Florence Death Records and Vital Records
Florence is the largest city in the Pee Dee region of South Carolina and the county seat of Florence County. Death records for Florence residents are held by the state and county, giving researchers several access points depending on how old the record is and what type of document they need. This guide covers how to find Florence death records through the state vital records office, local county resources, online tools, and the historically rich pre-1915 collection held at the Florence County Library. Whether you need a recent certificate or are tracing family history, Florence has strong record sources.
Florence Quick Facts
Florence Death Certificates and How to Get Them
Certified Florence death certificates are issued by the South Carolina Department of Public Health Vital Records office. The state office is at 2600 Bull Street, Columbia, SC 29201, phone (803) 898-3630. All details about ordering a certificate are at dph.sc.gov/public/vital-records/death-certificates. Statewide death registration has been required since January 1, 1915, so every Florence death from that date forward is on file with the state.
Florence County also has a regional DPH office that can handle requests for deaths that occurred locally. The regional office is at 145 East Cheves Street, Florence, SC 29506, phone (843) 413-6440. This location offers in-person service and can process same-day requests. Bring a valid government-issued photo ID. If you are requesting a record for a family member who has passed, bring documentation showing your relationship to the deceased. Immediate family members qualify to receive full certified copies of deaths within the last 50 years.
Mail requests to the state office cost $12 and take about four weeks. Online ordering through VitalChek costs $17 and processes in five to seven business days. GoCertificates also offers online ordering at $17. Each additional certified copy added to an order is $3. For deaths within the last 50 years, access is limited to immediate family under Section 44-63-84 of the South Carolina Code.
Note: The City of Florence at cityofflorence.com does not issue death certificates but can direct residents to the appropriate county or state office for vital records.
Florence County Coroner and Death Investigations
The Florence County Coroner is Keith von Lutcken. The office is at 2323 Health Sciences Drive, Florence, SC 29501, phone (843) 665-3096. The coroner investigates deaths that are sudden, violent, suspicious, or occur without a physician present. When the coroner makes a determination of cause and manner of death, those findings become part of the official death certificate filed with the South Carolina Department of Public Health.
The image below is sourced from the City of Florence website and shows Florence municipal services including the offices that support Florence death records and vital records research.
Autopsy reports and coroner case files are separate from a standard death certificate. Immediate family members and authorized legal representatives can request those files directly from the Florence County Coroner's Office. These records are often relevant for insurance claims, estate matters, and legal proceedings. The coroner's office covers all of Florence County, so deaths anywhere within the city of Florence fall under its jurisdiction.
Searching Florence Death Records Online
The Florence County Public Index at publicindex.sccourts.org/florence is a key tool for finding probate and court filings connected to Florence deaths. Probate records name the decedent, often include a death date, and list next of kin. The statewide court index at publicindex.sccourts.org lets you search across South Carolina counties as well. scprobate.net also indexes South Carolina probate records and can supplement what you find through the courts.
FamilySearch offers free access to South Carolina death records and includes collections that cover Florence County deaths from 1915 through the 1960s. The South Carolina Department of Archives and History at scdah.sc.gov, phone (803) 896-6100, maintains death indexes from 1915 to 1960 that are searchable online. Researchers tracing older family lines often find the SC Archives a productive starting point before moving to library microfilm.
The CDC guide at cdc.gov/nchs/w2w/south_carolina.htm provides a straightforward overview of South Carolina's vital records system and explains which offices hold records for each time period. Florence County government resources are at florenceco.org.
Note: Probate filings in the Florence County Public Index often contain detailed death information that does not appear in abbreviated online death indexes, making them a valuable secondary source.
Historical Florence Death Records Before 1915
Florence County holds a distinction shared by few South Carolina counties: a collection of death records that predate the statewide registration mandate of 1915. Florence County maintained vital records from 1895 through 1914, giving researchers access to deaths recorded in the final two decades before the modern registration system took effect. These pre-state records are held in the South Carolina Room at the Florence County Library, 509 South Dargan Street, Florence, SC 29501, phone (843) 413-7050, website florencelibrary.org. The South Carolina Room is a dedicated genealogy and local history collection that is open to the public.
For deaths from 1915 through 1963, the SC Department of Archives and History at scdah.sc.gov holds microfilm copies of death certificates. These records can be viewed at the Archives in Columbia or accessed through FamilySearch's indexed collections. Church records, cemetery registers, and newspaper obituaries from Florence-area publications fill gaps in the official record and can be found through the Florence County Library's local history holdings.
South Carolina moved to electronic death filing statewide in 2022. For Florence deaths before that date, records were filed on paper forms before being incorporated into the state system. The transition to electronic filing has reduced processing delays for families and funeral homes across Florence County.
Note: Researchers seeking Florence County death records before 1895 will need to rely on church registers, cemetery inscriptions, and probate documents held at the SC Archives and the Florence County Library.
South Carolina Vital Records Law and Florence Death Records Access
South Carolina's vital records statutes at Title 44, Chapter 63 govern how Florence death records are filed and who can access them. Section 44-63-74 requires that the attending physician, or the coroner when no physician was present, file the death certificate within five days of the death. This requirement applies to every death in Florence County and is enforced by the state DPH. The full statute is at scstatehouse.gov/code/t44c063.php.
Section 44-63-84 restricts certified copies of deaths within the last 50 years to immediate family members and authorized legal representatives. The qualifying relationships are spouse, parent, child, sibling, and grandparent. Anyone outside those relationships can receive a statement confirming that a death occurred but cannot receive the full certified copy. After 50 years, the record becomes open to any requester without restriction. This 50-year rule applies to all Florence death certificates held by the South Carolina DPH, regardless of whether you request them by mail, online, or in person at the regional office.
Florence County Death Records
All death records for Florence residents are filed through the Florence County and state vital records systems. The county page below covers the full Florence County vital records system, regional offices, and historical collections for everyone who lived or died within Florence County.
Nearby South Carolina Cities
These South Carolina cities are within the broader region and share similar vital records procedures through the state DPH system.