Arkansas Death Records: How to perform a Arkansas Death Records Search

Have you ever had reason to look for a person's death records in Arkansas? Perhaps you need it to prove a case in the courts, or you need to settle an insurance claim on behalf of a dead person you're related to. 

If your answer is yes, then you should find this article to come in handy for you. Here, we suggest ways to find out death records in Arkansas.  

What are Death Records In Arkansas?

An Arkansas death record provides documented proof of the deaths of persons in the state. 

They contain the decedent's personal information and feature certain details related to the person's death. In Arkansas, death records are publicly available as long as the deaths occurred 50 years ago.

Those death records filed less than 50 years ago can only be collected by eligible persons. 

Requester eligibility is premised on the basis of a family or legally binding relationship with the deceased. 

The Vital Records Section of the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) is responsible for managing these Arkansas death records. 

What To Find In Arkansas Death Records

You can expect to find the personal information of the deceased person in their death records, among other things. 

Some of this personal information includes the deceased person's full name and the name of their parents, children, sibling, or spouse. 

Other details accounted for include their gender, place, date of birth, and death. 

How Arkansas Death Records Are Created

The series of information contained in a death record can be broken down into different parts. 

On the one hand, the deceased's personal information will be provided by their family member or a next of kin. So when death is recorded, the corpse mostly remains in the morgue until a relative can come to claim them. 

The funeral director can obtain the decedent's informational details from this family member and record them in the Electronic Death Registration System.

Next, the document is transferred to the decedent's regular physician, who is probably well-versed in their medical history, to ascertain the cause of death. 

Once the cause of death is established, it is duly noted in its appropriate section in the death certificate. This is followed quickly by the certification of the cause of death, making the document both informational and legally binding. 

The document is later handed out to the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) for record keeping. 

Where Can I Find Arkansas Death Records?

Arkansas Death records can be obtained from the Vital Records Section of the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH). 

You can opt to mail your death record request to this government agency or walk into their office and lodge your inquiry.

Requesters get to and complete a Death Certificate Application Form and attach a copy of their identification document in their application packet. 

The packet can later be signed and sealed in a self-stamped envelope and forwarded to the ADH. Scheduled visits, as well as official request mail, are to be directed to the following address:

Arkansas Department of Health,
Vital Records, Slot 44,
4815 West Markham Street,
Little Rock, AR 72205

Other than the above, the ADH also provides an online directory that can help you find death records remotely. 

However, the available death records in Arkansas are only those pertaining to deaths that are at least 50 years old. 

At this online directory, you get to input the name of the deceased person as the only requirement to finding their death record.

Another place where you can find publicly available death records is at the Local Public Health Unit of the country where the death was recorded.  

The local health unit of most counties in Arkansas has provisions for the custody and dissemination of publicly available death records. 

Third-Party Websites

Third-party websites provide an avenue to search for public records of all sorts. Death records rank among these public records and are available unless restricted. 

You can navigate to the homepage of these websites and find the search portal to be of great use. 

Fill out the search fields designated as name and state/city with the relevant detail, that is, the decedent's name and the address where the death was recorded.

Once you do this, you can click on the search bar and immediately see a series of matching results. 

You can choose the most fitting search result and then view the death record of interest to you. 

You'd have to be on a paid subscription to be availed of the search results. The results can either be delivered to your email address or downloaded on the spot as you desire.