In
recent years a mania for privacy has washed over the United
States. This has resulted partly from
(1) the novel, 1984 (2) an
increasingly oppressive government, and
(3) technological advances which
make it possible to obtain and exchange
personal information in virtual
secrecy. Partly as a result of this, Arkansas
has a law, passed in 1995,
which effectively closes vital records
to the public. Individuals can
obtain their own vital records and those
of direct descendants, but the
public cannot obtain any of those records
until such time as they are
deemed "open."
A birth record
is held by this law to be "open" one hundred (100)
years after the birth occurred. A death
record is held to be "open"
fifty (50) years after the death occurred.
Since the Arkansas
Department of Health began keeping such
records in 1914, this means that
NO birth records are available to the
general public. The first of such
records will be available in February
of the year 2015.
Death records
are now available to the general public in those cases
in which the death occurred between the
years 1914 and 1948.
The Arkansas
Genealogical Society has made available for purchase
indexes to the death records which are
deemed "open." These are on
microfiche, the most compact medium for
voluminous records. The number
of records thus indexed is now about half
a million. Most of this same
index has been printed and bound, by a
private business, in three
printed paper volumes.
Paper volumes
are advantageous to those who do not have access to a
microfiche reader, and records for the
same time periods are about 85%
the cost of fiche. They are disadvantageous
in that they are bulky and
incomplete. The microfiche version requires
a small machine for
searching the records. However, they are
extremely compact, reasonably
priced, and more complete than the printed
version. The book version of
these records is often cited to the Division
of Vital Records, but the
patron will be advised that the desired
certificate cannot be found.
This is because the book records list
only the name of the deceased, the
county in which death occurred, and the
date of the death.
The microfiche
version lists all of that information, plus the
number of the volume in which the certificate
appears, and the
Certificate Number. This makes failure
to locate a certificate almost
impossible, and the turnaround time in
the Division of Vital Records
almost immediate.
Each February,
the fiche index for the deaths which occurred in the
twelve months which elapsed fifty years
ago is produced and becomes
available for sale by the Arkansas Genealogical
Society, Box 908, Hot
Springs AR 71902-0908.
As each new set
of records is generated, a copy is donated by the
Arkansas Genealogical Society to the Arkansas
History Commission & State
Archives, and to the Butler Center for
Arkansas Studies, Central
Arkansas Library System, 100 Rock Street,
Little Rock AR 72201. This
allows public access to these records
in those locations. Many libraries
throughout the United States, and the
Family History Library in Salt
Lake City, have purchased copies. Genealogical
information cannot be
copyrighted, but the FORM in which it
appears can be, and these
published records are copyrighted.
The public officials
and employees charged with the production,
storage, and dissemination of these records
are very conscientious
individuals. They want the public to have
whatever records they can
legally obtain. On the other hand, under
the law, security of those same
records is a serious concern. All employees,
and any volunteers, who
work with these records are required to
execute an oath binding
themselves to the proper handling and
safeguarding of the records. If
they violate that oath of confidentiality,
they can be prosecuted.
You CAN obtain
those records to which you are legally entitled. The
process is neither complicated nor expensive.
There are application
forms which have been designed to speed
searches and serve as permanent
records of filled orders. One is asked
to state the purpose for which
the record will be used. For most of us,
that is simply, "Family
History." Also, there is a question which
requires the applicant to
state his or her relationship to the person
whom the record concerns.
This is to insure that the records are
released only to those persons
legally qualified to have them. Claiming
a relationship which does not
exist is a felony! Think very seriously
before committing any act which
could take you away from your family and
occupation for a considerable
period.
Compliance with
the requirement to register births and deaths has
never been perfect in any state, and it
is entirely possible that you
will seek a record which does not exist.
In such a case, you will be
advised that the record cannot be found.
The fee you have paid for the
search will be retained to defray the
costs of the search and
correspondence. Here is how to obtain
Arkansas Vital Records
For Birth, Death,
Marriage and Divorce certificates, request the
proper form from Arkansas Department of
Health, Vital Records Division,
4815 West Markham Street, Slot 44,
Little Rock AR 72205. Yes, certificates
will be sent in reply to a
letter of request accompanied by the proper
fee, and without a form, BUT
your letter must contain all the information
the form requires. Are you
SURE you know what that is?
Birth certificates are $5, Death certificates
are $4, Marriages and
Divorces are $3, as of May 1999.
A complete death
certificate is probably the most valuable of all
vital records to a family historian. It
simply contains more
information. It will tell you when and
where the individual was born;
name of any spouse at the date of the
death, or whether the decedent was
widowed, or divorced; when, where, and
of what the person died, name of
the physician who attended, name and birthplace
of each parent (if the
informant for the death certificate knew
this) the place buried, and the
funeral home which has these records,
and the name and address of the
informant! That's a lot!
Birth records
state the name of the individual at birth, the place
of birth, and the names and ages of both
parents, unless tan unmarried
mother chooses to withhold the name of
the putative father. If the
mother is married, her husband is the
legal father of the child.
Marriage and
divorce records are simply of the "tab" or
"certificate" type. That is, these records
name the persons involved,
where the event occurred, and state the
date of the event.
These records
are extremely important to the family historian. Let
us make every effort to obtain and use
them properly, and to express our
appreciation to those who make it possible
for us to have them
available.
Ed Sanders
<esanders@cswnet.com> |
