Arkansas Marriage & Divorce Records: State Copies for $10

Arkansas runs a conventional two-layer records system. The county clerk issues and keeps the marriage license, the state health department keeps a copy and sells certified copies, and the circuit court keeps divorce case files. What sets Arkansas apart is the price: $10.00 a copy is at the bottom of the national range, less than half what several neighboring states charge.

This page covers obtaining documents. For grounds, residency, and process, see Arkansas divorce laws. For the state-by-state comparison, see the marriage and divorce records hub.

Arkansas marriage records: county clerk plus state copy

A marriage in Arkansas starts at a county clerk's office, which issues the license. After the ceremony the completed license is returned there and recorded. That county clerk remains the custodian of the original for its own county, and county holdings can reach back to the county's formation, which for the older counties means the early nineteenth century.

The Arkansas Department of Health, Office of Vital Records holds the state's copy and is the office most people should use for a modern record. It sells certified copies through its own ordering system.

One honest caveat on coverage. ADH's current marriage and divorce ordering pages do not state a coverage start year, and we could not confirm a start date against an ADH page as of August 2026. Treat any specific start year you see published elsewhere as unverified until ADH states it on its own page. The practical rule is unaffected: if ADH cannot find your record, the county clerk (marriage) or circuit clerk (divorce) is the custodian to try, and county coverage predates the state's.

Arkansas divorce records: decree versus record

Decide which document you need before ordering, because the two come from different offices.

The decree is the circuit court's judgment. It carries the terms, meaning property division, alimony, custody, child support, and name restoration. It is a court file, held by the circuit clerk in the county where the divorce was granted. Arkansas domestic relations cases are heard in circuit court, which absorbed the former chancery jurisdiction, so older files may be catalogued under chancery.

The divorce record from ADH is the vital record. It confirms who divorced, when, and in which county. It does not contain the terms. For a name change, a remarriage, a benefits filing, or an immigration matter, this is usually the document requested, and it is faster and cheaper than pulling a certified court file.

If an agency demands "the divorce papers," ask specifically whether it wants proof that a divorce occurred or the terms of the judgment. The answer determines which office you write to.

Who may request, and what is public

Arkansas vital records are closed by default. Ark. Code § 20-18-304(a) makes it unlawful for any person to permit inspection of, disclose, or copy a vital record "except as authorized by this chapter and by rule or by order of a court of competent jurisdiction." State Board of Health Rule 15.0(a) implements that, directing the State Registrar not to release a record "unless he or she is satisfied that the applicant is authorized to obtain a copy or abstract of such record." ADH's ordering pages compress all of that into the phrase "eligible individuals."

The statute names the class. Under Ark. Code § 20-18-305(1)(A), the State Registrar issues a certified copy to the registrant, his or her spouse, child, parent, or guardian, or their authorized designated representative. Subsection (1)(C) adds anyone who can demonstrate that the record is "needed for the determination or protection of their personal or property rights." Rule 15.0(a) fills in the edges: an authorized representative includes an attorney, physician, funeral director, or other agent acting for the registrant or the family; family members doing genealogical research and genealogists representing a family member may obtain copies they need for that research; and two groups are excluded outright, the natural parents of adopted children when neither has custody, and commercial firms requesting listings of names and addresses.

Then the restriction expires on its own. Ark. Code § 20-18-305(9) provides that once fifty years have elapsed after the date of a marriage, divorce, or annulment, those records in the state registrar's custody "shall become available to the public without restriction." Rule 15.0(e) implements it and is precise about what lapses and what does not: the record becomes available "to any person upon submission of an application containing sufficient information to locate the record," and for each copy issued or search made the registrar still collects "the same fee." As of 2026 that line falls at 1976. For an event older than that, the eligibility question disappears. The application and the $10.00 do not.

Three practical points follow:

• ADH still does not run a free public search. Every request is an application with a fee attached, at any record age.
• ADH flags genealogical requests for events before 1935 as non-routine, and its marriage-records page warns that same-day service is not guaranteed for them. That is a processing-speed signal rather than the access line. The access line is the rolling fifty-year rule above.
• There is no Arkansas analogue to California's confidential-marriage program. That does not make these records open, because the statutory default under Ark. Code § 20-18-304 is closed. An individual court file can also be sealed by order in a specific case.

Court files are the other access layer. Divorce case files at the circuit clerk are court records, and access questions there run through the courts and Arkansas public-records framework rather than through ADH. See Arkansas public records laws for that route.

