Birth and Death Certificates
In order to obtain certified copies of birth or death records, you must fill out an application, show tangible interest, and provide photo identification (usually a driver’s license, identification card or passport). If you do not have photo identification, someone who has known you for two years AND has photo identification can provide a Statement to Identify, which will enable you to obtain your birth certificate. The Statement to Identify form can be found below.
Youth Experiencing Homelessness Birth Certificate
Effective January 1, 2022, a youth experience homelessness may apply for a no-cost certified copy of their birth certificate. The youth must be 24 years of age or younger and born in Minnesota. A youth experiencing homelessness who is younger than 16 years of age may get their birth certificate even if the birth record is “confidential.”
Tangible interest is a fraud protection measure. The prevalence of fraud is on the rise and most Minnesota birth and death records are public data. Tangible interest helps protect people who are born in Minnesota and the families of people who have died in Minnesota by restricting access to the certificates that are used for most legal purposes such as school registration, applying for a passport, a social security number, or settling an estate.
Minnesota Statute, Section 144.225, Subdivision 7 restricts access to a certified birth or death certificate to a person who has a tangible interest in a requested certificate, which means you must have a tangible interest to obtain a certified birth or death record.
If you visit our office in person, the birth or death certificate will be issued while you wait, with the exception of historical births. If an in-person visit isn’t possible, the signed and notarized application can be mailed to our office or emailed to pub.recorder@popecountymn.gov Provided the application is completed and the proper payment is submitted, either by check or credit card, we will mail the certificate(s) typically the same day we receive the application.