Clark County Residents Directory

The Clark County Residents Directory brings together public records kept by county offices along the lower Columbia River. You can look up deeds, marriage licenses, court case files, parcel data, and other public records tied to people who live or own land in Clark County. The county seat is Vancouver, and most records sit with the Auditor, the Assessor, the Clerk, and the Superior and District Courts. Use this page to find the right office, the right tool, and the right link. Each step points you to free public search portals or to the clerk who can help you pull a file in person.

Clark County Auditor Residents Directory

The Clark County Auditor is the main keeper of recorded documents in the county. Under state law the auditor and the deputy auditors act as Custodians of Records. That role covers real estate deeds, liens, plats, military discharges, and marriage records. The Clark County Auditor recording overview explains what the office records, what it does not record, and how the public can pull copies. Staff also issue marriage licenses and process server licenses at the Public Service Center in downtown Vancouver.

Free public access to recorded documents is open at the office on public computers and through the online index. The auditor does not give legal advice and cannot fill out forms for you. Staff only verify that a document is legible, formatted right, indexed right, and paid for. For a deeper dive, the Clark County LandmarkWeb public search lets you pull up land records and marriage records from home. You can search by name, date, or document type. The site is a core part of any Clark County residents lookup.

The auditor does not hold everything. Birth and death records from 1908 back ten years sit with state Vital Records at 360-236-4300. Recent birth and death records are with the Clark County Public Health department at 564-397-8000. Divorce decrees and other court files sit with the Clark County Clerk at 564-397-2292, not the auditor.

Below is the auditor recording overview page, which sets the rules for what you can pull from the Clark County recording index.

This Clark County residents directory page is the first stop for anyone who wants to see what the auditor has on file for a parcel or a person.

LandmarkWeb Residents Directory Search

LandmarkWeb is the free online index for the Clark County Auditor. You can browse recorded documents from the office without a login. The tool is fast and simple. Search by name, by document type, or by date range. Copies are not free once you want a printout, but the index itself is open to the public. Go to the Clark County LandmarkWeb search tool to get started.

Most people use LandmarkWeb to find deeds, mortgage liens, and marriage records tied to a name. You can also pull easements, covenants, and plat maps. The site ties back into the residents directory idea because most land records name a real person or a couple. If you know a name, the search can tell you what land a person has held, what liens were filed, and when a deed was recorded. Copies from the office are 15 cents per page for paper copies, or less for scanned records, under RCW 42.56.120.

Below is the LandmarkWeb portal where you can run a free Clark County residents directory search for recorded documents.

The Clark County LandmarkWeb search is the main online entry point for the county's recorded residents directory records.

Clark County Clerk Court Records

The Clark County Clerk keeps court records for the Superior Court. That means felony cases, civil cases above $100,000, domestic relations cases, probate, guardianship, mental commitments, dependency, and juvenile cases. The office sits on the first floor of the Clark County Courthouse in downtown Vancouver. The public can review a file between 9 a.m. and noon, and from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. A public terminal in the lobby runs OnBase, the imaging system the clerk uses for case documents from 1985 forward.

Certified copies from the clerk are $5 for the first page and $1 for each extra page on the same document. Non-certified copies are 50 cents per page by mail, or 25 cents per page by email. For documents from 1996 to the present, the clerk can also copy a file to a CD for 25 cents per page plus $20 for the disc and postage. The Clark County Clerk access to records page walks through the steps.

Below is the Clerk's access page, which lists each method for pulling a Clark County residents directory court file.

This page is where most people start when they need a court record search for a Clark County resident.

Note: Some court files and documents are sealed by rule or by a judge, so not every Clark County case will be open to the public.

Odyssey Portal Residents Directory Lookup

To pull a case number, the clerk points users to the Odyssey Portal. This is the statewide court index run by the Administrative Office of the Courts. You can search the Washington Odyssey Portal by case number, by a person's name, or by a business name. The tool shows a case summary, calendar entries, and a list of documents in the case. Court records are governed by Washington Court General Rules GR 31 and GR 31.1, not by the Public Records Act.

