Siskiyou County Death Certificates

Death records for Siskiyou County are maintained by the Assessor-Recorder office in Yreka. The office keeps files for all deaths throughout the county from the 1800s to the present. You can order certified copies online through Permitium, by mail, or in person at the Yreka office. Each copy costs $26.00 under California state law. The office serves all communities in Siskiyou County including Yreka, Mount Shasta, Weed, Tulelake, and Dorris.

Siskiyou County Assessor-Recorder

The Assessor-Recorder office handles all vital records for Siskiyou County. The office is located in Yreka, the county seat.

Walk in service is available during business hours. You can request a death certificate and staff will search the files. Recent records can often be completed quickly. Older records may take a few days to retrieve and certify. Call ahead if you want to confirm they have the record before you make the trip.

For more information, visit the county website at www.siskiyoucounty.gov/assessor-recorder/page/recorder-division. The site provides contact information and details about the Recorder division services.

Death Certificate Costs

Each death certificate costs $26.00. This fee is set by state law and applies to all California counties.

At the office, you can pay by cash, check, or money order. Make checks payable to Siskiyou County Assessor-Recorder. Online orders through Permitium accept credit cards and debit cards. Permitium adds service fees on top of the base $26.00 price, typically around $5.00 to $7.00 plus credit card processing fees.

The search fee is not refunded if the office cannot locate a record. Make sure you have accurate information before ordering. If the death occurred in a different county, you still pay the fee with no refund.

Order Death Certificates Online

Siskiyou County uses Permitium for online ordering. Permitium is an online portal system used by several California counties for vital records requests.

The portal is available at siskiyoucav.permitium.com/rod. You can search for a death record and order a certified copy online. Enter the full name of the deceased, the date of death, and the location in the county where the death occurred.

The system will ask if you want an authorized copy or an informational copy. Authorized copies require you to upload a notarized sworn statement proving your relationship to the deceased. Informational copies do not require this but have a stamp indicating they cannot be used to establish identity. The price is the same for both types.

Permitium processes your order and ships the certificate to your address. Processing typically takes one to two weeks plus shipping time.

Who Can Request an Authorized Copy

California law restricts who can get an authorized death certificate. The law is found in Health and Safety Code Section 103526.

Authorized requesters include the spouse or domestic partner of the deceased, any parent or child, grandparents and grandchildren, siblings, and legal representatives appointed by a court. Funeral directors acting on behalf of an authorized family member can also order death certificates.

To get an authorized copy, you must sign a sworn statement under penalty of perjury and have it notarized. The statement declares that you are legally entitled to receive the certificate. You can use the state form VS 112 available from the California Department of Public Health.

If you do not qualify as an authorized requester, you can still get an informational copy. Anyone can order an informational copy without proving their relationship or getting a notarized statement. The informational copy shows the same data as an authorized copy but has a legend stamped on it that reads "INFORMATIONAL, NOT A VALID DOCUMENT TO ESTABLISH IDENTITY." This type works for genealogy but not for legal use.

Information Needed for Your Order

Have these details ready when you order:

• Full legal name of the deceased
• Date of death or approximate year
• Place of death within Siskiyou County
• Your name and mailing address
• Your relationship to the deceased

The more accurate your information, the easier it is for staff to locate the record. If you do not know the exact date, provide a range of years. The office will search within that time frame, but this may take longer. The search fee applies whether or not they find a matching record.

How Long It Takes

Walk in service at the Yreka office is the fastest option. Recent death records can often be printed while you wait or within a few hours. Older records may take several business days to retrieve and certify.

Mail requests typically take one to two weeks for processing after the office receives your application. Add a few more days for postal delivery. Total time from mailing your request to receiving the certificate can be three weeks.

Online orders through Permitium have similar processing times. The county processes the request in one to two weeks, then Permitium ships it. Standard shipping is included in the service fee, or you can pay extra for expedited delivery.

Death records usually become available about two weeks after the date of death. Do not try to order a certificate immediately after someone dies. Wait at least two weeks for the county to file and index the official record.

Older Death Records

Siskiyou County has death records going back to the 1800s. Very old records may be incomplete or stored in a different format than modern certificates. If you need a record from before 1905, contact the Assessor-Recorder to confirm availability.

The California State Archives in Sacramento holds some pre-1905 vital records from select counties. Call the State Archives at 916-653-6814 to ask if they have Siskiyou County death records from the time period you need.

Records older than 75 years are open for public research without restriction. Genealogists and family historians can access these without needing to prove a relationship.

Cities in Siskiyou County

Siskiyou County includes several cities and towns. All death records for these communities are maintained by the county Assessor-Recorder in Yreka.

Cities and towns in the county include Yreka, Mount Shasta, Weed, Tulelake, Dorris, Dunsmuir, Etna, Fort Jones, and Montague. None of these cities maintain their own vital records offices. Contact the county for death certificates from any location within Siskiyou County.

Nearby Counties

If the death occurred in a different county, you must contact that county's office. Counties near Siskiyou include Shasta County, Modoc County, Trinity County, and Humboldt County. Siskiyou also borders Oregon to the north.

Each county maintains its own vital records. California law requires you to order from the county where the death occurred. If you are not sure which county, you can order from the state office. The California Department of Public Health Vital Records has death records from all counties since July 1905. The state office charges $24.00 per copy but processing takes longer, usually five to seven weeks.