There may be multiple courthouses in a specific county and records may be distributed between facilities. This is especially true in larger, more populous counties. The typical county courthouse will have responsibility for the most common administrative records such as marriages, divorces, land and property, and probate records. Voter registration records, burial permits, licenses, birth and death certificates, and other records may be in separate locations. As an example, birth and death certificates are probably not in the courthouse at all. Those records may be held by the local or county health department or in the vital records branch office of the state government.

A probate court is responsible for hearing and administering the processes of proving wills and supervising estates. The probate court minutes and probate packets are typically held in the probate court clerk’s office or the county clerk’s office. However, records concerning guardianship for minors or incapacitated persons, trust documents, and other estate-related records may be held elsewhere.