PUBLIC RECORDS

One of the duties of the County Clerk is to serve as the registrar for the county.  As registrar, the Clerk is responsible for the storage and maintenance of the County's historical information.  The Records Department of the Oneida County Clerk's Office has a vast number of historical resources.

The most commonly accessed public records are stored in the County Office Building in downtown Utica on the second floor in the Clerk's Office.  Older documents can be found in the Records room located on B1 in the County Office Building and at the Regional Records Center in Westmoreland.  The Westmoreland facility provides a central storage location that is equipped to handle the large volume of documents in the Clerk's care and to ensure their continued preservation.

Many of the records housed in the Office of the County Clerk are public records.  This means that any person is free to browse through them at any point during our normal hours of operation.  These public records include:  mortgages, deeds, civil actions, criminal files, Board of Legislators records, coroner's reports, District Attorney, Sheriff's, and records the County of Oneida has accumulated since the inception of the County in the late 1700's.  Located on the 8th floor of the County Office building are naturalization records dating back to the early 1800's.

VITAL STATISTICS

In New York State the County Clerk's Office is not responsible for Vital Records.  To obtain birth, death, or marriage records, contact the clerk of the town or city where the birth, death or marriage occurred.   For example, birth certificates for persons born at St. Luke's Hospital since May 1957 are housed with the New Hartford Town Clerk.  Birth certificates for persons born at St. Elizabeth's Hospital and St. Luke's before May 1957 are housed with the Utica Department of Vital Records.  You may also obtain records through the New York State Bureau of Vital Statistics.  They can be reached by calling (518) 474-3077 or by visiting their website at www.health.state.ny.us.  You can also contact New York State Bureau of Vital Statistics.

Utica Bureau of Vital Statistics
1 Kennedy Plaza / Utica 13501 / 315-738-0218
mmoylan@cityofutica.com

Utica marriage records back to 1874 / City Clerk
1 Kennedy Plaza / Utica 13501 / 315-792-0113

Rome City Clerk - Louise Glasso
198 N. Washington St. / Rome 13440 / 315-339-7659

Sherrill City Clerk - Mike Holmes
337 Sherrill Rd. / Sherrill 13461 / 315-363-9234

Wills - Surrogates Court
Oneida County Building / 800 Park Ave / Utica / 315-266-4550

GENEALOGY

Although the records center does not house Vital Records, many of our resources are useful in compiling genealogies.  We have a number of city directories for the cities of Rome and Utica, large collection of DAR records, marriage records from 1908-1935, local newspapers from 1841-1879, as well as deeds and mortgages.  For other resources, you may wish to visit the Utica Public Library which is just a few blocks from the County Office Building.  The internet is also a good place to look for genealogy information.  Two sites you may wish to visit are www.dar.org/library and www.familysearch.org.

Utica Public Library
303 Genesee Street / Utica 13501 / 315-735-2279

Rome Jervis Library
613 N. Washington St / Rome 13440 / 315-336-4570

Oneida County Historical Society
1608 Genesee Street / Utica 13502 / 315-735-3642

Rome Historical Society
200 Church St / Rome 13440 / 315-336-5870