Radford Death Index

The Radford death index covers death records for the City of Radford, Virginia, an independent city in the New River Valley with its own circuit court and vital records system. Radford sits along the New River between Montgomery County and Pulaski County and has maintained death records as part of the statewide Virginia system since 1853. This page explains where to find Radford death records and how to request copies.

Radford Circuit Court Clerk

The Radford Circuit Court Clerk's Office handles probate records, wills, estate inventories, land records, marriage licenses, and court case files for the City of Radford. As an independent city, Radford has its own Circuit Court separate from the surrounding counties. The court does not issue certified death certificates; those must come from the Virginia Department of Health. Probate records filed after a death often include the date of death and information about heirs, and they are publicly accessible through the Clerk's office.

Radford is part of the 27th Judicial Circuit. Online case searches for Radford court records are available through the Virginia Online Case Information System at no cost. The system can be searched by party name or case number and covers civil, criminal, and probate cases. Radford University, located in the city, maintains an academic library with regional history and genealogy resources that can supplement the official death index.

Radford is geographically surrounded by Montgomery County and Pulaski County. Families with ties to the Radford area may have records in all three jurisdictions depending on the time period and which court handled their matters. Before Radford was chartered as a city, residents would have had records in Montgomery County. The transition from county to independent city status in 1892 means early Radford records may be found in Montgomery County files at the Library of Virginia.

Virginia Death Records for Radford

The Virginia Department of Health, Office of Vital Records holds certified death certificates for Radford deaths from June 1912 to the present. The state office is at 8701 Park Central Drive, Suite 100, Richmond, VA 23227. Walk-in hours run 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.

Each certified copy costs $12. Payment can be made by check, money order, credit card, mobile pay, or cash in person. Under Virginia Code Title 32.1, Chapter 7, death records become public 25 years after the date of death. Before that point, only immediate family members may request a copy. Eligible family members include the spouse, parent, child, sibling, or grandparent of the deceased. A legible government-issued photo ID is required. VitalChek handles online orders with an extra processing fee.

Radford is served by the New River Health District, which covers the New River Valley region including surrounding counties. The local health district offices can assist with vital records questions and direct you to the correct state office. You can also get a certified death certificate at select Virginia DMV locations, where a $2 processing fee is added to the $12 state fee.

Search the Radford Death Index Online

The Virginia Online Case Information System (OCIS) allows free searching of Radford court records by name or case number. Probate cases connected to deaths in the city appear here and can help confirm approximate death dates when certificates are restricted. The OCIS covers all Virginia courts statewide and requires no registration.

The Library of Virginia holds death registers from 1853 to 1896 on microfilm. For the Radford area, these early registers would have been filed under Montgomery County before the city was chartered in 1892. The registers are available through interlibrary loan and include name, race and sex, date and place of death, cause of death, age, occupation, marital status, and parents' names.

Ancestry for Virginians is free for Virginia residents with a library card and includes Virginia Death Records 1912-2014 and Death Registers 1853-1911. FamilySearch has free Virginia Deaths and Burials 1853-1912 and Virginia Death Certificates 1912-1987, both of which include Radford records from 1912 forward. For pre-charter records from before 1892, check Montgomery County entries in these databases.

The Radford University library holds regional history and genealogy materials that can help trace New River Valley families. The Southwest Virginia Genealogical Society has also compiled cemetery records and family histories for the region. Newspaper archives from Radford and the surrounding New River Valley can be a useful source for obituaries and death notices, particularly for the gap period from 1897 to 1912 when no official death registration occurred in most of Virginia.

Radford Death Records: Historical Research

Radford was incorporated as an independent city in 1892, carved from Montgomery County. Before that date, residents of the Radford area had their records filed in Montgomery County. The city grew significantly with the arrival of the railroad in the late nineteenth century and the establishment of what is now Radford University. Its position on the New River made it a transportation hub for the region.

Death records for the Radford area before 1892 are found in Montgomery County records, not city records. After 1892, the city began maintaining its own records within the statewide system. Official death registration ran from 1853 to 1896 (under Montgomery County for the Radford area), stopped from 1897 through May 1912, and resumed in June 1912 with the modern system. The gap period affects Radford as it does all Virginia jurisdictions, and researchers must rely on church records, cemetery surveys, and newspaper obituaries for that period.

Church records are an important source for the New River Valley region. Several denominations established early congregations in the area, and some burial registers have been transcribed by local genealogical groups. The Presbyterians, Methodists, and Baptists all had active congregations in the Radford and New River Valley area by the mid-nineteenth century. The Library of Virginia holds Montgomery County records on microfilm that cover the Radford area before city incorporation.

Federal mortality census schedules from 1850 to 1880 list residents of the broader Montgomery County area, including the Radford vicinity, who died in the twelve months before each census. These schedules are at the Library of Virginia and provide one of the few systematic death sources for the period before official registration. For deaths after 1954, the Library of Virginia's death index by year and certificate number is searchable through Ancestry for Virginians and covers deaths through 2014.

Nearby Counties

These counties surround or sit near Radford. Each has its own Circuit Court and vital records resources.