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Arkansas public records: who holds what

In Arkansas, deeds are recorded by the Circuit Clerk; birth and death certificates come from the Arkansas Department of Health, Vital Records; and requests for other government records fall under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act of 1967 (FOIA). Below: who holds every other record, what copies cost and the official link for each office.

Last checked against official sources on .

On this page
  1. Who holds what in Arkansas
  2. Public records law in Arkansas
  3. Divorce records in Arkansas
  4. Probate records and wills in Arkansas
  5. How Arkansas organizes its records
  6. Other records: background checks, voters, businesses, maps
  7. Counties in Arkansas
  8. Warnings from official sources
  9. Official copies vs look-alike sites
  10. Official directories
  11. Sources

Who holds what in Arkansas

The office that keeps each record, and the fee the law or the office sets for a copy. Open a record type for the full rules, ordering steps and older records.

RecordWho holds itCopy fee
DeedsCircuit Clerk of each of the 75 counties, as ex officio county recorder (in Pulaski County a combined Circuit/County Clerk)1$0.50 per page, not certified (Faulkner County Circuit Clerk schedule)1
Property recordsCounty Assessor values real and personal property; the Arkansas Assessment Coordination Division (DFA) supervises assessment in all 75 counties2—
Court recordsCircuit courts (general jurisdiction, five divisions: criminal, civil, probate, domestic relations, juvenile) and district courts (traffic, misdemeanors, preliminary felony matters, civil claims up to $25,000). Circuit court records are kept by the county Circuit Clerk3—
Marriage recordsCounty Clerk issues and records marriage licenses4—
Divorce recordsCircuit Clerk (domestic relations division of circuit court) holds the decree; ADH Vital Records issues divorce 'coupons' from 19231ADH divorce record: $10.00 per copy ($10 kept as search fee if none found); county certified decree copy $5.00 (Faulkner/Pulaski)5
Birth certificatesArkansas Department of Health, Vital Records (Little Rock); also issued at every Local Health Unit6$12.00 first copy, $10.00 each additional copy ordered at the same time; $12.00 kept as search fee if no record6
Death certificatesArkansas Department of Health, Vital Records7$10.00 first copy, $8.00 each additional copy ordered at the same time; $10.00 search fee kept if no record8
Probate and willsProbate is a division of circuit court; the County Clerk serves as clerk for probate court in many counties (e.g. Faulkner), filing decedent-estate, guardianship and adoption records9Certified copies of court documents $5.00 (Pulaski County Records)10

Public records law in Arkansas

Arkansas Freedom of Information Act of 1967 (FOIA) (Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-101 et seq.) Read the law11

This law covers records that agencies hold, such as a county office's correspondence or a property file. Recorded deeds, vital records and court files usually have their own rules, set out in each record section.

Who can ask
Any citizen of the State of Arkansas; a person incarcerated after a felony plea or conviction, and that person's representative unless the person's attorney, is denied access11
Response time
Records not in active use must be provided immediately; if in active use or storage, custodian must certify in writing and make them available within 3 working days11
Copy fees
Actual cost of reproduction only (no staff time); actual mailing/transmission cost; advance payment allowed if estimate exceeds $25; waivers possible; no fee for inspection; itemized breakdown required11
If a request is refused
Immediate appeal to circuit court (Pulaski County or requester's county for state agencies; the appropriate judicial district's circuit court for local bodies); hearing set within 7 days of application; court assesses reasonable attorney's fees against a defendant when a plaintiff obtains a significant or material portion of the information after suing, unless the defendant's position was substantially justified; fee claims against the State go to the State Claims Commission11
What is exempt
Exempt categories in § 25-19-105(b) include state income tax records; medical, adoption and FERPA education records; grand jury minutes; undisclosed law-enforcement investigations; documents protected by court order or rule; competitive-advantage files; computer-security data; personnel records where release is a clearly unwarranted invasion of privacy; personal contact info of non-elected public employees; and others. Segregable non-exempt parts must be released; no duty to create records.11
Official guide
Arkansas Attorney General FOIA page and Freedom of Information Handbook, 22nd Edition (2026)12

How to write a public records request

Divorce records in Arkansas

Who holds it
Circuit Clerk (domestic relations division of circuit court) holds the decree; ADH Vital Records issues divorce 'coupons' from 19231
Copy fee
ADH divorce record: $10.00 per copy ($10 kept as search fee if none found); county certified decree copy $5.00 (Faulkner/Pulaski)5
How to search
Search ARCourts or ask the circuit clerk of the county that granted the divorce; Pulaski Clerk links a divorce-decree lookup on ARCourts13

How this works in other states: divorce records by state.

