Search Pulaski County Marriage Records
Pulaski County is the largest county in Arkansas and home to Little Rock, the state capital, which means the County Clerk's office here handles more marriage license applications and record requests than any other county in the state. Marriage records in Pulaski County go back to 1818, when the county was first established, and the clerk's office at 401 W. Markham Street in Little Rock holds the official repository of those records. Whether you are applying for a new license, requesting a certified copy for a legal matter, or researching a family history, this page covers what you need to know about how Pulaski County marriage records work and where to find them.
Pulaski County Marriage Records
Pulaski County Clerk Marriage License Office
The Pulaski County Clerk is at 401 W. Markham Street, Little Rock, AR 72201. The phone number is (501) 340-8420. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The clerk's office is the only place in Pulaski County that can issue a new marriage license or provide a certified copy of a recorded marriage certificate. Given the volume of transactions this office handles as the county seat of the most populous county in Arkansas, it is worth calling ahead or checking the county website before visiting.
Both applicants must come in together to apply for a license. No blood test is required under current Arkansas law. The clerk will collect basic identifying information, verify ages, and issue the license on the spot. There is a mandatory 72-hour waiting period after the license is issued before the wedding can take place. The license is good for 60 days. If the ceremony does not happen within those 60 days, the license expires and the couple must start over with a new application.
After the ceremony, the officiant must complete the license and return it to the Pulaski County Clerk within 60 days. That return filing is what creates the official marriage record in the county. The Pulaski County official website has current information on clerk services, and the City of Little Rock has additional resources for residents navigating local government offices.
Note: Due to the high volume of requests at the Pulaski County Clerk's office, calling ahead to confirm wait times or appointment availability before visiting in person is a good idea.
The City of Little Rock maintains several civic resources relevant to marriage and vital records, and its government website is a useful reference for residents and researchers alike.
Little Rock serves as both the county seat of Pulaski County and the capital of Arkansas, which concentrates a wide range of government record-keeping functions in this city.
Marriage Age Rules and Legal Requirements
Arkansas marriage law applies the same way across all 75 counties. Anyone 18 or older can marry without restriction. A 17-year-old needs parental or guardian consent, which must be documented at the time of the application. Anyone under 17 must obtain a court order before the Pulaski County Clerk will issue a license. These rules are set by the Arkansas Legislature under Title 9 of the Arkansas Code, which you can read at the Arkansas Legislature website.
Arkansas abolished common law marriage in 1941. That means living together, no matter how long, does not create a legal marriage. The only way to establish a valid marriage in Arkansas is through the formal license and ceremony process. This is worth knowing for anyone trying to establish the legal status of a long-term relationship or researching whether a family member was legally married.
The officiant performing the ceremony can be a licensed minister, a judge, a justice of the peace, or another official authorized under state law. The officiant signs the license after the ceremony and files it with the clerk. If the officiant fails to file, the couple is still legally married under state law, but there will be no county record of the marriage. That gap can cause problems when the record is later needed for insurance, estate, or immigration purposes. The fix is to contact the clerk's office and work through the process for registering a marriage when the original filing was missed.
Note: Title 20 of the Arkansas Code covers vital statistics requirements and explains how marriage records must be filed and maintained statewide.
Arkansas Department of Health and Statewide Records
The Arkansas Department of Health maintains a statewide index of marriage records from 1917 onward. Its vital records office is at Slot 44, 4815 W. Markham Street, Little Rock, AR 72205. The phone number is (501) 661-2336. Each copy costs $10. Notably, the ADH office is just a few blocks from the Pulaski County Clerk, both being in downtown Little Rock, so it is possible to visit both in the same trip if your research spans different time periods.
The ADH record is called a coupon. It shows key facts: names, date of marriage, and county of issuance. It is a summary, not a full certified copy of the original license. For many administrative purposes, an ADH coupon is sufficient. But if you need a document for a court case, a passport application, or certain government benefit claims, you will likely need a certified copy from the Pulaski County Clerk instead. The ADH can tell you which agency to contact, and its staff is familiar with these distinctions.
You can order ADH records by mail, in person, or through VitalChek online. VitalChek is the state's authorized ordering partner and charges an additional convenience fee on top of the $10 per copy. Mail requests to the ADH take longer than in-person requests. Online VitalChek orders typically process faster than mail requests but still require several business days.
Researching Historic Pulaski County Marriage Records
Pulaski County was formed in 1818 and named for Casimir Pulaski, the Polish-born cavalry officer who fought for the American cause in the Revolutionary War and died at the Siege of Savannah in 1779. Marriage records from 1818 forward are part of the county's documentary history. Records from the 19th century are not in the ADH system, so researchers working on pre-1917 families need to look elsewhere.
The Arkansas State Archives in Little Rock holds extensive materials related to Pulaski County, including early marriage registers, court records, and microfilm collections that document the county's history from its founding. Being the state capital, Little Rock has been home to many of the state's most important documentary collections. Researchers can visit the archives in person or submit mail requests for specific records. The archives staff can help identify what exists for a given time period and what format the records are in.
The FamilySearch Pulaski County page lists digitized record sets available online, including some early marriage indexes and records that have been scanned and made freely accessible. FamilySearch is a strong first stop for genealogical research because it is free and covers a wide range of time periods.
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock also holds research collections relevant to Pulaski County history, and its library can be a resource for serious genealogical researchers. The University of Arkansas Libraries Special Collections in Fayetteville maintains a statewide genealogy guide that covers Pulaski County holdings in detail. Both university libraries are worth contacting if you are conducting deep archival research.
Note: The Arkansas State Archives is located in Little Rock and accepts mail requests; call ahead to confirm current hours and request procedures before planning a visit.
The University of Arkansas Libraries genealogy guide is a comprehensive resource for Arkansas family history research, and it covers record types and repositories across all 75 counties including Pulaski.
University library collections in Arkansas hold many records that supplement or predate the official county clerk and ADH systems, making them valuable for researchers working on 19th-century and early 20th-century families.
Additional Research and Genealogy Resources
The Arkansas Genealogical Society has an active membership and maintains research resources for all Arkansas counties, including Pulaski. The society publishes abstracts, indexes, and research guides, and its members include specialists in Pulaski County records. If you are stuck on a specific family or time period, reaching out to the society can connect you with someone who knows the Pulaski County record landscape well.
The Encyclopedia of Arkansas has in-depth articles on Pulaski County's history, its government structure, and significant events that affected record-keeping, like courthouse fires or reorganizations. Knowing the historical context can explain gaps or inconsistencies in the records you find.
For a federal perspective on Arkansas vital records, the CDC Where to Write for Vital Records page provides a concise overview of how to request marriage records in Arkansas and confirms the role of the ADH and county clerks. The Arkansas Secretary of State website is another useful reference for finding current contact information for county government offices across the state.
Cities in Pulaski County with Record Pages
Pulaski County includes several large cities, each of which uses the county clerk system for marriage records. The cities below have individual pages with more detail on local resources.
Nearby Counties
If you are looking for marriage records in counties that border Pulaski, each county page below has clerk contact information and local details.