Frequently Asked Questions

For divorce records created between:

1970 - present: Contact the Third District Court, 801-238-7300.

1896 - 1969: Contact the Utah State Archives.

1852 - 1887: Contact the Salt Lake County Archives.

• 1945 - present: Contact the Salt Lake County Clerk.
• 1887 - 1944: Contact Salt Lake County Archives.
• Before 1887: Salt Lake County was not required to register marriages before this year. If you ancestor belonged to a church, check their records for a marriage entry.

Copies of birth and death records can be obtained from any Salt Lake County Health Department clinic location. They are able to issue research only copies or certified copies for legal purposes.
Birth records:

• August 1890 - 1911 births: Salt Lake County Archives has birth records online.
• Before 1890: Salt Lake County was not required to register births before this year. If your ancestor belonged to a church, check their records for a baptism entry.

Death records:

• 1847 - 1949 deaths: Salt Lake County Archives has death records online.
• Before 1847: No U.S. government existed in Utah before 1847, so no official county records exist for this time period.

• Construction in an incorporated city: If the building is in an incorporated city today contact that city's planning or building permit office.
• 1970 - September 2019: Contact the Salt Lake County Archives for building permits.
• 1948-1969: Contact the Salt Lake County Archives for application cards for building permits. No building permits exist. We require the original owner or builder's name and date of build to search.
• Before 1948: No building permits exist for Salt Lake County. Permits for Salt Lake City may exist for this time period; check with the Utah State Archives.

Salt Lake County Archives does not have any building plans or blueprints. Plans in Salt Lake County are not kept after the completion of the building.

These certificates are occasionally found in a building permit file, but not often. See instructions for where to find building permits below.

Salt Lake County Archives DOES NOT maintain any records that depict load bearing walls, sewer lines, water pipes, or any utility lines. Contact your city, sewer district, or water district.

Salt Lake County Archives maintains Tax Appraisal Cards from 1936 that document the history of buildings in Salt Lake County. They often document whether a house has been a duplex or triplex. We require an address in order to locate a card.

Salt Lake County Archives has photographs of residential and commercial buildings in Salt Lake County from 1936 - 1980s. We require an address in order to locate a photograph.

The historical zoning ordinances that the Salt Lake County Archives maintains are available online.  They may or may not include maps.

Salt Lake County Environmental Health Department maintains these records. You can submit a request for records via email at:

Some of the reports may be in building permit files or in land use files and may be available through the Salt Lake County Archives.

To obtain Utah criminal records, copies of criminal history, or information on expungement of a criminal record, contact the Bureau of Criminal Identification at 801-965-4445.

• Misdemeanors (records are only kept 10 years after case is closed): Contact Salt Lake County Justice Court at 385-468-8200.
• Civil Court Records (like divorce) or Felonies:  Contact the Third District Court at 801-238-7300. 
• Jail or Incident Reports:  Contact Salt Lake County Sheriff Records department at 385-468-8870. 
• Traffic tickets: Contact the Unified Police Department, 385-468-9755.
• Civil and Criminal Court Cases from 1852-1887: Salt Lake County Archives maintains these records. 

Visit the Salt Lake County Assessor's website and enter your address or tax parcel number to see details about your house, including the year it was built.

Salt Lake County Archives can also check additional records to find or verify the year that your house was built.

The Salt Lake County Recorder's office maintains these records. The Recorder will not do any research for you, but you can search deed abstracts on your own in their office.

The Salt Lake County Archives maintains records of taxes paid from 1853 through last year.

Utah is a non-disclosure state for real estate sale prices. This means that Utah final sold prices are not available to the public.

Salt Lake County Archives can provide records of taxes paid on property from 1853 through the previous year. Only tax value is recorded on tax records until 1985, but it may be used by your accountant to calculate what a house was worth in the past. Later tax ledgers (1986 - present) include both the market value and the tax value.

For a copy of a water rights deed, contact the Salt Lake County Recorder's office, 385-468-8145.  

If the Recorder’s Office does not have the record, try the following:

• Utah State Archives.
• Utah Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water Rights.
• The local water district.
• The city’s public utilities department.

Contact the Salt Lake County Environmental Health for information. Also try your local water district or city's public utilities department.

Contact the Salt Lake County Surveyor or contact the Salt Lake County Recorder's office.

You can obtain legal descriptions of property on the Salt Lake County Assessor's website.

Contact the Salt Lake County Recorder's office.

The Salt Lake County Archives has some plat maps online. Please contact the Archives for details.

1977 – present: The Salt Lake County Archives maintains licenses issued within Salt Lake County only.

1906 – 1977: No business licenses exist for Salt Lake County.

1890s – 1905: Salt Lake County Archives maintains licenses issued within Salt Lake County only.

The Salt Lake County Archives does not have any wills, for any time period.  To locate wills, contact:

• Third District Court
  • Main (801) 238-7300 
  • Probate (801) 238-7164
• Utah History Research Center
  • (801) 533-3535

The Salt Lake County Archives does not have any county personnel records. For county personnel records, contact Salt Lake County Human Resources.

The Salt Lake County Archives holds copies of two Utah newspapers and two national newspapers:

• The Deseret News, 1867 – January 2015
• The Salt Lake Tribune, 1959 – January 2015
• The New York Times, 1852 – 2003
• The Wall Street Journal, 1972 – 2004

All newspapers are on microfilm, with the exclusion of the indexes for the New York Times which are available in volumes.