Lewis County Death Records

Lewis County obituary and death records are held by Lewis County Public Health & Social Services in Chehalis, along with the Washington State Department of Health for statewide records. You can search for death certificates, historical registers, and related vital records through local offices or online tools. Lewis County sits in southwest Washington and covers a wide area of rural communities, small towns, and forested land between the Cascades and the coast. If you need a certified copy of a death record or want to look up historical death data for a Lewis County resident, this guide covers the main sources and how to use them.

Lewis County Public Health Vital Records

Lewis County Public Health & Social Services is your local starting point for death certificates in Lewis County. The office issues certified copies of death records for Washington State deaths. You can walk in Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Staff will ask for your ID and proof of your relationship to the deceased person on the record. This rule went into effect on January 1, 2021, as part of a new state vital records law.

If you need a death certificate the same day you come in, there is an extra $5.00 same-day service charge. There is also a $5.00 processing fee per record, on top of the $25.00 base cost for each certified copy. So plan for at least $35.00 if you want same-day service. If you do not need the record right away, you can also download an order form from their website and bring it with you to pay in person. You can reach the office by phone at (360) 740-1223.

The office also accepts orders through VitalChek, the state-contracted vendor for online vital record orders. This is handy if you live far from Chehalis or need a record shipped to you quickly. Online orders through VitalChek start at $40.50 per certificate, which covers expedited shipping. Orders typically ship within 3-7 business days.

The local office can provide same-day service if the record is in their system. For older records or deaths that happened outside Lewis County, you may need to go through the state Department of Health instead.

The Lewis County vital records payment and ordering page at lewiscountywa.gov lists the current fee structure, acceptable forms of ID, and how to download order forms for in-person requests.

This page is updated as the fee schedule or proof requirements change, so check it before you visit to make sure you have everything you need.

Washington State Death Records for Lewis County

The Washington State Department of Health Center for Health Statistics holds death records for all Washington counties, including Lewis County, from July 1, 1907, to the present. If you need a record and the local office cannot help, you can order directly from the state. Mail orders take 8-10 weeks after full payment. Online or phone orders through VitalChek process within 3-7 business days.

The state offers three types of death record products. A long form death certificate is printed on certified security paper and includes cause and manner of death plus the decedent's social security number. This is what you need to close bank accounts or file a life insurance claim. A short form death certificate is also official but leaves out cause of death and the social security number. It works for transferring vehicle titles, real estate transactions, and probate cases. A noncertified informational copy has the same data as the short form but carries a watermark marking it as not for legal use. Anyone can request an informational copy without proving a relationship.

To order from the state, you need the deceased person's full name, date of death or an approximate date, and the city or county where they died. For Lewis County deaths, list Lewis County or the specific town. You must also show valid government ID and documents proving your relationship to the person on the record.

Note: Fees are nonrefundable regardless of whether the record is found or the request is approved.

Lewis County Death Records at Digital Archives

The Washington State Archives Digital Archives hosts the Department of Health Death Index, which covers deaths in Lewis County from July 1, 1907, through 1960 and from 1965 through 2017. The index holds over 2.3 million records statewide. You can search it for free online. It is a good first step when you want to find the death date or certificate number before ordering a certified copy.

The 1907-1960 portion was transcribed by volunteers and tends to include more detail than the later entries, which came from a direct data extract. Images of actual death certificates for deaths up to 25 years ago are available in the linked Department of Health Death Certificates collection on the same site. The indexes for the years 1961-1964 are only on microfilm at the State Archives in Olympia, not yet online.

If you think an index entry has an error, you can contact the Washington Department of Health Center for Health Statistics at (360) 236-4313 or (360) 236-4312 to file a correction.

The Washington State Archives Digital Archives collections page for Lewis County records shows the range of digitized county records available for free research, including death indexes and historical registers.

Use the search fields on the Digital Archives site to look up names, dates, and certificate numbers for Lewis County deaths going back to 1907.

Historical Lewis County Obituary Records

Death records for Lewis County before July 1, 1907, were kept by the county, not the state. Counties kept death registers, which were ledger books recording each death. Some counties also had death returns, which were single sheets filled out when a family came to register a death. Lewis County death registers have been microfilmed and are available at the Washington State Library in Olympia. Many have also been scanned and put online through the Washington State Digital Archives.

The Washington State Library's Vital Records LibGuide lists the specific microfilm holdings for Lewis County. If you find a title in the library's online catalog, you can submit a name lookup through their Ask-A-Librarian service. This is useful if you cannot travel to Olympia in person. The State Archives holds the original death registers at one of its five regional branches. For Lewis County, the appropriate branch is in the southwest region.

Historical obituary records often appear in county and regional newspapers. The Washington State Library holds microfilm copies of many historic Washington newspapers. You can also search digitized newspapers through the Washington State Digital Archives or Chronicling America at the Library of Congress. Funeral home records from early Lewis County communities sometimes survived and were donated to local historical societies or the State Archives.

Probate records at the Lewis County Clerk's office can also support obituary research. Probate filings often list the date of death, surviving heirs, and the estate assets of the deceased. These records go back to the county's early history.

Washington Death Record Law

Access to certified death certificates in Lewis County is governed by RCW Chapter 70.58A, Washington's vital statistics law. Under this chapter, only qualified applicants can receive a certified copy of a death certificate. The law went into full effect for new orders starting January 1, 2021.

Qualified applicants include the spouse or domestic partner, children, parents, stepparents, stepchildren, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, legal guardians, legal representatives, authorized representatives, government agencies, courts, next of kin, funeral directors within 12 months of death, and the person controlling disposition of remains. Anyone can request a noncertified informational copy without proving a relationship, but those copies cannot be used for legal purposes.

RCW 70.58A.200 covers reports of death and the filing process. RCW 70.58A.520 and 70.58A.530 set the rules for who may receive certified copies and under what conditions. When you apply for a certified copy at Lewis County Public Health or through the state, you must show a valid government ID and documents proving your qualifying relationship to the deceased.

The CDC's Where to Write for Vital Records page for Washington confirms the state office phone number as (360) 236-4300. This resource also describes what to include in a mail-in request: the deceased's name, place of death, approximate date, valid ID, relationship documentation, and a check or money order payable to the Department of Health.

What Lewis County Death Records Contain

Death certificates and related obituary records for Lewis County can contain a range of information. The type of record determines how much detail you get.

• Full legal name of the deceased
• Date and place of death
• Age at death and date of birth
• Cause and manner of death (long form only)
• Social security number (long form only)
• Names of surviving family members in some older records
• Occupation and residence of the deceased

Historical death registers kept by Lewis County before 1907 may have less detail than modern certificates. They typically list the name, date, and cause of death in a ledger format. Early records sometimes contain errors or use old-fashioned cause-of-death terminology that does not match modern medical terms.

For obituary research beyond official records, local newspapers remain a strong source. The Centralia Chronicle and Lewis County local papers have published obituaries for decades. Libraries in Chehalis and Centralia may hold bound or microfilm copies of older issues not yet digitized online.

Note: Noncertified informational copies contain the same data as the short form certificate but cannot be used for legal or official purposes such as estate settlement or insurance claims.

Nearby Counties

These counties border Lewis County. Each maintains its own death records and vital records offices.