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JOHNSON COUNTY, IOWA

Recorder & Registrar
EFFECTIVE MARCH 13, 2006, ALL MAIL REQUESTS MUST BE NOTARIZED AND INCLUDE A COPY OF A VALID PHOTO ID

Baby Photograph

Birth Records

Birth records begin at the year 1880. Certified copies are $15 and only available to entitled parties (i.e. person named on record, parents, spouses, siblings and grandparents). Any individual requesting a birth record must prove entitlement by showing proper identification.

Single-parent births prior to July 1995 must be requested through the Iowa Department of Public Health. The Johnson County Recorder’s Office does not have adoption records.

Birth records between the years 1921 – 1941 must be requested through the Iowa Department of Public Health.

Home Births

Births occurring outside an institution may be prepared and filed within one year of the birth by one of the following in the indicated order of priority:

  1. The physician in attendance at or immediately after the birth.

Hospitals may prepare and file for the physician if:

    1. Mother and child are transported to the hospital
      or seen by a physician shortly after the birth.
    2. Mother originally intended to deliver at the
      hospital.
    3. It appears that the family may not file the
      certificate in a timely manner.
    4. The family requests their assistance in preparing
      and filing the certificate.
  1. Any other person in attendance at or immediately
    after the birth.
  2. The father or the mother.
  3. The person in charge of the premises where the
    birth occurred.

Upon receipt of the satisfactorily completed worksheet and supporting documents, the following events will occur:

  1. The state vital records office will prepare a ‘Certificate of Live Birth.’
  2. The worksheet and supporting documents will be docketed in a special file.
  3. The appropriate county registrar will receive a copy of the certificate for the county’s records.
  4. The parents will receive their child’s short-form certified birth card within approximately six weeks.
  5. The parents will receive their child’s social security card directly from the Social Security Administration if they have indicated ‘Yes,’ they want a social security number issued (see birth worksheet).


    Submit worksheets, fees, and documenting evidence to:
    Iowa Department of Public Health
    Bureau of Vital Records
    Attn: Birth Registration Program
    Lucas State Office Building, 1st Floor
    Des Moines IA 50319-0075