309

Lastly, citizens can view divorce records at 6 terminals in the courthouse’s records lobby. The public can view dissolution records for free Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 12 PM and from 1 PM to 5 PM, at the courthouse in Salem.

Marion County Circuit Court
Records Department, First Floor
100 High Street
North East Salem, OR 97309

Phone: 503.588.5101

With any questions, concerned parties can call the Marion County Circuit Court at the telephone number above.

Sometimes, searchers may turn to local jurisdictions to find dissolution records—including city clerks and municipalities. By looking for records at the county level, interested parties have the broadest search scope. However, retrieving divorce records from the cities may also be helpful since these agencies often have a smaller turnaround time for document processing.

Unfortunately, in Marion County, citizens can’t look for dissolution records from local agencies; these channels only provide documents pertaining to records generated by the cities. For this reason, requesters must turn to county or state agencies to find divorce records. The section that follows discusses searching via state agencies.

How To Find Divorce Records in All of Oregon via the Health Authority’s Vital Records Office

In the quest to find divorce information, citizens may find that the dissolution documents are not recorded in Marion County but rather located in other counties within Oregon. In this scenario, interested individuals can order copies of divorce records from the Oregon Health Authority.

This state agency issues a record of the dissolution of marriage, which doesn’t have all the information in the decree but can serve as proof of the divorce. The Vital Records Office has records from 1925 to the present day.

Citizens can order divorce records from the Oregon Health Authority online, over the phone, by mail, and in person. Requestors should note that not everyone can request these records and that restrictions apply.⁶ During the first 50 years after a divorce record date, only authorized persons – including the document’s party, immediate family members such as parents and siblings, and legal representatives – may request these documents.

To request divorce certificates by mail, applicants will need to download and print a dissolution record request form (Spanish).⁷ A $25 non-refundable charge applies, and each additional copy costs the same; applicants can make payment via money order or check payable to the “OHA/Vital Records.”

Requestors must include a valid or alternative ID to prove eligibility.

Orders should be mailed to the address below and are processed within 3-5 weeks.

Oregon Vital Records
Post Office Box 14050
Portland, Oregon 97293-0050

Alternatively, citizens may submit the required documents in a sealed envelope at the drop box location in Portland; the address can be found below:

Oregon State Office Building
800 NorthEast Oregon Street
Portland, Oregon 97232

In addition, patrons may make in-person requests at the same address above. This service is not walk-in, so interested persons must schedule appointments Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 3:30 PM, where they can submit their requests at self-service kiosks.

In this case, search fees are $28.00, but additional copies cost $25 each. The office accepts credit/debit cards, cash, money orders, and EFT for personal checks.

Lastly, residents can request divorce records online through VitalChek, an authorized third-party vendor. Applicants may also call the vendor at +1.888.896.4988 to place requests. The cost of online and telephone record searches is $43.25 and $44.95, respectively, and additional copies are $25 each.

Inquirers can contact the Oregon Health Authority by calling 971.673.1190 for any inquiries.

In some cases, patrons might need older divorce records for genealogy and lineage research purposes—these can be obtained by getting in touch with the Oregon State Archives and the Historical County Records Guide.^{8, 9} As stated earlier, only the public can seek divorce documents that are older than 50 years from their recorded date.

The Oregon State Archives maintains divorce records that are either in original format or microfilm. They can be accessed via self-service at the Reference Room by appointment; these can be scheduled by calling 503.373.0701 (option 1) or emailing [email protected]. Slots are available weekdays from 8:15 AM to 12 PM and 1 PM to 4:30 PM.

Interested individuals may also submit requests online to the Archives.¹⁰ These copy rules and service fees apply.

Access to restricted vital records in the Archives can only be retrieved by obtaining permission from the State Registrar using the contact information below:

Oregon Center for Health Statistics
Suite 205, State Office Building
800 NorthEast Oregon Street
Portland, Oregon 97232

971-673-1190

Requesters can also search for archived documents at the county level via the Oregon Historical Records Index for circuit court cases spanning 1852-1921.^{11, 12} This divorce index is free to browse.

With any questions, contact the Oregon State Archives at 503-373-0701 (option 3) or email [email protected].

Can Anyone View Divorce Records in Marion County Oregon?

Divorce records in Oregon – and, by extension, Marion County – are mostly available to the public due to the state’s Public Records Law.¹ This means that the public can view divorce records without restrictions from the Circuit Courts.

However, there’s a restriction on who can request copies of certified and non-certified divorce records from the Circuit Courts and dissolution documents from the Oregon Health Authority.

The public can only request copies of divorce records 50 years after the record date of the event pursuant to ORS 432.380 (2)(c)(B)(v).^{6, 13} Outside of this time frame, only authorized persons with acceptable ID (such as the records owners, immediate family members, and legal representatives) can acquire certified and non-certified copies.

Circuit courts issue both certified and non-certified copies. Certified documents are official copies of the divorce decree the judge issues upon granting the annulment. These will have a court seal and can serve formal purposes such as obtaining Social Security benefits.

On the other hand, non-certified copies contain only rudimentary (basic) information on the record and are not official documents. Furthermore, they can only be used for personal purposes like genealogy research.

As a note, there’s a difference between divorce or dissolution decrees and records. Once couples file divorce papers at the circuits, judges issue dissolution decrees upon approving and granting the annulment.

Public divorce records, conversely, contain basic information and serve as proof of the vital event. They’re also less detailed than dissolution decrees.

Other than official channels, citizens can turn to third-party vendors to acquire divorce records in Marion County. These companies take the hassle out of searching for dissolution records and make searching for public documents more private and anonymous. Nevertheless, records from these companies can only be used for official purposes if they’ve received authorization from county and state agencies.

Searchers may need to locate Marion County divorce records for official or personal reasons, such as verifying someone’s marital status. This resource provides helpful information to help citizens find the necessary dissolution records.