When looking to get copies of any type of Hale County public record, the best place to start is the health department office in Greensboro. They are responsible for issuing copies of most types of vital records, both for events that took place in Hale County as well as the rest of Alabama.

The health department is open weekdays and during usual business hours for service to the public. You just need to go to the counter with your completed request forms, pay the fee and show them your ID. You can get a copy of most kinds of Hale County public records while you wait.

You can also mail the same forms to the State Vital Records department in Montgomery, if Greensboro is not a convenient location for you. The wait time for records requests is between 7 and 10 business days. The health office in Greensboro also accepts mailed-in requests. Mailed applications will need to have the fee included as a check or money order and it should be made out to the State Board of Health. You can get blank forms from the Alabama Department of Public Health's website.

The fees associated with a Hale County public records request are not refunded even if the clerks cannot find the records you are looking for.

Hale County Birth Records

Hale County birth records are basically sealed for 125 years for privacy, and will only be released to the person on the record and their immediate family. The cost for each certified copy is $15 USD, and you can usually research as far back as 1908 without much difficulty. Records older than that can be incomplete and not all births were recorded at that time.

Hale County Death Records

Death records also typically date back to at least 1908 but many older records do exist as well. The privacy restrictions on Hale County death records only last for 25 years so you are freer to access more records outside of your immediate family. The cost is still $15 USD each though most of the records have been moved to public facilities after the 25 years are up. The State Archive has copies of most records, and you can usually make requests for them through your local library at no cost.

Hale County Marriage Records

Marriage registrations are completely public and the are no limitations on whose records you are permitted to access. Copies of any Hale County marriage record can be ordered through the health office as well, for the same cost as the other records. The state collection of marriage records started in 1936 but the local Probate court in Greensboro has their own archive of Hale County marriage records that will pre-date that considerably.

Hale County Criminal Records

These are not public material, and are only available when you are requesting your own Hale County criminal record. There are exceptions for legal officials and some employer background checks. The county does not hold these records, so your application to get a copy needs to go to the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center in Montgomery instead. Each copy has a fee of $25 USD.