Marriage records are public records. They are one of the core Public Vital Records along with Death, Birth and Divorce. It is a very well-searched record category and is available to any member of the public free of charge as long as procedures and requirements are complied with.

Their treatment may vary from state to state but Public Marriage Records are available in all states. Coming under state jurisdiction, they are maintained at state repositories. It is important to note that state records are not linked among themselves. If someone has resided in various states, all those states have to be covered in order for a marriage record search to be complete. If the person has never married in a state, the search will return with a ‘no record found’. This is often the desired outcome of a search.