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Frequently Asked Questions

How can I find a divorce record?
For divorce records created between:

 

How can I find a marriage record?
  • 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.

 

How can I find a birth or death record?
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 here.
  • 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 here.
  • Before 1847: No U.S. government existed in Utah before 1847, so no records exist for this time period.  

 

How can I find a building permit?
  • 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.
How can I find blueprints or building plans for my house?
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.
How can I find a Certificate of Occupancy?
These certificates are occasionally found in a building permit file, but not often. See instructions for where to find building permits here.

 

How can I find records with the location of load bearing walls, location of sewer lines, location of water pipes, or other utility lines?
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.

 

How can I prove that my house is or was a duplex/triplex?
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.  For more information, click here.

 

Do you have photographs of my house?
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. Click here for more information.  

 

How can I find past and present zoning ordinances?

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

Current zoning ordinances are available here.

 

Do you have environmental contamination records?
Salt Lake County Environmental Health Department maintains these records. You can submit a request for records via email at: envhealthgrama@slco.org.

 

How can I find soil reports, gradient, land use, and other engineering reports?
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.
How can I search court cases or criminal records?
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. 

 

When was my house built?

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.

 

Who were the previous owners of my house or property?
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. Call them for more information: 385-468-8145.

 

What were the past taxes paid for a property?
The Salt Lake County Archives maintains records of taxes paid from 1853 through last year.

 

How much was a house worth or what was the sale price?

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.

 

How can I find information about water rights or wells?

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.

 

How can I locate information about water quality and septic/wastewater issues?
Contact the Salt Lake County Environmental Health at 385-468-3835 for information.  Also try your local water district or city’s public utilities department.  

 

How can I check property lines, easements, or rights-of-way?

Contact the Salt Lake County Surveyor at 385-468-8240 or the Salt Lake County Recorder’s office at 385-468-8145.

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

 

Do you have plat maps or subdivision plat maps?

Contact the Salt Lake County Recorder’s office at 385-468-8145.  The Salt Lake County Archives has very limited plat maps. Please contact the Archives for details.

 

How can I find business licenses?

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.

How can I find records of wills?

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

 

How can I find Salt Lake County personnel records?
The Salt Lake County Archives DOES NOT have any county personnel records. For county personnel records, contact Salt Lake County Human Resources at 385-468-0570.
How can I find archived newspapers?
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.