Are you looking to do a Arkansas birth records search? With just a little work you can do a Arkansas birth records search online and find out everything you need to know. However, you may be better off doing things a different way. This is what you need to know about the situation.

Arkansas makes birth records available through the Arkansas Department of Health website (see the link below). The main body of records goes back to February 1, 1914, although there are some records available as far back as 1881. You might think that this bodes well for getting the information you want right at the source. However, there's a catch.

The website has limited information for ordering online. You can print a form that you then fill out and mail in, or you can go to one of the third-party records sources listed on the site and request information through them. The processing time for your request varies between services and with how much you're willing to spend to get your information fast. Expect somewhere between 1 and 10 days for your request to be processed and the information you requested to be shipped to you.

There is however, a faster, more efficient way to get the information. Commercial web sites exist that can do a birth records search across all the information available from every state. Once they've processed the information, they make it available through a user-friendly website.

Just as with getting the information from the state, commercial sites will charge you a small fee for access to the information. In return, you get fast, efficient service with far wider coverage than any state site can provide. As long as you're looking for information, and not an official copy of a birth record, you'll be better off going to a commercial site.