Norfolk Death Index

The Norfolk death index covers death records for the City of Norfolk, Virginia, one of Virginia's oldest and largest independent cities. Certified death certificates are available through the Virginia Department of Health Office of Vital Records, and Norfolk maintained its own local death records during the 1897 to 1911 gap period when Virginia had no statewide system.

Virginia Department of Health: Norfolk Death Certificates

Certified death certificates for the City of Norfolk come from the Virginia Department of Health, Office of Vital Records. The office is at 8701 Park Central Drive, Suite 100, Richmond, VA 23227. Walk-in hours are Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Mail requests go to P.O. Box 1000, Richmond, VA 23218-1000. Phone: (804) 662-6200. Online orders go through VitalChek.

Each certified copy costs $12. Under Virginia Code Title 32.1, Chapter 7, records less than 25 years old are restricted to immediate family: spouse, parent, child, sibling, or grandparent. Photo ID is required. Records 25 years and older are public. The Norfolk Department of Public Health provides local vital records services and health district functions, but certified death certificate copies come from the state office in Richmond.

Norfolk is an independent city that does not belong to any county. It borders Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, and Portsmouth but is a completely separate jurisdiction from all of them. When ordering a death certificate for someone who died in Norfolk, specify "City of Norfolk" to ensure the records office searches the correct jurisdiction. Norfolk has its own distinct record set going back to the city's early history in the 1600s.

Norfolk Circuit Court and Probate Records

The Norfolk Circuit Court handles probate cases, wills, estate administration, land records, and marriage licenses for the City of Norfolk. It does not issue death certificates. Those must come from the state Office of Vital Records. Norfolk's Circuit Court has records going back centuries and is one of the most historically significant court repositories in Virginia. The clerk's office maintains original deeds, wills, and fiduciary records from Norfolk's long history.

You can search court case records for free through the Online Case Information System (OCIS). For older records, contact the Norfolk Circuit Court Clerk. The clerk's office holds original will books and deed books from the colonial era. Norfolk County, which eventually became part of the modern city, was formed in 1637, making these one of the oldest continuous sets of county and city court records in the country.

Probate cases in Norfolk open when the executor files the will after a death. The clerk qualifies the executor and supervises the estate. Land records track property transfers after a death. These deed entries name the deceased and identify heirs. Marriage licenses are issued by the clerk, not the health department. All of these records support death research and genealogical work in Norfolk.

Norfolk Death Index: Historical Records and Special Collections

Norfolk maintained local death records during the 1897 to 1911 gap period, when Virginia had no statewide death registration. These local Norfolk death records from the gap years are available at the Library of Virginia. For one of Virginia's oldest and largest cities, this coverage is critically important. Norfolk was a major port city during that era with significant population, and its local records from the gap period provide substantially more coverage than most Virginia localities.

Virginia's statewide death registration ran from 1853 to 1896. Deaths from that period in Norfolk are indexed in the Death Index of Virginia, 1853-1896, sponsored by the Virginia Genealogical Society. These registers are on microfilm at the Library of Virginia. Virginia residents can access them for free through Ancestry for Virginians at lva.virginia.gov.

The Norfolk Public Library Sargeant Memorial Collection at norfolkpubliclibrary.org is one of the most important genealogical resources in Virginia. The collection holds newspaper archives going back to the 18th century, city directories, photographs, maps, and manuscript collections covering Norfolk and the greater Hampton Roads region. For death research in Norfolk, the Sargeant Memorial Collection is an essential stop beyond the official vital records. Death notices in Norfolk's long-running newspapers can provide death dates, burial locations, and family information that the death certificate alone may not contain.

FamilySearch at familysearch.org has free Virginia death and genealogical databases. Norfolk records are well-represented given the city's size and long history. Pre-1845, when Norfolk was still a county rather than an independent city, records would be under Norfolk County. Norfolk County was formed in 1637 and has records from nearly the beginning of English settlement in Virginia. Those older county records are at the Library of Virginia and accessible through FamilySearch and Ancestry for Virginians.

Nearby Virginia Cities

These independent cities neighbor Norfolk in the Hampton Roads area of southeastern Virginia.