County and State Records

By TCGS Member, Connie Estep

Brenda Chilton, Benton County Auditor, provided a wealth of information about public records at our meeting this month. The more current records may be seen electronically at the Auditor’s Annex in the Richland Fred Meyers complex, and in the Kennewick Annex at 5600 W. Canal. The full range of records is available at the Benton County Courthouse in Prosser.

A list of the types of records available with their date ranges can be found at http://www.co.benton.wa.us/pview.aspx?id=870&catid=45. Computerized records are available electronically and in hard copy from 2000 to present at the Clerk’s Office in Prosser and Kennewick. Additionally the records in the table below (copied from this same website) are available in original format, microfilm or as electronic images at the Clerk’s Office in the Benton County Courthouse in Prosser.

The above website directs people to the Washington Department of Health, Center for Health Statistics for birth, death, marriage and divorce certificates. The hot link to this site does not work, but if you cut and paste the department name into Google it will find the correct site. This is not a searchable site. You may order certificates (you provide full details) and you may also order a record search for $8 each. Their search range for births and deaths is July 1907 to the present. The search range for marriages and divorces is 1968 to present; for earlier records they direct you to local county records.

Record indexes and images are digitized from 1984 to present and marriage licenses from 1970 to present. These are searchable at the Benton County Auditor website BentonAuditor.com. Go to the Recording tab and click on “Recorded Documents Online”. You may search all record types or specify a record type. I poked around a bit with this search form and most of the records I found when searching “all record types” were land transactions. Land transactions do seem to happen more frequently in a lifetime than births, deaths, and marriages!

Pre-1984 indexes and images are available in Prosser on microfilm. You don’t need appointments for searching records in Prosser or Kennewick. They have terminals set up for people to use.

This table shows the dates for available records in Benton County. The county was formed March 8, 1905 from parts of Yakima and Klickitat County. If you need records earlier than that date, search records from those two counties.

Brenda also discussed other public record sources. Washington State Archives has a death records index from 1907-2000 and prison records. The nearest state archives regional office is in Ellensburg. A website about their holdings and how to contact them can be found at  www.sos.wa.gov/archives/archives_central.aspx. Be sure to call for an appointment before traveling. Washington was the first state to have a digital archives. It is located in Cheney.

Brenda gave a good overview of records available in Benton County. Research in other counties will most likely have some differences. If you plan to travel to other counties it’s best to do as much research as possible to know what to expect before you arrive and try to set up appointments!