Arkansas Divorce Records: Department of Health vs. Circuit Clerk (Which One You Actually Need)

You need proof of your Arkansas divorce — for a name change, a remarriage license, a passport application — and a search sends you to the Arkansas Department of Health. Stop for a second before you pay, because Arkansas issues two completely different "divorce records" from two different offices, and ordering the wrong one is the most common (and most expensive in wasted time) post-divorce mistake.

The Two Arkansas Divorce Records

1. The ADH divorce certificate ("Divorce Coupon"). The Arkansas Department of Health, Division of Vital Records, keeps a statewide index of divorces under A.C.A. § 20-18-305. What it issues is a certified divorce certificate — a short-form document confirming that a divorce event was recorded: names, date, county. It costs $10 per certified copy, plus processing fees if you order online (a $5 online fee plus a $1.85 identity verification fee). Orders can be placed online, by mail, or in person at the ADH office in Little Rock.

What it does not contain: any of the terms of your divorce. No property division, no name-restoration order, no custody arrangement, no QDRO provisions. It is a proof-of-event record, nothing more.

2. The Circuit Clerk's certified divorce decree. The actual decree — the full court order with every term the judge signed — lives in the case file at the Circuit Clerk's office in the county where your divorce was finalized. Certified copies typically run about $5 per copy (fees vary slightly by county, generally $5–$15). In counties integrated with the state's eFlex/Contexte system you can often access the case file electronically; otherwise you request copies at the clerk's counter or by mail.

Which One Do You Need?

Match the document to the task:

• Name restoration with the SSA or a DFA driver's license change: the certified decree — specifically one containing the name-restoration clause under A.C.A. § 9-12-318. The SSA explicitly requires the decree; the ADH certificate is rejected for name changes.
• Recording a quitclaim deed, transferring a vehicle title, closing joint bank accounts: the certified decree — banks, the DFA, and title companies need the actual order awarding the asset.
• QDRO submission to APERS or ATRS: the certified decree, submitted alongside the file-marked QDRO and enrollment forms.
• Remarriage license in some counties, genealogical research, or simple proof that a divorce occurred: the ADH certificate is usually sufficient.
• Out-of-state or foreign authorities asking for proof of divorce: check with them first — some accept the ADH certificate (sometimes with an apostille), others insist on the decree.

When in doubt, get the decree. It does everything the certificate does and more. Most people finalizing their post-divorce paperwork should order 3–5 certified copies at once — agencies routinely keep the copy you hand them, and re-ordering means another trip or another mail cycle.

Ordering Arkansas Divorce Records Online

• ADH vital records: The Department of Health takes orders through its online portal at healthy.arkansas.gov (Order Divorce Records), by mail, or in person. Expect the $10 fee plus the $5 online processing fee and $1.85 identity verification. Arkansas divorce records held by ADH generally date back to 1923; for older records, go to the county.
• Circuit Clerk records: Availability online depends on the county. Counties on the AOC's Contexte/eFlex system offer electronic case access; pro se litigants without portal accounts can request copies from the clerk's central receiving department by mail or in person. Pulaski County's clerk, for example, maintains a records room for exactly this.
• Third-party "divorce records" sites: skip them. They resell the same two documents above at a markup, and some deliver nothing an agency will accept.

One more distinction worth knowing: the county where you live now is irrelevant. Records come from the county where the divorce was granted — if you divorced in Benton County and moved to Pulaski, your decree is in Benton County's case file.

The Practical Bottom Line

For 90% of post-divorce tasks — name change, titles, deeds, accounts, retirement division — you need certified copies of the full decree from the Circuit Clerk, not the ADH certificate. Order them in your first week after the decree is signed; nearly every deadline in the post-divorce window (the 30-day vehicle title transfer, the 60-day COBRA election, SSA and DFA updates) assumes you have decree copies in hand.

The free Arkansas After-Divorce Life-Admin Checklist opens with exactly this step — how many decree copies to order, from where, and which agencies will demand one next. If you're staring at a stack of post-decree tasks, it sequences all of them in deadline order.

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