Illinois Vital Records, IDs, and Name Changes: Where to Start

“Personal records” in Illinois covers several unrelated systems that people tend to meet one at a time: ordering a birth or death certificate, replacing a lost ID, retitling a car, changing a legal name, or clearing an old arrest. No single agency runs all of them. This article explains who holds each record, which statute or court governs it, and where the step-by-step procedures are covered in more detail.

Which office or court holds each record

Illinois splits personal records among three groups of custodians, and the first task is usually identifying the right one.

County clerks and the Illinois Department of Public Health hold birth and death records. Births, deaths, and fetal deaths are registered under the Illinois Vital Records Act, 410 ILCS 535/25, which allows both the State Registrar and local registrars or county clerks to issue certified copies. Marriage and civil union certificates come from the county clerk in the county where the license was issued.

The Illinois Secretary of State handles most identity and vehicle records. That office issues driver’s licenses and state ID cards, including REAL ID versions, and it also issues vehicle titles and registrations. Illinois has no separate department of motor vehicles; these functions sit with the Secretary of State.

The circuit courts handle records that require a judge. A legal name change is a court petition under 735 ILCS 5/21-101, and clearing a criminal record through expungement or sealing runs through the circuit court clerk under 20 ILCS 2630/5.2. Knowing which of these three custodians holds a record tells you where to file, what form to use, and which fee schedule applies.

Key terms for Illinois records

A few terms recur across every record type, and getting them straight avoids wasted trips.

A certified copy is an official reproduction that carries a raised or printed seal from the issuing office. It is the version accepted for passports, Social Security, benefits, and estate matters. A plain photocopy or an uncertified print-out is a different document and is usually not accepted for those purposes.

A custodian or registrar is the office that keeps a record. For birth and death records, the custodian may be the State Registrar, a local registrar, or a county clerk, and under 410 ILCS 535/25 any of them can issue certified copies of the records they hold.

Expungement and sealing are two different forms of criminal-record relief. Under 20 ILCS 2630/5.2, to expunge means to destroy the records or return them and to obliterate the person’s name from official public indexes, while to seal means to keep the records but make them unavailable to most of the public without a court order.

A petitioner is the person who asks a court for relief, whether that is a name change or an order to expunge or seal a record. Both procedures start with a verified petition filed with the clerk of the circuit court.

Vital records: birth, death, and marriage certificates

Birth and death certificates are the records people request most, usually to prove identity, settle an estate, or enroll in benefits. Under 410 ILCS 535/25, the State Registrar charges a $10 search fee, and a certified copy of a birth record costs an additional $5, while a certified copy of a death record costs an additional $2 (as of 2026). County clerks and local registrars issue the same records for the counties they serve, at fees set for each office.

Not everyone can order any certificate. 410 ILCS 535/25 limits a certified birth copy to the person named (if of legal age), a parent or other legal representative, or someone with a genealogical interest, and it opens records for general genealogical research only when a birth is at least 75 years old or a death is at least 20 years old. Death and fetal-death certificates can go to a person, or their agent, who has a genealogical, personal, or property-right interest in the record.

The same statute builds in fee relief for two groups. A victim of domestic violence, on providing the certification described in the Act, is not charged a fee for the certificate, and a local registrar or county clerk issues one certified death certificate at no cost for an active-duty service member or an honorably discharged veteran. A certified copy is also treated as prima facie evidence of the facts it states, and a computer print-out that could be certified carries the same legal force as a certified copy.

Marriage and civil union certificates work differently from births and deaths. The county clerk that issued the license also keeps the certificate, so those requests go to that county rather than to the state. A couple who married in one county and later moved still orders the certificate from the county of the license.

Driver’s licenses, state IDs, and REAL ID

The Secretary of State issues driver’s licenses and standard state ID cards, and the same office issues REAL ID versions of both. A REAL ID meets federal identification standards for boarding domestic flights and entering secure federal buildings; a standard Illinois license or ID does not. Applying for a REAL ID requires documents that prove identity and legal presence, a Social Security number, and two proofs of Illinois residency.

