Welcome to the Elk County Office of Open Records via Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know Law.

Effective January 1st, 2013:

All Open Records Requests must be submitted using either Elk County’s Record Request Form (found on our Forms page), or the form available at the website of the Office of Open Records.

Please take a few minutes to read through the Elk County Open Records Policy. Failure to comply with policy guidelines may cause delays in the fulfillment of your request.

The County of Elk has decided to not accept anonymous requests since it does not meet the definition of a requester under the RTKL. 65 P.S. 67.1101(a)(1).

Office of Open Records Contact Information

Elk County Open Records Officer
Elk County Courthouse Annex
300 Center Street P.O. Box 448
Ridgway, PA 15853

  • Open Monday thru Friday: 8:30am – 4:00pm
  • Closed weekends and holidays

Helpful Links

Register / Recorder

Tax Claim Bureau

Vital Records

PA Open Records

Records

Birth

Birth Records

Birth Certificates may be obtained either through the Register and Recorder’s Office at the Elk County Courthouse, or through the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s Division of Vital Records. Knowing which agency to contact depends on the birth year:

  • 1893 – 1906: are currently held at the Elk County Register and Recorder’s Office

Certain duplication and postage fees may apply.

Death

Death Records

Death Certificates may be obtained either through the Register and Recorder’s Office at the Elk County Courthouse, or through the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s Division of Vital Records. Knowing which agency to contact depends on the year of death:

  • 1893 – 1906: are currently held at the Elk County Register and Recorder’s Office

Certain duplication and postage fees may apply.

Marriage

Marriage Records

Marriage Certificates can be found in the Register and Recorder’s Office of the Elk County Courthouse.

  • Date Ranges: October, 1893 – present

Certain duplication and postage fees may apply. Please contact the Register and Recorder’s Office for more information.

Divorce

Divorce Records

Divorce Certificates can be found in the Prothonotary’s Office of the Elk County Courthouse.

Certain duplication and postage fees may apply. Please contact the Prothonotary’s Office for more information.

Tax Sale / Surplus

Tax Sale / Surplus Records

Tax Sale / Surplus Information may be obtained by submitting a Right-to-Know Request to the Elk County Tax Claim Department.

Certain duplication and postage fees may apply. Please contact the Tax Claim Department for more information.

Court Records

Court / Financial Records

On May 14, 2007, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania adopted Rule 509 of the Rules of Judicial Administration, and amended the rule on June 23, 2008 (amendments effective January 1, 2009). Rule 509 establishes a systematic process for requesting and accessing state and county court records that deal with the use of public funds, including the purchase of services, supplies or equipment.

A public access request form and other detailed information related to Rule 509 can be found via the links below, along with the local Court’s fee schedule: 

Fee Schedule:

  • Photocopying: $0.25 / page
  • Retrieval / Redaction: $5.00 / 15 minutes
  • CD: $5.00 each
  • Postage: actual costs
Important to Note:
  • Birth, Death, Marriage, Divorce, and Deeds do not require an open records request form as they are routine records request through either the Prothonotary, or Register/Recorders Offices. For more information on any of these records, please click the accommodating link to the left.
  • Unless superseded by another law, cost of printing/copying records is $0.25 per page.
  • Agency response time is 5 business days. The business day following the date of receipt is considered day 1. The response to the requester must leave the agency’s hands on business day 5. That said, please allow an extra day or two if waiting for a response through the mail.
  • If a requested record does not exist (i.e. a spreadsheet containing a compilation of facts or figures), the agency is not required to create that record. Instead, the requester is welcome to extract the desired information by inspecting any records that are available from the agency.
  • When a request for a record has been granted, that record automatically becomes a public record available for anyone else to see, and may be posted on an agency website.
Elk County
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