Searching for franklin county ohio records sounds like a simple afternoon task until you actually start doing it. You think you’ll just hit one "search" button and find everything from your neighbor’s property value to that speeding ticket your cousin got in 2012.
Honestly, it doesn't work that way. The system is a patchwork.
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Franklin County is huge. Because it’s the seat of state government in Columbus, the record-keeping is robust but spread across about five different offices that don’t always talk to each other. If you're looking for a marriage license, you go to one building. If you want to see who owns the house down the street, you go to a different website entirely.
It's kinda confusing. But once you know which "silo" holds your data, it’s actually pretty transparent.
The Clerk of Courts: Where the Drama Lives
If you’re looking for "dirt"—criminal records, lawsuits, or those messy divorce filings—the Franklin County Clerk of Courts is your primary destination. Maryellen O'Shaughnessy’s office handles the paperwork for the Common Pleas Court.
Most people mess up by searching the wrong division.
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There is a big difference between the Municipal Court (375 S. High St.) and the Common Pleas Court (373 S. High St.). Municipal handles the smaller stuff—misdemeanors, traffic pips, and evictions. Common Pleas is for the "big" stuff: felonies and civil suits over $15,000.
You’ve got to check both.
The online Case Information Online (CIO) system is surprisingly decent. You can search by name, but here is a pro tip: don’t use middle initials at first. The way names are entered by police or attorneys varies wildly. If you search "John Q. Public" and the record was filed as "John Public," you’ll see zero results. Keep it broad.
Property and Money: The Auditor vs. The Recorder
This is the part that trips up homeowners and real estate nerds. Basically, if you want to know what a house is worth or what the taxes are, you visit the Franklin County Auditor. If you want to see the actual deed or the mortgage contract, you need the Recorder.
The Auditor's site is addictive. You can look up any address in Columbus or the suburbs and see exactly what the owner paid for it and what the county thinks it’s worth now. They even have a "Parcel Viewer" that lets you see property lines on a map.
But the Auditor’s data is a summary.
To see the legal "DNA" of a property, you go to the Recorder’s Office. They recently updated to a cloud-based system called Vanguard. It uses OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology, which means you can search for specific words within the text of old scanned deeds. It's a massive upgrade from the old microfilm days.
The Probate Loophole: Marriage and Death
Searching for a marriage license? Don't look at the Clerk of Courts. It’s a common mistake. Marriage records are actually tucked away in the Probate Court on the 22nd floor of the High Street complex.
They have records going all the way back to 1803.
If you're doing genealogy, this is your goldmine. However, keep in mind that for modern records, they only have the license. If you need a certified birth or death certificate from 1908 to the present, the Probate Court isn't the spot—you actually need Columbus Public Health’s Office of Vital Statistics.
It’s $25 per copy.
One weird quirk: the Probate Court handles "name changes" too. If someone suddenly disappears from your social circle and reappears with a different last name, the record of that legal switch is sitting in a Probate file, not a criminal one.
Why Some Records Stay Hidden
It's frustrating when you know a record exists but you can't find it. Ohio has very broad "Sunshine Laws," but there are big exceptions.
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- Juvenile Records: These are almost always sealed.
- Victim Privacy: Certain details in police reports are redacted before they hit the public portal.
- Sealed/Expunged Cases: If someone successfully petitioned the court to seal their record, it effectively vanishes from the public search.
If you are a "pro se" filer (representing yourself), the Franklin County Municipal Court has a Self-Help Center. They can’t give you legal advice, but they can show you how to navigate the kiosks so you aren't clicking aimlessly for three hours.
Practical Steps to Find What You Need
Don't just start Googling names. You’ll end up on those "People Search" sites that try to charge you $40 for public info.
- For Property: Go to the Franklin County Auditor’s website. Use the "Property Search" tool. If you find the parcel, look for the "Links" section to jump straight to the Recorder's deed.
- For Criminal/Civil: Hit the Clerk of Courts CIO (Case Information Online). Check both "General" and "Municipal" tabs.
- For Family History: Email the Probate Court for records before 1908. For anything newer, use the VitalChek system or walk into the health department on Parsons Avenue.
- For Physical Copies: Most offices charge about $0.10 per page for regular copies, but "Certified" copies (the ones with the raised seal) usually cost $1.00 to $2.00 per page.
If you’re stuck, honestly, just call them. The Deputy Clerks at the 373 S. High St. building see thousands of people a week. They know exactly which drawer or digital folder your answer is hiding in. Just make sure you have a case number or a full legal name ready before you pick up the phone.