Search Cabot Divorce Decrees

Divorce decree records for Cabot residents are filed and maintained by the Lonoke County Circuit Clerk in the city of Lonoke, the county seat. Cabot itself does not have a courthouse where divorce records are held. This page covers how to find and request divorce decree records as a Cabot resident, including the courthouse address, online search tools, certified copy fees, and what you need to bring when you visit.

Lonoke County Circuit Clerk for Cabot Residents

Cabot is the largest city in Lonoke County, but divorce records and court filings are handled in Lonoke, the county seat. The Lonoke County Circuit Clerk is at 301 North Center Street, Lonoke, AR 72086. The phone is (501) 676-2316. All divorce decree records for Cabot residents are held at this office. If you need to file for divorce or get a certified copy of a decree, this is where you go.

The drive from Cabot to Lonoke is about 20 minutes on Highway 70. Office hours are generally Monday through Friday during regular business hours, but calling ahead is wise before making the trip. Bring a photo ID when you visit. If you know the case number, bring that too. Staff can search by party name, but having the case number ready makes the process faster and reduces wait time at the counter.

For mail requests, write a letter to the Lonoke County Circuit Clerk at 301 North Center Street, Lonoke, AR 72086. Include the full names of both parties, the year of the divorce, and payment by check or money order made out to the Lonoke County Circuit Clerk. Certified copies are $5.00 each. Plain page copies are less. The clerk will mail back what you request, so include a return address.

Cabot Divorce Decree Search Online

The free online case search tool for Arkansas circuit courts is CourtConnect, run by the Arkansas Judiciary. You can look up Lonoke County divorce cases by searching either party's name, the case number, or a date range. The tool shows basic case data: filing date, parties, and case status. It does not show the full text of the decree, but it confirms a case is in the system and gives you the case number you need to request copies from the clerk.

CourtConnect is available at any time and is free to use. It covers cases filed after roughly 2009. If the divorce happened before that, you will likely need to contact the Lonoke County Circuit Clerk directly by phone or mail to locate older records.

Divorce Decree vs. Divorce Certificate for Cabot

Cabot residents sometimes mix up two different documents: the divorce decree and the divorce certificate. They come from different agencies and serve different purposes. A divorce decree is the actual court order from the Lonoke County Circuit Court. It contains the full record of the case, including the petition, any contested issues resolved by the court, property division terms, and the signed final judgment. This is what you need for most legal purposes, like changing a name on a title or enforcing a custody agreement.

A divorce certificate is a short vital record maintained by the Arkansas Department of Health. It lists the names, the county, and the date. It does not contain case details. Certificates are available for divorces granted in Arkansas since 1923. They cost $10 each and can be ordered by mail from ADH Vital Records, 4815 West Markham Street Slot 44, Little Rock, AR 72205, or by calling (501) 661-2336. For the full certified decree, contact the Lonoke County Circuit Clerk, not the Department of Health.

Arkansas Divorce Law and Access Rights

Divorce records filed in Lonoke County are court records governed by state law. Under Arkansas FOIA § 25-19-105, court records are generally open to the public. The parties to the case have full access. Third parties can view basic case information but may not receive certified copies of every document. Sensitive data such as Social Security numbers and detailed financial account information may be redacted before release.

Records more than 100 years old are fully open to the public regardless of who is requesting them. More recent records follow standard access rules. For general research or genealogy, CourtConnect is the easiest starting point and does not require you to contact the clerk's office at all.

Note: The Circuit Clerk does not interpret statutes or give legal advice. Questions about whether you can access a specific record should go to an Arkansas attorney or legal aid organization.

Filing for Divorce as a Cabot Resident

Cabot residents who want to file for divorce must do so at the Lonoke County Circuit Clerk's office in Lonoke. Arkansas requires at least one spouse to have lived in the state for 60 days before filing. The final decree cannot be entered until one party has been a county resident for 90 days. Both requirements must be met before the court issues a final order.

Arkansas is a fault-based divorce state. You must state a recognized ground in your petition. The most common ground is general indignities, which covers ongoing conduct that makes the marriage intolerable. Other grounds include separation for 18 continuous months, adultery, cruel treatment, and felony conviction. Most uncontested divorces in Arkansas use general indignities or separation as the stated ground.

Filing fees run about $165, though the exact amount depends on the case type. If you have minor children, the case requires additional steps and a parenting education class before the court grants a final decree. Self-represented filers can get help with forms and the process at ARLawHelp.org, which has free guides and interactive forms for Arkansas divorce cases.

Nearby Cities and County Page

Cabot is in Lonoke County, east of Little Rock. Other qualifying cities near Cabot with divorce decree pages on this site include Little Rock in Pulaski County, North Little Rock also in Pulaski County, and Conway in Faulkner County. These cities each have their own Circuit Clerk offices and their own page on this site. Divorce records for Cabot are not at any of those offices. They are at the Lonoke County Circuit Clerk in Lonoke.

For the full county-level overview of divorce decree records in Lonoke County, including more detail on the court system and access procedures, see the Lonoke County divorce decree records page.