Craighead County Obituary Search

Craighead County has one of the most developed local obituary research resources in northeast Arkansas, anchored by the Genealogy Society of Craighead County Arkansas and its searchable Jonesboro Sun obituary index. This guide covers the key sources for finding obituary records in Craighead County, from the Jonesboro Sun index and library microfilm collections to county clerk records and state databases.

Search Public Records

Genealogy Society of Craighead County Arkansas

The Genealogy Society of Craighead County Arkansas, known as GSCCA, is located at P.O. Box 844 in Jonesboro. Their website is gscca.net. The society's mission is to acquire, preserve, and publish genealogical and historical data, and they have built one of the most complete local obituary indexes in the state. The Jonesboro Sun Deaths and Obituaries Index is available online through the GSCCA search engine on their site.

The GSCCA index is extensive and searchable by name. It draws from the Jonesboro Sun, which has been the main newspaper for this county for well over a century. When you find a match in the index, you can then request the full obituary text or track down the original newspaper issue. The society also maintains the Craighead County Marriage Index, a Digital Photo Collection, and Caraway Statesman obituaries from 1956 to 1957.

Beyond their database, the society serves as a gathering place for genealogical research and can help connect you with local researchers who have county-specific knowledge. They also assist members in tracking down records that have not been digitized or indexed.

Craighead County Jonesboro Public Library

The Craighead County Jonesboro Library is a major research hub for this county. You can contact the reference staff at reference@libraryinjonesboro.org. The library offers YouTube videos for genealogy research that walk through how to use their collections effectively. These can be helpful before your first in-person visit or research request.

The library holds Jonesboro newspapers on microfilm dating back to the 1890s. That is a deep run of coverage and means you can find obituary notices for county residents across more than a century of local news. Census, marriage, court, and tax records are also available on microfilm.

Digital resources at the library include Newspapers.com Jonesboro Collection recovered from microfilm, the Newspapers.com Southeast Collection, Ancestry Library for in-library use only, Heritage Quest for census and family histories, Fold3 for military records, and Sanborn Maps for Arkansas. Library staff can refer patrons to local genealogists for fee-based research if your needs go beyond what self-service research can accomplish.

Note: The library accepts requests for up to five obituaries per week by email at reference@libraryinjonesboro.org. If you cannot visit in person, this is an efficient way to get specific notices without traveling to Jonesboro.

Craighead County Circuit Clerk

The Craighead County Circuit Clerk office handles court filings including probate records. Probate cases are filed when someone dies with property in the county, and those files often include the date of death, list of heirs, and sometimes funeral home details or burial location. For deaths where no newspaper obituary was published, a probate file may be the best source of information.

The screenshot below shows the Craighead County Circuit Clerk website, a primary source for court and land records research in the county.

Craighead County Arkansas obituary records circuit clerk website

The Craighead County Circuit Clerk website provides online access to some court records. You can search by name and pull case summaries without contacting the office directly. For older records not yet online, contact the circuit clerk in Jonesboro by phone or mail.

The Craighead County Clerk is located at 320 West Court Street, Room 101, Paragould, AR 72450. This office maintains marriage licenses from county formation and land records including deeds and mortgages. For records filed at the county level rather than the circuit court level, this is the right office to contact.

Qualifying Cities in Craighead County

Craighead County is home to two of the qualifying cities in this region. Jonesboro, the county seat, is the largest city in northeast Arkansas and a major population center. Paragould is the county seat of adjacent Greene County but serves as the seat for part of the county's records as well. Both cities have dedicated pages on this site with more detailed obituary research information specific to their communities.

Jonesboro is home to Arkansas State University and a range of services that support genealogy research. The library, courthouse, and GSCCA are all based there. Paragould, while technically across the county line, has its own courthouse and records that may be relevant if your ancestor lived near that border.

Death Certificates and Arkansas Vital Records

Craighead County death certificates are filed with the Arkansas Department of Health Vital Records in Little Rock. Records go back to February 1914. The fee is $10 for the first certified copy and $8 for each additional copy ordered at the same time. Walk-in service at the Little Rock office runs Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM, with same-day issuance.

The Arkansas Death Index on FamilySearch covers 1914 to 1950 and contains roughly 594,000 entries. Each entry includes county, gender, race, age, and certificate number. Using this index to locate the certificate number before ordering from the state is a standard step that researchers use to confirm a record exists before paying the fee.

For deaths before 1914, the Arkansas State Archives "In Remembrance" database indexes Craighead County deaths from 1819 to 1920. This free online database draws from church records, newspaper obituaries, cemetery records, and mortality census schedules. It often surfaces records that exist in no other online resource. Under Arkansas Code Title 20, Chapter 18, death records are restricted for 50 years before becoming public.

Additional Online Resources

The Arkansas Digital Archives contains digitized historical newspapers and other records. Northeast Arkansas papers may be included, and checking there for Jonesboro-area publications from the early 1900s can turn up obituary columns not yet available through commercial services.

The CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies in Little Rock holds newspaper microfilm for Arkansas counties and provides in-library access to Ancestry.com and Newspapers.com. If local research resources in Jonesboro do not have what you need, the Butler Center is a strong backup option with statewide coverage.

The Arkansas Genealogical Society publishes research guides and maintains a network of county-level volunteers. For Craighead County specifically, the GSCCA is the more active local organization, but the state society can help with broader Arkansas research context and connections to other county volunteers.

Nearby Counties

Craighead County borders several northeast Arkansas counties with their own records offices:

Northeast Arkansas families often moved between these counties. When a Craighead County obituary record is incomplete or missing, searching neighboring counties is the logical next step.