Ochiltree County Death Index

Ochiltree County death records are filed with the County Clerk in Perryton, where certified death certificates can be obtained in person or by mail. The Ochiltree County death index is part of the Texas statewide registration system, with records going back to 1903. For those who prefer not to travel to Perryton, orders can also be placed through the Texas Vital Records portal at the state level. This page explains the access process, fees, and restrictions for Ochiltree County death index records.

Ochiltree County Clerk Death Records

The Ochiltree County Clerk in Perryton is the local registrar for all deaths in the county. The clerk holds certified death certificates dating to 1903 and can search the death index by name and approximate date. Government-issued photo ID is required for every request. Office hours run Monday through Friday during regular courthouse business hours.

Ochiltree County is a rural Panhandle county in the far northern part of the state. Death records filed here are also forwarded to the Texas DSHS Vital Statistics unit in Austin, which holds a copy of every Texas death certificate since 1903. You have the option of going to the county clerk in Perryton or ordering from DSHS in Austin. The county is faster for in-person requests. DSHS orders are mailed and can take 20 to 30 business days depending on the method used.

Mail requests to the Ochiltree County Clerk should include the completed VS-142 form, a copy of your ID, and the fee as a check or money order payable to the Ochiltree County Clerk. Send to the courthouse in Perryton. Processing time varies.

The Texas DSHS Vital Statistics page sets out the rules and fees that all county clerks, including Ochiltree County, follow when issuing certified death certificates.

Ochiltree County follows the same statewide fee and access rules as every other Texas county.

Death Certificate Fees in Ochiltree County

The fee for a certified death certificate from the Ochiltree County Clerk is $21.00 for the first copy. Each additional copy of the same record ordered at the same time costs $4.00. These fees are uniform across all Texas county clerk offices. The breakdown includes a search charge, a certification fee, and an archive fee under Texas Health and Safety Code Section 191.0045.

If you order through DSHS in Austin, the cost is $20.00 for the first copy and $3.00 for each additional. That is slightly less, but you have to wait for the mail. For Ochiltree County residents, the county clerk in Perryton is the practical choice when you need the certificate soon. No fee is refunded if a search is done but no record is found. That search fee is the same amount as the certificate fee and applies whether you go in person or by mail.

Who Can Access Ochiltree County Death Records

Texas restricts death records younger than 25 years to immediate family members only. Those are the spouse, parent, child, sibling, or grandparent of the person on the record. Legal representatives with proper paperwork also qualify. All requesters must show valid government-issued photo ID. The DSHS acceptable ID list shows what forms the clerk will accept.

Records that are 25 years old or older are public information under Texas Government Code Section 552.115. Once the anniversary date passes, anyone can request a copy. Even so, ID is still required. Falsifying information to get a death certificate is a felony under Texas law, carrying 2 to 10 years in prison and fines up to $10,000. The clerk keeps a record of every requester's identity for every transaction.

Genealogy and Ochiltree County Death Records

For genealogy research, the FamilySearch Texas Death Index and Ancestry's Texas Death Index both cover Ochiltree County deaths from 1903 to 2000. Both databases include name, county, date, and certificate number. These tools help you locate a specific record before requesting a certified copy from Perryton. They are indexes, not certified copies, and cannot be used for legal purposes.

Ochiltree County is a smaller county, so its death index is more manageable to work through than those of larger urban counties. The Texas State Library and Archives holds the statewide index from 1903 to 1973. For Panhandle counties like Ochiltree, the state library's microfilmed indexes are a practical research tool when older records are involved. The statewide index is alphabetical within broad periods: 1903 to 1940, 1940 to 1945, 1946 to 1955, then annually through 1973.

Note: For very early records in Ochiltree County, some entries may be incomplete. If a record is not found in the index, contact the county clerk directly before assuming it does not exist.

The DSHS Order Records Locally directory lists Ochiltree County along with all other Texas counties where certified death certificates can be obtained locally.

Use this directory to find current contact information for the Ochiltree County Clerk's office before you send a mail request.

Nearby Counties

These counties share a border with Ochiltree County in the Texas Panhandle. Contact the correct clerk if you are unsure which county holds the record.

Lipscomb County • Roberts County • Wheeler County • Hemphill County • Gray County • Hansford County