Find Death Index Records in Chelan County

Chelan County death index records are searchable through the Washington State Digital Archives for deaths from 1907 through 1967, and certified death certificates from 1907 forward are available through the Washington State Department of Health. Chelan County spans a large area of central Washington, with Wenatchee as the county seat and main population center. The county auditor in Wenatchee can assist with historical records research, and the coroner handles deaths requiring investigation. This page walks through how to find and request death records for any time period.

How Chelan County Death Index Records Work

Washington State launched its centralized death registration system in 1907. From that year forward, all death certificates filed in Chelan County went to the state. The Washington State Department of Health holds those certified records now. If you need a certified copy of a death certificate for a Chelan County death from 1907 or later, you contact the Department of Health, not the county. The county no longer holds those certificates.

The Washington State Digital Archives provides a free death index for 1907 through 1967. You can search by name, date, or county at digitalarchives.wa.gov. No account is needed and there is no cost to search. Each result shows the name, age, gender, date of death, county, and certificate number. Write down the certificate number when you find a match. That number is essential when you later request a certified copy from the Department of Health.

Chelan County was established in 1899. That gives it about eight years of county-level death records before the statewide system began. Those early records, if they survived, may be at the county auditor's office or on microfilm at the Washington State Archives in Olympia. Cemetery records, burial permits, and church registers from before 1907 can sometimes supplement or replace missing formal records. The Chelan County Auditor at co.chelan.wa.us/auditor can help you determine what the county holds from that period.

The screenshot below shows the Washington State Digital Archives death index interface. The Digital Archives index is free and covers Chelan County deaths from 1907 through 1967.

Chelan County Auditor Office

The Chelan County Auditor in Wenatchee is the county-level office for records research. For death records from 1907 forward, the auditor will point you to the Department of Health or the Digital Archives. The office may hold early death registers, burial permits, and cemetery records from before 1907. Staff can help confirm what historical materials the county holds and whether they are available for public inspection.

Wenatchee sits along the Columbia River and is the main population center for a wide geographic area of central Washington. The county extends east from the Cascade Mountains through orchard country to the Columbia River valley. If you are researching an older family from the region, the auditor's office is a reasonable first contact for historical death records that may not be in the statewide system.

Searching Chelan County Death Records Online

Start your search at the Washington State Digital Archives for deaths between 1907 and 1967. The free database is at digitalarchives.wa.gov. Search by last name, first name, year of death, or county. Results include the certificate number, which is the key reference for ordering a certified copy from the Department of Health. The Digital Archives also holds pre-1907 county death returns for some counties, including cemetery and burial records, so check whether Chelan County materials are available in those collections too.

For deaths after 1967, the Digital Archives does not apply. Under RCW 70.58.107, death records less than 50 years old are restricted to qualified applicants. The 1907-to-1967 index is already fully public because all those records have passed the 50-year mark. For more recent deaths, access depends on your relationship to the deceased.

The Washington State Department of Health also maintains a general vital records information page at doh.wa.gov/YouandYourFamily/VitalRecords. That page explains how to order by phone, mail, in person, or online and what documentation you need to include. For deaths that occurred in Chelan County, include the county name in your request to help staff locate the record faster.

Note: If you only need confirmation that a record exists without getting the full certificate, the Department of Health offers a Verification of Death letter for $15. This can be useful when the full certificate is restricted but you need basic confirmation for administrative purposes.

Ordering Chelan County Death Certificates

Certified death certificates for Chelan County deaths from 1907 forward are issued by the Washington State Department of Health. The fee is $20 per certificate. You can order by phone at 360-236-4300, by mail at PO Box 9709, Olympia WA 98507-9709, in person at 101 Israel Road SE, Tumwater WA 98501, or online through VitalChek. Mail orders take four to six weeks.

For mail orders, include the full name of the deceased, date of death, county of death, your relationship to the deceased, and a copy of your photo ID. Incomplete requests slow processing. The Department of Health's website at doh.wa.gov has the current request form and instructions.

