Acquire Free Erie County Ohio Divorce Records (Decree Search)

Conduct a free Erie County, Ohio, divorce records search through various official agencies and databases.

Divorce records can provide searchers with extensive information about the separation case — including the primary details of the divorcees, attorney names, and even the final decree that holds details such as alimony, custody of children, and asset division.

Furthermore, these records can even provide citizens with case files containing documents filed in the court during proceedings.

This article concisely explains how to carry out a free divorce records search in Erie County, Ohio, through various official departments and online lookup tools.

How To Look Up Erie County Ohio Divorce Records: Free Search

In Erie County, Ohio, the responsibility of collecting and preserving court records (including those of divorce cases) falls under the duty of the Clerk of the Courts.¹ The Clerk of the Courts Office, particularly its Domestic Relations Division, manages divorce records and can provide citizens with them upon request.²

The department does not yet have an online records search option. However, interested residents can request divorce records through other methods such as through an in-person visit, call, or mail using the following credentials:

Clerk of the Courts – Erie County
Domestic Relations Division
323 Columbus Avenue
Sandusky, Ohio 44870

Phone Number: 419-627-7706
Toll-Free: +1-888-399-6065
Fax: 419-624-6873

The office of the Domestic Relations Division of the Clerk of the Courts in Erie County is open for the general public from 8 AM to 4 PM, Monday through Friday. However, anyone planning a visit should note that the office is closed during weekends and other public holidays. Any individual can visit the division’s office during the aforementioned hours and request a divorce records search.

For the department to perform a precise search, the requestor must provide certain basic details about the divorce case. These details can include the case number (if known), the name of the divorcee(s), a time frame, location, name of the judicial officer assigned, or the names of the attorneys. Any of these details can help the department conduct a conclusive search for the requested divorce records.

In addition to that, in case the requestor is unrelated to the case, they must also present a reason as to why they require the records.

Citizens can also request divorce records from the department via mail. The requestor must provide any of the aforementioned details about the case and send it to the clerk’s main office (the address of which is quoted above).

Interested residents must keep in mind that the Domestic Relations Division also charges a fee for providing divorce papers.

Non-certified copies of records are provided at a price of $0.25 (or 25 cents) per page. In case the requestor wants certified copies of divorce records, the department has a certification fee of $2 per file.

For information about the process or any other queries, the department can be contacted at 419-627-7706 or toll-free at +1-888-399-6065. The department’s official website also has an FAQ section for common queries.⁴

Divorce records, along with all the information in them, are primarily available to anyone who requests them from the Clerk of the Courts Department.

However, requestors must keep in mind that the department holds the legal right to omit any sensitive information from the divorce records before providing them; this is done to ensure the safety and privacy of the divorcees as well as other individuals involved in the case such as and especially minor children.

Details such as exact addresses, phone numbers, financial particulars, social security numbers, and information about children (in case the divorcees are parents) can be considered as sensitive information.

View Divorce Information Throughout the Entire State via the Ohio Department of Health

While searching for divorce records in Erie County, citizens could face instances where the case files they are looking for are not available at a county-level agency but are rather at a state-level agency or in a different county. In such a situation, it is important that they know which is the appropriate official agency to approach for the required records.

Unfortunately, Ohio does not have a centralized source that keeps records of all divorces that took place in the state. However, as an alternative, citizens can choose to contact the Court Clerk in the respective county in which the separation originally took place.⁵

Primarily, it is the duty of the clerk’s office – a county-level entity – to keep records of all cases that are heard throughout that county, including divorce cases. Hence, they can provide residents with the desired records.

As another option, citizens can also choose to approach the Ohio Department of Health to search public divorce records at the state level. The department has maintained a divorce index that contains records of separation cases that took place in the state from 1990 to 2020.

Ohio Department of Health
246 North High Street
Columbus Ohio 43215

Phone: 614-466-3543

Anyone can choose to search this index for records for genealogy, lineage, or ancestral research purposes. However, for even older divorce records (of cases dating before the year 1990), inquirers will have to reach out to the clerk of courts of the county in which the separation originally took place.

The Availability of Divorce Records in Erie County Ohio

In Erie County, divorce records – being considered court records – are available to be viewed or copied by anyone from the general public. This access (which also applies to common law divorce records) is made possible in accordance with Section 149.43 of the Ohio Legal Code.⁶

The section, also referred to as “Ohio Open Records Law,” ensures the open nature of all court records. However, in case the court specifically orders to seal the documents of a certain case for any reason whatsoever, they won’t be available to be viewed by the public except with special permission.

However, before someone starts searching divorce records in Erie County, they must understand the availability of the concerned documents. A divorce certificate – which is a simple single-sheet document announcing the legal separation of a couple – is available to be viewed by the general public. On the other hand, a complete divorce decree can be difficult to obtain in some cases.

A decree of divorce is the detailed final verdict of the court in regards to a separation case and usually contains in-depth details. Other than basic details of the divorcees, details of the hearings, a summary of the case, and its basic details, a decree contains information on critical legal matters such as the division of assets, alimony, child custody, and child support.

Aside from the abovementioned official sources, there are many third-party sources that can also help residents in searching for divorce records. However, unless said third-party sources are endorsed by an official agency, the details obtained through them should never be used in legal matters.

This resource contains complete details on how to conduct an Erie County Ohio divorce records search for free through various official sources.