Birth Certificates & Death Registration

• Vital Records can provide birth certificates for up to two years from the date of birth.
• For birth certificates registered over two years ago, please contact the County Recorder's Office at (530) 225-5678.

• Birth certificates cost $34 each. You can buy them at our office.
• Download the form to buy a birth certificate from the Supporting Documents below.
• You can also order a birth certificate online at VitalChek.
• Note: VitalChek is a third-party service, and the Vital Records office cannot help you place your orders.

• Home births must be registered within one year of the birth date.
• Home birth registrations are by appointment only.
• To make an appointment, please call our office at (530) 225-5063.

• If you need to make changes to a birth certificate, add the father's name, or register your home birth after your baby’s first birthday, please call our office.
• You can also get more information and download forms on the California Department of Public Health Vital Records page.

• Vital Records can provide death certificates for up to two years from the date of death.
• For death certificates registered over two years ago, please contact the County Recorder's Office at (530) 225-5678.

• Death certificates cost $26 each. Fetal death certificates cost $23 each. You can buy them at our office.
• Download the form to buy a death certificate from the Supporting Documents below.
• You can also order a death certificate online at VitalChek.
• Note: VitalChek is a third-party service, and the Vital Records office cannot help you place your orders.

Vital Records or a funeral home can help make changes to a death certificate. Call our office for more info.

• You need a burial permit before you can bury someone or spread their ashes.
• Burial permits cost $12 each. You can buy them at our office.
• You need a death certificate or a previous burial permit to get a new permit.
• This is done on a walk-in basis, no appointment required.

• Download the form to buy a certified death certificate (Funeral Homes Only) from the Supporting Documents below.
• Requests must be made by 3:30 p.m. to get the certificate the next day (unless the record is still pending state registration).

• For more details, visit the California Department of Consumer Affairs Cemetery and Funeral Bureau. 
• Address: 1625 North Market Blvd., Suite S208, Sacramento, CA 95834
• For California residents, call: (800) 952-5210
• Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) phone number: (800) 326-2297

• You can file a death certificate after hours on weekends and holidays if it's urgent. 
• You must show why it is an emergency (for example, religious reasons or shipping out of the county).
• Emergency hours: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Sunday, and all Shasta County holidays.
• After-hours phone number: (530) 339-9940. This is an answering service. Leave a message, and someone will return your call.