Fees and how to order

Figures are as of August 2026 from ADH's own pages. The $10.00 functions as a search fee: if no record is found, ADH retains it.

Steps:

1. Decide which document you need. ADH record for proof of the event; circuit clerk decree for the terms.
2. Collect full names including maiden name, the approximate date, and the county.
3. Order from ADH online through its own vital-records portal, by mail to Arkansas Department of Health, Vital Records, Slot 44, 4815 West Markham Street, Little Rock, AR 72205, in person at that address on weekdays, or by phone at the number ADH publishes.
4. Include acceptable identification as ADH's requirements document directs.
5. For a decree, apply separately to the circuit clerk in the county of the divorce, and ask that office for its own copy and certification fees.

A note on channels. VitalChek is not named on ADH's own marriage or divorce ordering pages; Arkansas routes online orders through the state's own vital-records ordering system. Do not assume the VitalChek route applies here simply because it does in neighboring states.

Older records and genealogy

For a marriage older than the state's holdings, the county clerk is the custodian, and the older counties hold licenses back to their formation. For an older divorce, the circuit clerk holds the file, including material that predates the chancery-to-circuit consolidation.

If the event itself is more than fifty years old, the eligibility question drops away at the state level. Ark. Code § 20-18-305(9) and Board of Health Rule 15.0(e) open marriage, divorce, dissolution, and annulment records to any applicant once fifty years have passed, which in 2026 means anything before 1976. You still file an application with enough detail to locate the record, and you still pay the $10.00. You simply no longer have to show a relationship to the couple or a personal or property right.

ADH's own handling of pre-1935 requests as genealogical rather than routine is a separate, slower service track, not a second access rule. Build in extra time for anything that old.

Arkansas recognizes common-law marriages only when they were validly formed in a state that permits them; it does not allow them to be created in Arkansas. That matters here because no license and no certificate exists for such a marriage. See Arkansas common-law marriage.

Related Arkansas pages

See Arkansas death records for the sibling process at the same ADH office. For cross-state process, see how to get a copy of your marriage certificate and how to find out if someone is married or divorced.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does an Arkansas marriage or divorce record cost?

$10.00 per copy from the Arkansas Department of Health as of August 2026. Ordering online adds a $5.00 processing fee and a $1.85 non-refundable identity-verification fee. Circuit clerks set separate fees for certified copies of a divorce decree.

What happens if ADH cannot find the record?

You do not get the $10.00 back. ADH treats it as a search fee and retains it when no record is found. Before ordering, make sure you have the right names, the right approximate date, and the right county, and consider calling first if you are unsure the event was filed with the state.

Where do I get the actual Arkansas divorce decree?

From the circuit clerk in the county where the divorce was granted. The ADH divorce record proves the divorce happened but contains none of the terms. Anything involving property, support, custody, or enforcement requires the certified decree from the court.

Can anyone get a copy of an Arkansas marriage record?

Not a recent one. Ark. Code § 20-18-305(1) limits certified copies to the registrant, a spouse, child, parent, or guardian, or an authorized designated representative, plus anyone who shows the record is needed to determine or protect a personal or property right. Board of Health Rule 15.0(a) also allows family members doing genealogical research, and genealogists working for a family member, to obtain copies. For an event more than fifty years old the restriction lifts entirely under Ark. Code § 20-18-305(9), so a marriage before 1976 is available to any applicant, although the application and the $10.00 fee still apply.

Does Arkansas use VitalChek?

Not on the pages that matter here. ADH's marriage and divorce ordering pages route online requests through the state's own vital-records ordering system and do not name VitalChek. Order through ADH's own portal, by mail, by phone, or in person in Little Rock.

What about a marriage before the state started keeping records?

The county clerk is the custodian, and in the older Arkansas counties license records reach back to the county's formation in the nineteenth century. ADH's ordering pages do not publish a state coverage start year, so if a state search comes back empty, the county clerk is the next step rather than the end of the road.

Are Arkansas divorce records public?

It depends on how old the divorce is. Arkansas vital records are closed by default under Ark. Code § 20-18-304(a), so a recent ADH divorce record goes only to eligible individuals with acceptable identification. Once fifty years have elapsed, Ark. Code § 20-18-305(9) makes the record available to the public without restriction, which as of 2026 covers divorces before 1976, subject to the usual application and fee. The underlying circuit court file is a separate layer: it is a court record, generally accessible through the clerk, subject to sealing by court order in an individual case.