Arkansas Public Records: How to Perform an Arkansas Public Records Search

Public records in Arkansas are official documents that are primarily produced and maintained by government agencies and institutions on behalf of persons within the state. 

These records are made available to the general public by virtue of the state's statutory provisions.

Individuals as well as third-party sources can request copies of these records from various sources such as the clerk of the courts and the Arkansas Department of Health. 

They'd be required to provide any requisite identification details, personal information, and a small fee to process their application. Below is a guide on how to find public records in Arkansas.

How to Find Public Records in Arkansas:

If you want to search for Arkansas public records, you can do so with one of the methods that we have listed below. 

These search methods are especially helpful when you need to find one type of record, like a marriage license. 

However, if you need to perform an in-depth search for public records in Arkansas, you will need to use a directory that is dedicated to that purpose. 

Such a background check is available to you on Backgroundcheck.co, where you can perform an Arkansas free public records search.

Arkansas Public Records: Vital Records

Birth and death records as well as marriage and divorce records are all public records classified under "Vital records". 

These " Vital Records" serve to provide information on vital events and are generated as soon as these events take place. 

In Arkansas, the vital records division of the Arkansas Department of Health is the agency entrusted with the maintenance of these records. 

In the following sections, these vital records and how to obtain them are briefly discussed. 

Arkansas Public Records: Court Records

The surefire way to find court records in Arkansas is to reach out to the courthouse that is in possession of the sought-after court records. 

Meeting with the clerk of the court should set you up on the right track to finding the desired records, whether it is a district court, an appeal court, an appellate court, or any other type of court.

The courts in Arkansas subscribe to the CourtConnect platform, contemporary case management that provides online case record searches. 

There, you can choose from options of Search by Name, Judgement, Case Number, and Date while searching online for cases/court records on the CourtConnect platform.

Public Records Arkansas: Divorce/Marriage Records 

Divorce records are public records that can be obtained by mail, in person, or over the phone with the record custodian. 

The record custodian in most cases is the Arkansas Department of Health, and they grant access to the records upon the fulfillment of certain conditions.

Requesters must provide certain information such as their biodata details, and a valid means of identification, and then pay the stipulated processing fees for their request to be taken into account. 

For mail-related requests, the requester must send in a filled divorce record application form along with the requisite fees to:

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

The charge per copy of the divorce record is $10, a nonrefundable fee that is to be paid regardless of whether the sought-after record is unavailable. The same goes for those in search of Marriage Records in the state. 

The clerk of the superior court that is known to have overseen the marriage is usually the first port of call for marriage record requesters. 

If you're in doubt about the court that is responsible for the custody of the divorce record, you can resort to the Arkansas Judicial branch's online directory to locate the courts under the state's jurisdiction.

The fees that are demanded and the process of the application mirror that of divorce records, although the timeframe for obtaining this type of public record is marginally higher in comparison.

Requesters are mostly expected to provide the name of the record holder, the date, city/county, and the location where the vital event took place.

 They'd also be required to pay the applicable request fee as well as present a valid means of identification or/and a statement of tangible interest, especially if they are not named as a party to the record in question. 

Arkansas Public Records: Birth/Death Records 

Death and health records are vital records that are produced to mark the occasion of the death and birth of a person, respectively. 

Birth records are available at the Department of Health to be collected by persons named in the record or any other authorized person such as a legal representative of the record holder.

For a $10 fee, the Department of Health processes birth record requests that are made online, by mail, or in person at their offices. 

In all of these cases, the requester will be required to present a valid ID or a court order granting them access to the record in question. 

The requester may choose to mail their birth/death record application form, replete with the applicable fees and ID to the address.

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

Likewise, death records can be obtained in very nearly the same way as birth records in Arkansas. 

The processing fee is the same, and the method of the application follows the same laid-out path as described above. 

However, only those birth records accounting for people who have passed on in the last 50 years are available for collection at the Arkansas Department of Health. 

Requesters must bear in mind that they need to provide as much information as possible (name, county, and date of death) for their online record request to yield satisfactory results.