Yakima Marriage Records Lookup
Marriage records for Yakima are issued and maintained by the Yakima County Auditor's Office. Yakima is the county seat of Yakima County in south-central Washington, and all marriage licensing for the city runs through the county auditor. The county has maintained marriage records since 1896. This page covers how to apply for a marriage license, order certified copies, and find older records in digital archives and genealogy resources for the Yakima area.
Yakima Overview
Yakima County Auditor: Marriage Licensing
The Yakima County Auditor's Office issues all marriage licenses for the city of Yakima and the rest of Yakima County. The office is at 128 N 2nd Street, Room 117, Yakima, WA 98901. The mailing address is PO Box 12570, Yakima, WA 98909-2570. Phone is 509-574-1400. Hours are Monday through Friday, 9am to 4pm. Jennifer Richter serves as Recording Manager.
Both applicants must appear in person together. The license fee is $176. Additional processing fees may apply for credit or debit card payments. Accepted payment methods include cash, check, money order, cashier's check, and card. Yakima County also offers an online application option. Both parties can complete much of the form online and then print and bring the license, or they can complete the full process at the office. Either way, both must appear in person with valid government-issued photo ID.
| Office | Yakima County Auditor - Marriage Licensing |
|---|---|
| Address | 128 N 2nd Street, Room 117, Yakima, WA 98901 |
| Mailing | PO Box 12570, Yakima, WA 98909-2570 |
| Phone | 509-574-1400 |
| Hours | Mon-Fri 9am-4pm |
| Website | yakimacounty.us - Marriage License |
| License Fee | $176 (card may add processing fee) |
| Certified Copy | $3 (or $4 auto-mailed) |
| Wait Period | 3 days (RCW 26.04.180) |
| License Valid | 60 days from issue |
Requesting Certified Copies of Marriage Records
Certified copies of Yakima County marriage records are $3 per copy. If you want the auditor to automatically mail the copy after it is recorded, the fee is $4. You can request copies in person, by mail, or online through the Yakima County Official Records Online portal. The copy request page on the county website walks through each option.
For mail requests, include the full names of both applicants and the date of the marriage. Send a check payable to the Yakima County Auditor at the PO Box address. You can also submit copy requests online using the Official Records Online system if the record is available there. This is faster than waiting for a mail turnaround.
The City of Yakima Clerk at 129 N 2nd Street, Yakima, WA 98901 maintains city government records. The clerk is open Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm, and can be reached at (509) 575-6037. The City Clerk does not handle marriage licensing or certificates. For marriage records, all requests go to the county auditor.
Yakima County Public Records Portal
The Yakima County Auditor's Recording Division is at 128 N 2nd Street, Room 117 and handles recorded documents including marriage records. The Auditor's hours for recording are Monday through Friday, 8:30am to 4:30pm. Phone for recording is 509-574-1400.
The County Clerk is in Room 323 of the same building and can be reached at 509-574-1430. The Clerk handles divorce, probate, and other court records going back to 1890. If you need both a marriage certificate and a divorce record for related parties, both offices are accessible in the same courthouse building, which is convenient for in-person research visits.
For divorce records in Yakima County, contact the County Clerk's Office rather than the Auditor. This is a common point of confusion. The auditor issues marriage licenses and records certificates. The clerk maintains court case files including dissolution proceedings. Both offices are in the same building but serve different functions.
WAGenWeb: Pre-1938 Records and Marriage Returns
The WAGenWeb Yakima County resource at wagenweb.org provides detailed guidance on older records. The Auditor has had marriage and land records since 1880. For marriages before 1938, researchers should request both the marriage license and the Return document. The Return contains more detail than the license alone, including the actual date, place, names of witnesses, birth dates, and parents' names.
Pre-1938 records cost $2 from the auditor. The Yakima Valley Genealogical Society (YVGS) has extracted Return data from 1877 through 1920, published in four volumes. These volumes are a significant resource for Yakima area genealogy, particularly for the period before reliable county records were digitized.
The WAGenWeb Yakima County resource explains the historical records available and provides guidance on requesting older marriage records, including the important distinction between licenses and Return documents. The WAGenWeb Yakima County information page covers historical records going back to 1877, explains how to request pre-1938 marriage records, and describes the YVGS extracted data volumes.If you are researching a Yakima area family from before 1938, requesting both the license and the Return gives you a much fuller picture than the license alone. The Return document was completed after the ceremony and contains the most accurate record of what actually took place.
Yakima County Digital Archives
The Yakima County collection in the Washington State Digital Archives holds approximately 281,000 records. The collection includes marriage returns from 1896 through 1910, certificates from 1910 through 1951 and from 1993 through 2008, and applications from 1993 through 2008. Indexing of records from 1952 through 1992 is ongoing. The archive also includes community property agreements.
Yakima County was organized in 1865 from Ferguson County, giving it one of the longer histories among Washington counties. The digital archive covers the bulk of the county's record-keeping history. Records not yet indexed in the online archive can be requested from the Yakima County Auditor by providing the names and approximate dates.
The Washington State Digital Archives Yakima County collection covers nearly 281,000 records, with ongoing indexing of the mid-20th century records not yet fully available online. The Yakima County marriage license page provides the official auditor process for both new applications and copy requests for Yakima County marriage records.
For genealogy work covering the 1952 to 1992 period, the Yakima County Auditor's Office can assist with records that are not yet in the online archive. Indexing is ongoing, and some of these records may be accessible by contacting the office directly.
Washington State DOH Vital Records
The Washington State Department of Health holds statewide marriage records from 1968 to the present. Certified copies cost $25 through VitalChek. Online orders take 3 to 7 business days. Mail orders take 6 to 8 weeks. This is useful for Yakima residents who prefer to order remotely.
Two witnesses must attend and sign the marriage certificate at the ceremony. The officiant must return the signed certificate to the Yakima County Auditor within 30 days of the ceremony. No blood tests are required. Both applicants must be at least 18. There is no residency requirement for getting a Yakima County marriage license.
The Washington State Department of Health processes marriage certificate orders for Yakima County and all of Washington through its VitalChek ordering system, covering records from 1968 to the present. The DOH vital records ordering page covers online and mail ordering options, required identification, and processing times for Washington State marriage certificates, including those for Yakima County.
Washington's Marriage Equality Act took effect December 6, 2012. Since then, marriage licenses statewide use Person A and Person B terminology. Older records use traditional terminology. Both are equally valid legal documents. The three-day waiting period under RCW 26.04.180 has applied in Yakima County as throughout Washington for many years.
Yakima County Marriage Records
Yakima is in Yakima County. Marriage licenses for Yakima residents come from the Yakima County Auditor. The county page has full office details and historical record resources.
Nearby Cities
These nearby cities use county auditors for marriage records.