Find Texarkana Obituary Records
Texarkana obituary records are spread across Miller County courthouse offices, local library collections, and state repositories in Little Rock. As the county seat of Miller County, Texarkana is the central hub for most official death and estate records in this part of southwest Arkansas. This page covers the key offices, archives, and online tools for finding obituaries and related documents tied to Texarkana residents past and present.
Miller County and Texarkana Records
Texarkana sits at the Arkansas-Texas border and serves as the county seat of Miller County. The Miller County Courthouse is the main repository for official county records including probate filings, estate documents, and vital records. The County Clerk maintains birth, death, and marriage records for the area. When you need a certified copy of a death record tied to Texarkana, this office is your first stop.
The City Clerk's Office at texarkanaar.gov handles official city records, meeting agendas, minutes, and the code of ordinances. Birth certificates are available through the city. Police reports can be requested through the same portal. An FOIA Request Form is posted online for anyone who needs to access public records not available through the standard request process. City Hall can be reached at 870-779-4991.
For court records tied to Texarkana estates and probate cases, the Arkansas CourtConnect portal covers Miller County filings. You can search by name or case number and pull case summaries for probate and civil matters. The Miller County page on this site has full contact details for courthouse departments.
The screenshot below shows the Texarkana, AR city website, the official portal for city government services and records access.
The Texarkana city website at texarkanaar.gov provides FOIA request forms, contact details for city departments, and links to online services for residents researching local records.
Palmer Memorial Library at Texarkana College
The Palmer Memorial Library at Texarkana College is one of the most useful research resources in the city. It functions as a congressionally designated U.S. Government documents depository, meaning public access to federal documents is guaranteed by law under Title 44 of the United States Code. The library holds print books, electronic databases, library guides with links to eBooks, scholarly journals, and newspaper articles. A 24/7 chat with a librarian is available, and direct phone contact can be reached at 903-823-3215.
The library has a partnership with the John F. Moss Library at Texas A&M University Texarkana. Students and researchers from either institution can access both libraries. For obituary research, the newspaper article databases and library guides can point you to historical coverage of Texarkana deaths and family notices that go back decades.
Library hours run Monday through Thursday 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. The library is closed Saturdays. Tutoring and library appointments are available for researchers who need guidance navigating the genealogy databases.
The screenshot below shows the Palmer Memorial Library website at Texarkana College, a key research hub for obituary and genealogy resources in the city.
The Palmer Memorial Library at texarkanacollege.edu provides access to newspaper archives, genealogy databases, and federal document collections useful for Texarkana obituary research.
Arkansas State Archives and Vital Records
The Arkansas State Archives at One Capitol Mall in Little Rock is the statewide hub for historical records. The "In Remembrance" database covers Arkansas deaths from 1819 to 1920 and draws from newspaper obituaries, cemetery records, and church publications. Miller County records are part of the statewide microfilm collection held there. If you are researching a Texarkana death from the 1800s or early 1900s, this database is a good place to start.
Official death certificates are issued by the Arkansas Department of Health Vital Records office. Records begin in February 1914. Under Arkansas Code Ann. ยง 20-18-304, death certificates are restricted for 50 years from the date of death. The fee is $10 for the first certified copy and $8 for each additional copy. Walk-in service runs Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 3 PM, with same-day issuance available.
For free online searching, FamilySearch holds the Arkansas Death Index 1914 to 1950 with roughly 594,000 entries, along with probate and will records going back to the late 1700s. Both are free and accessible without an account, though signing in adds extra search features.
Probate and Estate Records for Texarkana
Probate records are among the most detailed sources for Texarkana obituary research. When a Miller County resident died and left property, an estate case was almost always opened in the circuit court. Those filings name the deceased, note the date of death, list heirs, and sometimes include affidavits with the cause of death or burial location. That level of detail is rare in a newspaper notice.
The CourtConnect portal from the Arkansas judiciary provides public access to probate and court case filings for Miller County. You can search by person name and view case histories for many estates. For older records not yet online, contact the Miller County Circuit Clerk directly at the courthouse in Texarkana. FamilySearch has digitized Arkansas Probate Records from 1817 to 1979, which covers much of the county's history and is searchable for free.
Note: Texarkana straddles two states, so some residents may have had estate records filed on the Texas side. The Bowie County, Texas courthouse handles records for the Texas portion of the city.
Newspaper Archives and Obituary Notices
Texarkana has had active local newspapers for well over a century. The Texarkana Gazette is the city's main paper and has run obituary notices for generations of local families. For current obituaries, the paper's website is the fastest way to search. For historical notices, library microfilm and digitized archive collections are the primary tools.
The Arkansas Digital Archives has digitized historical newspapers through the Chronicling America partnership. Southwest Arkansas papers may be represented there. The CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies in Little Rock holds the full Arkansas Gazette Obituaries Index 1819 to 1879 and county microfilm for all 75 Arkansas counties. Miller County microfilm may include issues of local papers that are not available in digital form anywhere else.
Because Texarkana spans state lines, Texas newspaper archives are also relevant. The Portal to Texas History at the University of North Texas hosts digitized Texas newspapers, including Texarkana titles, going back to the 1800s. Searching both states' archives gives you the most complete picture.
Online Genealogy Databases
Several free and subscription-based databases cover Texarkana and Miller County obituary records. FamilySearch holds Arkansas Probate Records from 1817 to 1979 and Arkansas Wills and Probate Records from 1783 to 1998. The Arkansas Genealogical Society maintains statewide research guides and a network of county volunteers. Their publication, the Arkansas Family Historian, covers genealogy across all 75 counties including Miller.
The Encyclopedia of Arkansas has county-level articles with historical context useful for placing records in the right time period. For free transcribed records from volunteers, GenealogyTrails Arkansas and Arkansas Genealogy both host county-level collections that can turn up notices not found in major databases.
The USGenWeb Obituary Project has a Miller County section with volunteer-indexed notices. Records contributed there are free to search and can include cemetery transcriptions, newspaper obituaries, and church death registers that are not digitized anywhere else.
Nearby Qualifying Cities
These cities near Texarkana have dedicated pages on this site:
- El Dorado - Union County
Communities in Miller County outside Texarkana, such as Fouke and Genoa, do not meet the population threshold for their own pages. For those areas, use the Miller County courthouse resources in Texarkana. Pine Bluff to the northeast and other qualifying cities in central Arkansas are also linked on this site.