Arkansas genealogy records

Births and deaths

Arkansas did not require official birth or death records until 1914, and the Arkansas State Archives says there are no official state birth or death records before then. Birth and death records from 1914 on are kept by the Division of Vital Records of the Arkansas Department of Health. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the state office has records from February 1914 and some original Little Rock and Fort Smith records from 1881.

For the years before 1914, the State Archives has some city records on its county microfilm: birth records for Little Rock, Fort Smith and Pine Bluff, and death records for Little Rock, Fort Smith and Hot Springs. Its "In Remembrance" project is a searchable index of Arkansas deaths from 1819 to 1920, built to show where an early death is recorded, whether in church publications, cemetery records, mortality census schedules, newspaper obituaries or county and local records.

For deaths after 1914, the State Archives names two indexes: the published Arkansas Death Record Index 1914 to 1948 by Desmond Allen Walls, and a death certificate search on the Vital Records website covering 1935 to 1961.

After 1935, people who had never received an official birth certificate applied for a delayed birth certificate in order to sign up for the new Social Security. The Arkansas Prior Birth Index, a printed index in the State Archives library, lists these delayed certificates, which are held by the Department of Health. The State Archives also suggests ordering the person's Social Security application, which will not include the delayed certificate but should give some birth information.

Ordering certificates

Only the eligible people on the Department of Health's list may order a birth or death certificate. As of 2026, a birth certificate costs $12 for the first copy and $10 for each extra copy ordered at the same time, and a death certificate costs $10 for the first copy and $8 for each extra copy. If no record is found, the office keeps the first-copy amount as a search fee. Online orders add a $5 processing fee and a $1.85 identity verification fee.

You can order online, by phone, by mail to Vital Records in Little Rock, or in person at the office on West Markham Street; birth certificates can also be ordered at local health units. Mail orders take 10 to 14 days plus mailing time. Most walk-in requests are filled the same day, but the department says same day service is not guaranteed for genealogical requests before 1935.

Marriages and divorces

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the state vital records office has marriage coupons from 1917 and divorce coupons from 1923, and a certified copy of a coupon can be ordered from the state. The full certified marriage record comes from the county clerk in the county where the license was issued.

For earlier marriages, use the county records. The State Archives holds microfilmed marriage records from every county. You can order copies by email: staff locate the record and tell you the page count so the price can be set. The State Archives lists divorce among chancery court matters, so look for an older divorce in the county's chancery records.

Census records

The National Archives has no 1820 census schedules for Arkansas Territory, but Arkansas is among the places whose 1830 schedules survive.

The State Archives also holds an 1829 sheriff's census for the entire state, an 1865 Washington County census and an 1887 census of Newport in Jackson County. It has the 1840 census of mines, agriculture, commerce and manufacturing, the agricultural census for 1850 to 1880 and the mortality census schedules for 1850 to 1880.

County courts, wills and estates

Arkansas county records come from three kinds of courts. Circuit courts handled criminal cases, naturalization and major civil cases. Chancery courts handled equity, divorce, probate and adoptions, and the probate records, filmed separately, include wills, administrations and guardianships. County courts handled juvenile matters, taxes, claims and county spending.

Expect gaps. The State Archives says about forty of the seventy-five counties have had courthouse fires that destroyed some or all of their early records, and some records were lost to tornadoes or flooding. Recent county records may still be only at the courthouse. Ask the State Archives what it holds for your county before you travel.

Land records

The State Archives holds state land records from 1853 to 1956, searchable by name. They give the kind of record, the date, the owner, where the land was and its appraised value. They include land donation applications, swamp land applications and patents, forfeited deeds, relinquishment papers and other papers of the State Land Commissioner. County deed and land records are on the State Archives' county microfilm.

Military records and Confederate pensions

The State Archives has a large military collection: a Revolutionary War service record index, Civil War service records, muster rolls and casualty lists, Civil War veterans' questionnaires and pension records, World War I draft registrations and abstracts of service, and records from the War of 1812 and the Spanish-American War.

Confederate pension records can be searched by the name of the veteran or of his widow if she applied, and the veteran's and widow's applications are filed together. Other name searchable records include the 1911 Confederate Veterans Reunion registration cards and questionnaires, Confederate Veterans Home records and World War I discharge records. Military records often give only initials and a last name, so try the last name alone.

Arkansas National Guard records for those discharged in or before 1974 are at the State Archives. As of 2026, they are open to the public sixty-two years after the date of separation; newer ones are open only to the service member and direct kin.

Newspapers, churches and directories

The State Archives has the largest collection of Arkansas newspapers, over 3,000 titles, the earliest from 1819. It also holds records of individual churches and religious organizations, funeral home records, Freedmen's Bureau records, and city and business directories from 1840 to 1999, which often list residents who died in the previous year.