Find Free Baltimore County Marriage Records & Certificates

Search free Baltimore County marriage records to uncover details of spouses, wedding dates, past and current legal unions, and more.

An individual’s marital status is a public record in Maryland, meaning this information is readily available to anyone who wishes to obtain it. The Maryland Public Information Act (also known as PIA) allows citizens to access public records information in a timely manner.

This resource will help those interested in performing marriage record searches by showing how to perform them, step by step, regardless of how old those records are.

How To View Baltimore County Marriage Records

In the state of Maryland, marriage records are kept and offered to the people with the support of each local Clerk’s Office, and each location has its own set of rules and procedures. In Baltimore County, the Clerk’s Office assists those interested in obtaining copies of marital records in person, via mail, or email.¹

It’s possible to request a simple copy or a certified copy, depending on the citizen’s needs. Certified copies can be used officially to establish a person’s identity or as a piece of evidence in court, among other things.

To place a request by mail when searching for Baltimore County marital records, interested people must send all the necessary information and the payment to the following address:

Baltimore County Clerk’s Office
P.O. Box 6754
Townson, MD 21285-6754

Each certified copy of a marriage certificate costs $5.50, and this is the information that should be sent:

• Maiden name or full name or bride and groom
• Date of marriage
• Applicant’s mailing address (to receive certificate)
• A completed application

There’s an application form for mail-in and email orders.² For mail-in orders, the payment should be sent in the form of a money order or check (and the field about the credit card information should be disregarded).

When making a request by email, citizens should include the last four digits of the credit or debit card that will be used for payment. Someone from the Clerk’s Office will call to collect the payment, and those digits will be used as a verification form. Requests can be sent to the following addresses:

• For regular copies: [email protected]
• For certified copies: [email protected]

In-person requests don’t require that the application be filled out ahead of time. Citizens may appear at the Clerk’s Office with the required information and leave with the records they were searching for. This is their address:

Baltimore County Clerk’s Office
County Courts Building – 2nd Floor
401 Bosley Ave.
Townson, MD 21204

Sometimes, the marriage certificate that’s being sought is ancient and not available at the Clerk’s Office. For historical searches or genealogical pursuits, there are more tools available in Maryland that can be quite helpful.

How Do I Search Historical or Archived Marriage Records in Baltimore County?

The Maryland State Archives is the repository of a large pool of marital records: in their possession, searchers can find documents from the 1600s to 2013. This pool of information is quite helpful when searching for Baltimore County marriage documents or records.

Records from 2013 and after can only be retrieved at the circuit court of the county where the marriage happened or the Division of Vital Records. How to obtain records from the Baltimore County Clerk’s Office is described in detail above.

The oldest records, on the other hand, may not be digitized yet and require more effort to be found, such as a search in person, for example. Searchers should keep an open mind and contact the State Archives for instruction and guidance whenever needed.

However, some of the marriage records can be searched online through free indexes. Those indexes are separated by county, which facilitates the search but demands that the searcher knows which county recorded the life event they’re trying to find.

If the interested citizen is looking for Baltimore County marriages, for example, they can search indexes from 1950 to the present day, as well as indexes from before 1950. The possibilities are different from county to county, since each kept different records over the years.

The indexes available online show different types of details and records, all related to marriages that took place in the state. Some will include only the names of the bride and groom, while others will provide more insight and include the place of marriage, where they lived before marrying, exact dates, etc.

If contacting the Maryland State Archives becomes necessary, this is how an interested citizen can do so:⁴

Maryland State Archives
350 Rowe Blvd.
Annapolis, MD 21401

Phone: 410.260.6400
Fax: 410.974.2552
Email: [email protected]

Historical records that aren’t available through those indexes can be requested online. When an order is placed, historians will look for it at the sites where the records that haven’t been digitized yet are kept.

Those requests may take ten business days to be fulfilled. Details about how to place an order and frequently asked questions are readily available to all.^{5, 6}

Certified records cost $25 each, while uncertified copies cost $5. It’s possible to request certified copies for marriages that happened between 1776 and 2013. Uncertified copies are available from 1952 to 2011.

All copies that are retrieved from undigitized documents will be considered certified and cost the higher amount. Payment is required upfront at the time the request is made, and there are no refunds in case the records aren’t found.

When the search isn’t focused on historical records but only on weddings that happened in different counties all over Maryland, searchers should work with the Vital Records Office. How to accomplish it will be described below.

How To Find Marriage Records That Originated Elsewhere in Maryland

The Maryland Department of Health, through the Division of Vital Records, can help citizens find and obtain marriage records for the whole state, not limited to one county or another.⁷ This is useful when a Baltimore County marriage record search isn’t sufficient.

Certificates for nuptials that happened from January 1st, 2007, to the present day are available to be requested in person, by mail, or online.

Those are the individuals who can request a marriage certificate with the Vital Records office:

• One of the spouses;
• A representative of one of the spouses;
• The attorney for one of the spouses.

Attorneys and representatives must show proof of their connection with the spouse they represent. The attorneys must show a retainer agreement, while the representatives, a notarized letter stating the authorization to act on behalf of the spouse.

One thing to be aware of, though, is that Maryland doesn’t recognize common-law marriages. In other words, if a couple has been living together but has never made it official with the court, this relationship won’t appear in any searches.

For requests placed with the Vital Records Office, each certified copy requested costs $12, and a completed application must be mailed to the following address:⁸

Maryland Division of Vital Records
P.O. Box 68760
Baltimore, MD 21215-0036

In-person requests should be made at the below, following the same instructions. However, interested citizens must make arrangements for an appointment before coming to the office.

Maryland Division of Vital Records
6764 B Reisterstown Road
Baltimore, MD 21215

Phone: 410.767.6500

Online requests can be made with the help of VitalChek. Users should always keep in mind that third-party platforms may charge processing and handling fees that would make the request more expensive than when dealing with the Vital Records Division directly.

How To Obtain a Marriage License in Baltimore County

In Maryland, citizens must obtain their marriage licenses at the county they intend to marry (and not where they live, as would happen in most places).

Baltimore County only accepts applications for marriage licenses by appointment.⁹ Appointments can be made online, by email at [email protected] or by phone at 410.887.2607.¹⁰

At least one party must appear at the License Division in person. When only one of the future spouses comes in, they must bring documents for the one that’s absent. Marriage licenses cost $35, and the ceremony fee is $25.

In order to schedule the ceremony, the couple must have an issued marriage license. There’s a two-day wait period to be able to use the license, and the maximum number of attendees for the ceremony at the License Division is seven people.

This is the contact information for the office that issues marriage licenses:

Baltimore County Circuit Court
License Division
401 Bosley Avenue – 2nd floor
Towson MD 21204

An individual’s marital status is a serious matter. In some cases, knowing someone’s marital situation may affect how someone connects and relates to them, so having this information is key. Interested citizens can search Baltimore County marriage records and use that information responsibly for their safety and comfort.