Requesting birth and death certificates

All birth and death certificate records filed with any of Georgia’s local public health departments are available through the DeKalb County Board of Health’s Vital Records Office.

Filing birth and death records

Most DeKalb County birth records are completed by hospital staff. Home and other out-of-institution births are registered in compliance with the Georgia Department of Public Health rule 511-1-3-.05 (http://rules.sos.state.ga.us/GAC/511-1-3-.05).  For more information, visit [link to Filing or Amending a Birth Certificate page].

Most DeKalb County death certificates are completed by funeral directors and certifying physicians.  Fetal death certificates in cases of spontaneous abortion and stillbirth are completed by hospital staff and certifying physicians. Induced termination of pregnancy reports is completed by clinic staff.  In the case of coroner investigations, the coroner certifies the manner of death on certificates. For more information, visit [link to For Funeral Homes page].


Striving to serve you better

Obtaining a birth or death certificate at the Vital Records office takes 15 minutes or less. This fast service is the result of the staff integrating continuous quality improvement into its daily work.

Vital Records uses the Kaizen model, a quality improvement tool that systematically uncovers waste in processes, identifies and develops solutions and quickly implements them.  Vital Records’ continuous quality improvement initiative has been recognized by the Public Health Quality Improvement Exchange (https://www.phqix.org/search/content/dekalb).

Office of Vital Records
DeKalb County Board of Health
445 Winn Way, Decatur, Georgia 30030
(404) 294-3700