Probate records and wills in Arkansas

Who holds it
Probate is a division of circuit court; the County Clerk serves as clerk for probate court in many counties (e.g. Faulkner), filing decedent-estate, guardianship and adoption records9
Search
ARCourts statewide case search (where the county participates) or the clerk's office; State Archives has microfilmed county probate records14
Copy fee
Certified copies of court documents $5.00 (Pulaski County Records)10

How this works in other states: probate records and wills by state.

How Arkansas organizes its records

  • Recorder is the Circuit Clerk (ex officio), not a separate register of deeds; county clerk handles marriage, DBA, voter registration and (in many counties) probate1
  • Pulaski County (Little Rock) has a combined Circuit and County Clerk office handling real estate, court records, marriage licenses, DBA and voter registration15
  • FOIA rights belong to Arkansas citizens; out-of-state requesters have no statutory right under the Act11
  • Deeds recorded in person or by mail require the grantor's photo ID (Act 752 of 2025), with professional exemptions16
  • Birth certificates can be ordered at a Local Health Unit, not only in Little Rock; the death page says services are offered in all local health units; the marriage and divorce walk-in text names only the Little Rock office6

Other records: background checks, voters, businesses, maps

Criminal history checks

State repository
Arkansas State Police17
Who may order
(1) Consent-based or legally mandated checks: Criminal Background Checks ($22); (2) any personal search for any other purpose: Open Criminal History ($24)17
Fee
$22 per search (consent/mandated); $24 per search (Open Criminal History)17
How to request
Online at www.ark.org/criminal (consent) or www.ark.org/asp/arch (open search)17

Sex offender registry

Official registry
Arkansas Crime Information Center (ACIC) Sex Offender Search: ark.org/offender-search/index.php (public listing covers Level 3, Level 4 and certain Level 2 offenders)18

Inmate and jail lookups

State prisons
Arkansas Division of Correction inmate search (apps.ark.org/inmate_info), linked from the Division of Correction page19

Voter records

Access
Voter registration is kept by the County Clerk of each county; the Secretary of State provides statewide voter data files with restricted fields withheld20
How to request
Submit the Secretary of State's Arkansas Voter Data Request Form for the VR, VH or VRVH file. The form states no cost for the data. County lists can carry a fee, e.g. Faulkner: paper list.02¢ per name, disk $25.0020
Check your registration
VoterView (Secretary of State): check registration status, polling site, sample ballot21

Business names (DBA)

Secretary of State
Secretary of State Business Entity Search (corporations, LLCs, etc.)22
At the county
Assumed-name (DBA) certificates for individuals/partnerships are filed with the County Clerk of each county where business is conducted; $25.00 fee (Faulkner, Pulaski)9
Search
Pulaski County offers an online DBA search10

Liens and UCC filings

UCC filings
Secretary of State UCC filing and search (new portal bcs.sos.arkansas.gov). UCC-1 $16.00 (includes $6 termination); UCC-3 $6.00; lien search $6.00; copies $6.00 first page + $0.50 each additional page23
Mechanics' liens
Materialman's (mechanics') liens are recorded with the county Circuit Clerk/recorder at $15 first page, $5 each additional1
Tax warrants
A state tax lien arises when a certificate of indebtedness issued by the Secretary of the Department of Finance and Administration is entered on the judgment docket; the circuit clerk takes the filing and release costs. Since Act 29 of 2025 it is not superior to a purchase money mortgage24
LLC charging
Charging applications by judgment creditors against LLC interests are recorded in the SOS UCC register (court order required)23