Odyssey does not hand out certified copies. If you need one, call or visit the Clark County Clerk. For in-office research, the clerk has a public terminal on the first floor of the courthouse. Staff can help you find a cause number or point you to the right docket. The Clark County Courts home page also links to Superior Court, District Court, and the Juvenile Court.

District Court in Clark County handles traffic infractions, misdemeanors, gross misdemeanors, civil cases under $100,000, small claims, and name changes. Felony cases and family law cases go to Superior Court. The split matters when you look for records because the Clerk's files cover Superior Court, not District Court. Each court has its own docket and its own clerk staff.

Clark County Assessor Property Records

The Clark County Assessor values all taxable real and personal property in the county each year. Those values set the base for property tax bills in Vancouver, Camas, Battle Ground, Washougal, Ridgefield, and the rest of the county. Most of the office's work is open to the public. Owners and researchers can look up parcel data, assessment history, and building traits online.

The main tool is the Clark County GIS Property Information Center. It ties the residents directory concept into real property. You can search by owner name, by parcel number, or by address. The site sometimes runs a reCAPTCHA check to block bots from scraping the public data. Once you pass the check, the site saves the result for about seven days.

Below is the GIS Property Information Center, which hosts the Clark County residents directory for real estate data.

Use this map-driven tool to tie a parcel to an owner or to check the assessed value on a home in Clark County.

If you think the assessed value is too high, you can appeal within 60 days of the date on your Notice of Value. The Board of Equalization handles appeals. The state Department of Revenue also lists each county assessor and treasurer on its property tax directory, which is a handy state-level fallback when a county link is down.

Clark County Public Records Act Requests

Clark County handles public records requests under the Washington Public Records Act, RCW 42.56. Requests go through the GovQA Public Records Request Portal. From the portal, you can set up an account, file a request, track status, read FAQs, and pull down records the county has shared with you. The Clark County public records overview explains the whole flow.

The county must respond within five business days. Staff will either share the record, give an estimate for when it will be ready, ask for more detail, or deny the request with a legal cite. The county has adopted the default fee schedule in RCW 42.56.120(2) and (3). Paper copies are 15 cents per page. Scanned records are 10 cents per page. Electronic files are 5 cents for every four files. Electronic delivery by gigabyte is 10 cents per gigabyte. Under RCW 42.56.550, a denial is subject to court review, and the burden of proof is on the county.

Below is the Clark County public records overview, the main landing page for residents directory requests under the state Public Records Act.

File a request here when the records you want are not already online in LandmarkWeb, Odyssey, or the GIS portal.

Note: Personal data, active investigation files, and some employment records are exempt from disclosure under RCW 42.56.240.

Vital Records and State Residents Directory Tools

Clark County does not hold most vital records at the courthouse. For a certified birth or death certificate, use the Washington State Department of Health vital records page. Birth and death records run from 1907 to present. Marriage and divorce records run from 1968 to present. Older records may sit with the county auditor or the state archives. Certified copies are about $25 for the first one, $20 for each extra copy on the same order.

Three more statewide tools round out a Clark County residents directory search. The Washington State Digital Archives holds historical court, county, and early vital records, some going back to the 1890s. The Secretary of State Corporations and Charities Filing System lets you check a business name, a registered agent, or a UBI number. The Washington State Patrol WATCH system offers statewide criminal history conviction searches for $11 per name. Each tool brings in data the county offices do not hold directly.

Court forms, local court rules, and statewide filing guides are on the Washington Courts website. For free legal help, residents can use WashingtonLawHelp or call the CLEAR hotline run by the Northwest Justice Project.

Cities in Clark County

Clark County sits in the southwest corner of Washington, across the Columbia River from Portland. All of the cities below file court cases at the Clark County Superior Court or District Court in Vancouver, and all recorded land documents go through the county auditor.

Other towns in the county include Washougal, Ridgefield, La Center, and Yacolt. These smaller places do not have their own directory pages on this site, but the same county offices serve them.

Nearby Counties

These counties sit next to Clark County. Each one runs its own residents directory and records offices. If the case or deed you want is across a county line, use the right one.