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Ten Copies

Clerk's desk/August 30, 2026

Cook County deaths, not Springfield

If the death was in Chicago or suburban Cook County, start with the Cook County Clerk. Springfield is the statewide mail backup, with cheaper extra copies.

A death in Cook County is a Cook County record. The Cook County Clerk, Bureau of Vital Records, keeps deaths that occurred in Chicago and suburban Cook. Illinois Department of Public Health in Springfield will also issue a statewide certified copy, but it is not the first counter if you can use the county.

County Clerk

  • Cook County Clerk, Bureau of Vital Records. Mail: P.O. Box A3390, Chicago, IL 60690. In-person counters are listed on cookcountyclerkil.gov.
  • First copy $17. Additional copies of the same record $6 when ordered together, last checked 29 Aug 2026 on the Clerk's site.
  • A relative, or someone who can prove a financial interest, with photo ID. Mail a photocopy of ID.
  • Some suburban towns have their own registrar. Confirm the town if the funeral home filed outside the county bureau.

Springfield, if you need the state

IDPH Division of Vital Records, 925 E. Ridgely Ave., Springfield. Full certified death copy $19, each additional copy $4, on the IDPH obtain-death-certificate page this check. Mail extras are cheaper than the county's $6. Use Springfield when the death was in another Illinois county, or when you cannot reach a Cook counter. Banks still want a certified copy, not a genealogy print.

Confirm the $17 / $6 county fees on cookcountyclerkil.gov and the $19 / $4 state fees on dph.illinois.gov before you pay. Online orders, where offered, go through a vendor. This desk takes no cut.