The same office handles routine changes to these cards: renewals, duplicates for a lost or stolen card, corrected cards, and updates after a name or address change. Several of these can be started through the Secretary of State’s online services, though a first REAL ID must be obtained in person because the supporting documents have to be checked.

A person who has changed a name by court order updates the Social Security record first, then brings the order and the required identity documents to a Secretary of State facility for a corrected license or ID. The office also processes updates to a gender designation on a license or ID under its own documentation rules.

Vehicle titles and registration

A vehicle title is the ownership record for a car, and in Illinois the Secretary of State issues and transfers titles. Buying or selling a vehicle, adding or removing a name, or replacing a lost title all run through that office. A lost title is replaced with a duplicate, and a title that contains an error, such as a misspelled name, is fixed with a corrected title rather than a fresh application.

Title and registration are separate steps that often happen together. The title records who owns the vehicle; the registration and license plates authorize it to be driven on public roads, and they renew on a schedule. A title transfer generally involves the signed-over title, an application, and the applicable title and registration fees, which the Secretary of State publishes and updates.

Illinois also runs an electronic titling program through approved service providers, so many dealerships and lenders submit title and registration work electronically rather than by mail. Liens are recorded on the title as well, and a lienholder’s interest is released on the record once the loan is paid.

Changing your legal name

An adult changes a legal name by filing a petition in the circuit court of the county where they live. Under 735 ILCS 5/21-101, the petitioner must have resided in Illinois for three months at the time of the name-change hearing, a residency period the legislature shortened from six months effective March 1, 2025. The court can include a spouse and adult children (with their consent) and minor children in the same petition, so a family can change names together in one case.

A change for a minor carries a higher standard. The court can enter it only on clear and convincing evidence that the change serves the child’s best interest, weighing factors the statute lists, including the wishes of the parents, the wishes of the child, the child’s relationships at home and school, and the child’s adjustment to home, school, and community.

Some petitioners face added conditions. Under 735 ILCS 5/21-101, a person required to register as a sex offender, or one with a felony sentence that has not been completed, generally cannot obtain a name change unless a narrow exception applies, such as a change tied to marriage, religious belief, status as a trafficking victim, or gender identity, verified under oath. When a court grants a name change to someone with a criminal record, a copy of the order goes to the Illinois State Police so the criminal-history record reflects both the new and former names.

The Illinois Supreme Court’s statewide approved Name Change forms cover both adults and minors, and every Illinois court must accept them. After a judge signs the order, the new name is updated with the Social Security Administration and then on the Illinois driver’s license or state ID, followed by financial accounts, employers, and other records.

Clearing a criminal record: expungement and sealing

Illinois offers two ways to limit access to a criminal record, and they are not the same. Under 20 ILCS 2630/5.2, expungement physically destroys the records or returns them and removes the person’s name from public indexes, while sealing keeps the records but hides them from most public view unless a court orders otherwise. Sealing still leaves the record visible to law enforcement and to some employers required by law to run fingerprint checks.

Eligibility turns on how the case ended. Under 20 ILCS 2630/5.2, arrests without charges, dismissals, acquittals, and successfully completed court supervision or qualified probation can generally be expunged. Sealing reaches further and covers many convictions, but it carries waiting periods: records tied to supervision may be sealed two years after the last sentence ends, and conviction records three years after the last sentence ends. Certain offenses are excluded from sealing, including some sex offenses, DUI, and specified violent and animal-cruelty offenses.

The statute also provides faster routes in narrow cases. Arrests or charges that end in acquittal or dismissal with prejudice on or after January 1, 2018 can be sealed immediately at the same hearing where the case is disposed, and certain minor cannabis civil-law violations are expunged automatically by the arresting agency and the courts without a petition.

A petition to expunge or seal is filed with the clerk of the circuit court in the county where the case was handled, and a separate petition is needed in each county where records exist. Under 20 ILCS 2630/5.2, the State’s Attorney, the arresting agency, and the Illinois State Police receive notice and can object within 60 days of service, which can lead to a hearing set at least 30 days out. The filing fee can be waived under Supreme Court Rule 298 for a petitioner who qualifies, and a court cannot deny sealing solely because a petitioner still owes court fines or fees.

Specific procedures and topics