Ohio Free Public Records Directory

The State of Ohio owes its name to the Ohio River, which forms its entire southern boundary. Across the river, Ohio’s immediate neighbors to the south are West Virginia and Kentucky. It is bordered on the east by Pennsylvania, on the west by Indiana, and on the north by Lake Erie and a short stretch of Michigan. Ohio is the 34th largest state by area, but the 7th most populous, making it the 10th most densely populated state. It has 88 counties.

The state capital, Columbus, is also Ohio’s largest city by population, with 2,021,632 residents. The Columbus metropolitan area’s population of 2,106,616 is slightly less than Cincinnati’s 2,114,580. Cincinnati’s location on the banks of the Ohio River means its metro area includes counties in Kentucky and Indiana. Cleveland’s metropolitan area is close behind with 2,055,612 residents. The northwestern 2/3 of the state is uniformly flat, having been heavily glaciated during successive Ice Ages. The sparsely populated southeastern 1/3 of the state has rolling hills, is mostly forested, and is considered part of Appalachia. Ohio has a humid continental climate, with hot and humid summers and cool to cold winters.

In 1787, shortly after the Revolutionary War, the new United States created the Northwest Territory, encompassing most of the former British colonial territory north of the Ohio River and south of the Great Lakes. In 1803, Ohio became the first state to be created out of the Northwest Territory and the 17th state in the United States. The creation of Ohio was done by an act of Congress, albeit not a formal declaration of admission to statehood. Before 1812, there was no formal process for admitting a state to the Union. The oversight was discovered during Ohio’s 150th anniversary in 1953, and a joint congressional resolution was passed in that year to retroactively declare the state’s formal admission to the Union in 1803.

Ohio’s economy is based heavily on manufacturing; it has the third largest manufacturing workforce among all states, after California and Texas. It is ranked 34th in economic opportunity, but #1 in affordability. Transportation is another significant employment sector, boosted by many major east-west highways traversing the state. The oldest concrete-paved street in the United States – only a block long – still exists in the city of Bellefontaine.

The state motto is "With God All Things Are Possible," which was held to not be in violation of the First Amendment because no specific God is endorsed. Ohio is known as The Buckeye State, after its native state tree, the buckeye. Many Ohioans call themselves Buckeyes.

To find Ohio public records, see our directory below of all types, including divorce records, vital records, criminal records, death certificates, and recorded documents.

Abbreviation	OH
Capital	Columbus
Population	11,658,609 (2017 est.)
Area size	44,825 sq. mi
Demonym	Ohioan, Buckeye
Primary languages spoken	English
Governor	John Kasich
Lieutenant Governor	Mary Taylor
U.S. Senators	Sherrod Brown, Rob Portman
U.S. House Delegation	11 Republicans, 4 Democrats
Time Zone	Eastern: UTC -5/-4

*The map and data in the table are from Wikipedia.

Browse by Public Record Category

There are two types of public records: 1) personal public records that document major life milestones such as birth certificates, death certificates, divorce records, and marriage records, etc.; and 2) government records that are made public such as property tax records, recorded land records, voter records, crime data, jail inmate records, and court records. The Freedom of Information Act is a national law that releases government agency public records and makes it possible to view most public records. Since there are a multitude of records available, it can be difficult to know how or where to access them.

Ohio’s first public records law was enacted in 1963, and directs public officials responsible for maintaining records to organize and maintain them so that they are available for inspection and copying by the public.

When you are ready to start your search, you’ll find our Public Records Directory website easy to use since all of the records can be searched by federal, state, county, city, town or type of record. The links provided will connect you to the best website for the record search, provide details about the record, or provide contact information for those records without search capabilities.