Online orders go through VitalChek, the authorized state service. Visit vitalchek.com for online ordering. The VitalChek fee is $12.50 plus shipping on top of the $20 state fee. Online processing is typically faster than mail. VitalChek handles online orders for certified death certificates from all Washington counties, including Chelan County.

Under RCW 70.58.107(2), qualified applicants for restricted records include the spouse or domestic partner, parents, children, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, legal guardian, legal representative, or a person with a tangible interest. Deaths 50 years or older are public and anyone can order a certified copy. The $20 fee still applies regardless of who is requesting.

Chelan County Coroner Records

The Chelan County Coroner investigates deaths within the county that are sudden, unexpected, violent, or where the cause is unclear. The coroner determines cause and manner of death for those cases and maintains separate case files. These files differ from official death certificates. Coroner records can include autopsy findings, toxicology reports, and investigation notes. They are not the same as the certified death certificate issued by the Department of Health.

Coroner records in Chelan County are subject to the Washington Public Records Act under RCW 42.56. Some records may be exempt from disclosure during an active investigation or under another legal exemption. You can contact the Chelan County Coroner through the county website at co.chelan.wa.us/coroner to ask about a case or submit a formal records request. Most routine deaths do not go through the coroner. The coroner's involvement is limited to cases that meet specific criteria under state law.

Historical Death Records in Chelan County

Chelan County has been around since 1899. That means there are eight years of pre-state death records that would have been kept locally before 1907. The completeness of those records depends on what county offices kept at the time. Some early registers survive at the county auditor's office. Others may be on microfilm at the Washington State Archives in Olympia.

The Washington State Archives Research Facility is at 1129 Washington Street SE, Olympia WA 98504. It is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. You can reach staff by email at archives@sos.wa.gov or by phone at 360-586-1492. Visit sos.wa.gov/archives for more information. Staff can identify what Chelan County microfilm records the Archives holds and help you access them. The State Archives holds microfilm of early county death records from across Washington, including materials that predate the 1907 statewide system.

FamilySearch has digitized a portion of Washington's older vital records in partnership with the State Archives. Search FamilySearch.org for free as a supplement to the Digital Archives. Probate court records, which are held by the Chelan County Superior Court clerk, can also document deaths through estate filings and wills. Cemetery records and newspaper obituaries from the Wenatchee area are additional resources for local historical research. The CDC reference page at cdc.gov/nchs/w2w/washington.htm summarizes where Washington vital records are held by time period.

Public Records Access in Chelan County

The Washington Public Records Act at RCW 42.56 governs public records access for Chelan County and all other Washington local agencies. Anyone can submit a public records request to a county agency. The county must respond within five business days. That response may be the records themselves, a denial with a stated legal basis, or an estimated timeline for providing the records. For county-level records requests, use the Chelan County Public Records Request process at co.chelan.wa.us/public-records-request.

Death certificates carry their own access rules under RCW Chapter 70.58. Death records less than 50 years old are restricted to qualified applicants under RCW 70.58.107. Death records that are 50 years old or older are fully public. The Digital Archives index for 1907 through 1967 is entirely public because all those records have passed the 50-year threshold. Anyone can view the index data, but getting a certified copy still requires going through the Department of Health and paying the $20 fee. RCW Chapter 70.58 is the statute that sets the rules for vital records access in Washington, including who qualifies for restricted death certificates and when records become public.

Note: Chelan County's public records request process handles county documents. The county will redirect death certificate requests to the Department of Health since certified death certificates are state records, not county records.

Cities in Chelan County

Chelan County includes several cities and communities across its large geographic area. Death records for all Chelan County residents are processed through the state and county channels described above.

Other communities in Chelan County include East Wenatchee (in Douglas County), Cashmere, Leavenworth, Chelan, and Entiat. All death index records for these areas are searchable through the Digital Archives for 1907 through 1967, and certified certificates are available through the Department of Health.

Nearby Counties

Chelan County borders several other central Washington counties. If a death occurred near a county line, the record may have been filed in an adjacent county.