There are few items in the world more vital than “vital records.”

Birth certificates, marriage licenses, civil unions, genealogy, passports, business registration, economic interest statements, death records — taken together, these documents tell stories of our lives.

Keeping and growing that treasure trove is one of the primary functions of the Kane County Clerk’s Office, and the vital records system the county uses has been a model for other counties across the state of Illinois. Last week, McHenry County Clerk Mary McClellan and Deputy Clerk Linda Fitzgerald visited the Kane County Clerk’s Office as McHenry County considers implementing the vital records system Kane County uses.

The Kane County Clerk’s Office implemented the DEVNET vital records system in 2007. The system is used to create and file marriage applications, marriage certificates and death records prior to April 2008 and births prior to 2010. Death records starting from April 2008 to present, and birth records starting Jan 1, 2010, are now created and filed in the Illinois Vital Records System.

Kane County Clerk John Cunningham said last week that collaborating with other clerk’s offices is as vital as the records themselves.

“Working together with other counties and sharing ideas is beneficial,” he said. “It helps to see first-hand how systems operate, (and lets you) ask questions and get quality feedback from actual users of systems used by other counties. It assists in making the decision whether or not this would be a good fit for your office and whether it will address all of your needs.”

The Kane County Clerk’s Office produced 7,791 birth certificates, 3,096 death certificates and 3,237 marriage licenses last year. You can see the trends and learn more about the statistics on this page of the Kane County Clerk’s Office website.

Kane County Birth Certificates

Genealogy is one of the growing and popular information resources provided by the Clerk’s Office.

The Clerk’s Office website www.genealogy.kanecountyclerk.org provides the opportunity to search for, purchase, and download files from your computer.

• Click Here to visit genealogy.kanecountyclerk.org and search available records now!

For Kane County residents, access to vital records is as easy as a visit to the Clerk’s Office or a few clicks online.

Some documents require you to come into the office, but you can order birth certificates, death certificates and marriage certificates online. For your convenience, you can process online requests through an independent company that Kane County Clerk has partnered with to provide you this service; VitalChek Network, Inc. An additional fee is charged by VitalChek for this service, and all major credit cards are accepted, including American Express®, Discover®, MasterCard® or Visa®.

Here’s a recap of some of the service and links to Kane County Clerk’s web pages.

• Death Certificates
• Marriage Certificates
• Civil Unions
• Civil Union Conversion
• Certificate Request Form
• Genealogy
• Passports
• Raffles
• Notary Public
• Business Registration
• Economic Interest Statement
• RTA Pass Program
• Statistics 1982-2010
• Statistics 2010-Present

SOURCE: Kane County Clerk’s Office news release and website