Vital information like divorce decrees are made open to the general public. Civilians with the proper credentials and requirements can effectively obtain public documents such as divorce certificates, marriage licenses, birth records, and death reports. In the state of Illinois, documents like these are maintained and disseminated by the Illinois Department of Public Health through its Division of Vital Records, which is in charge of the agency’s database of vital documents. The Illinois divorce records in this office can be traced back to January of 1962. Unfortunately, though, certified copies of divorce documents are not accessible at the said office.