GIS and parcel maps

State GIS portal
Arkansas GIS Hub / Arkansas Spatial Data Infrastructure Portal (Division of Geographic Information Systems), gis.arkansas.gov -> geodata.gis.arkansas.gov, includes a Planning/Cadastre data category25
County GIS
Counties run their own maps (e.g. Pulaski County links an ArcGIS 911 address check and Metroplan maps)26

Historical and genealogy records

State archives
Arkansas State Archives (1 Capitol Mall, Little Rock; regional archives NEARA and SARA): county marriage, probate, tax, land and court records on microfilm for all 75 counties; 3,000+ newspaper titles; state land records 1853-195614
Vital records for genealogy
No official state birth/death records before 1914; some city records (Little Rock, Fort Smith, Pine Bluff births; Little Rock, Fort Smith, Hot Springs deaths) on county microfilm; Arkansas Prior Birth Index for delayed certificates14

Counties in Arkansas

7 counties with a full guide

Each guide lists the office for every record type, the official online searches, copy fees, phones and hours.

All 75 counties

Names in bold open our guide. Names with an arrow go to the county's own website, where the US Census Bureau lists one and it opened when we checked.27

Warnings from official sources

  • Arkansas Judiciary warns of spam text messages impersonating the courts; it never initiates unsolicited texts28
  • Free official property-fraud alerts: Pulaski County emails subscribers when a document in their name is recorded15

Official copies vs look-alike sites

A certified copy comes only from the office that holds the record; reports and "research copies" sold by commercial sites are not issued by any Arkansas office. How to tell an official record source from a paid look-alike.

Official directories

Lists that name the office in every county.

Sources

Every fact above links to the official page it comes from; all 30 sources were checked on November 4, 2026. Fees and rules change, so check the office's own page before you pay or travel.

  1. Circuit ClerkFaulkner County, Arkansas
  2. Arkansas Assessment Coordination DivisionArkansas Department of Finance and Administration
  3. Circuit CourtsArkansas Judiciaryarchived copy
  4. Marriage LicensePulaski County Circuit/County Clerk
  5. Order Divorce RecordsArkansas Department of Healtharchived copy
  6. Order Birth RecordsArkansas Department of Healtharchived copy
  7. Death Certificate Application (PDF)Arkansas Department of Health
  8. Order Death RecordsArkansas Department of Healtharchived copy
  9. County ClerkFaulkner County, Arkansas
  10. County RecordsPulaski County Circuit/County Clerk
  11. Arkansas Freedom of Information Handbook, 22nd Edition (full text of Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-101 et seq.)Arkansas Attorney General (with Arkansas Press Association)
  12. Arkansas Freedom of Information ActArkansas Attorney General
  13. Pulaski Circuit and County Clerk homePulaski County Circuit/County Clerk
  14. Research FAQs and TipsArkansas State Archives
  15. Real Estate departmentPulaski County Circuit/County Clerk
  16. Act 752 of 2025 (SB 406) — deed recording photo IDArkansas State Legislature
  17. Criminal Background ChecksArkansas State Police (Arkansas Department of Public Safety)archived copy
  18. Sex Offender InformationArkansas Crime Information Center (Arkansas Department of Public Safety)archived copy
  19. Division of CorrectionArkansas Department of Correctionsarchived copy
  20. Arkansas Voter Registration Data Request Policies and FormArkansas Secretary of Statearchived copy; the page is no longer on the office's site
  21. For VotersArkansas Secretary of State
  22. Current BusinessesArkansas Secretary of State
  23. Uniform Commercial Code (UCC)Arkansas Secretary of State
  24. Act 29 of 2025 (HB 1273)Arkansas General Assembly
  25. Arkansas GIS Hub / Arkansas Spatial Data Infrastructure PortalArkansas Division of Geographic Information Systems
  26. Pulaski County government home pagePulaski County, Arkansas
  27. Government Units List 2026US Census Bureau
  28. County Judges & County Clerks directoryArkansas Judiciaryarchived copy
  29. Arkansas County Clerks directory (PDF)Arkansas Secretary of State
  30. Circuit Clerks directoryArkansas Judiciaryarchived copy