Arkansas Code Annotated

Ark. Code Ann. § 20-18-401 (2026)

Birth registration generally

✓ current as of May 2026

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A certificate of birth for each live birth which occurs in this state shall be filed with the Division of Vital Records of the Department of Health, or as otherwise directed by the State Registrar of Vital Records, within ten (10) days after the birth and shall be registered if it has been completed and filed in accordance with this section.
When a birth occurs in an institution or en route thereto, the person in charge of the institution or his or her authorized designee shall obtain the personal data, prepare the certificate, certify that the child was born alive at the place, time, and date stated on the certificate either by signature or in an approved electronic process, and file the certificate as directed in subsection (a) of this section. The physician or other person in attendance shall provide the medical information required by the certificate within seventy-two (72) hours after the birth.
When a birth occurs outside an institution:
1. The certificate shall be prepared and filed by one (1) of the following in the indicated order of priority:
  1. The physician in attendance at or immediately after the birth, or in the absence of such a person;
  2. Any other person in attendance at or immediately after the birth, or in the absence of such a person; or
  3. The father, the mother, or in the absence of the father and the inability of the mother, the person in charge of the premises where the birth occurred; and
2. The division shall determine what evidence may be required to establish the fact of birth.
When a birth occurs on a moving conveyance within the United States and the child is first removed from the conveyance in this state, the birth shall be registered in this state and the place where it is first removed shall be considered the place of birth. When a birth occurs on a moving conveyance while in international waters or air space or in a foreign country or its air space and the child is first removed from the conveyance in this state, the birth shall be registered in this state, but the certificate shall show the actual place of birth insofar as can be determined.
For the purposes of birth registration, the mother is deemed to be the woman who gives birth to the child, unless otherwise provided by state law or determined by a court of competent jurisdiction prior to the filing of the birth certificate. The information about the father shall be entered as provided in subsection (f) of this section.
1. If the mother was married at the time of either conception or birth or between conception and birth the name of the husband shall be entered on the certificate as the father of the child, unless:
  1. Paternity has been determined otherwise by a court of competent jurisdiction; or
  2. The mother executes an affidavit attesting that the husband is not the father and that the putative father is the father, and the putative father executes an affidavit attesting that he is the father and the husband executes an affidavit attesting that he is not the father. Affidavits may be joint or individual or a combination thereof, and each signature shall be individually notarized. In such event, the putative father shall be shown as the father on the certificate and the parents may give the child any surname they choose.
2. If the mother was not married at the time of either conception or birth or between conception and birth, the name of the father shall not be entered on the certificate of birth without an affidavit of paternity signed by the mother and the person to be named as the father. The parents may give the child any surname they choose.
3. In any case in which paternity of a child is determined by a court of competent jurisdiction, the name of the father and surname of the child shall be entered on the certificate of birth in accordance with the finding and order of the court.
4. If the father is not named on the certificate of birth, no other information about the father shall be entered on the certificate.
Either of the parents of the child or other informant shall verify by signature or electronic process the accuracy of the personal data to be entered on the certificate in time to permit the filing of the certificate within the ten (10) days prescribed in this section.
Certificates of birth filed after ten (10) days but within one (1) year from the date of birth shall be registered on the standard form of live birth certificate in the manner prescribed in this section. Such certificates shall not be marked “Delayed”. The state registrar may require additional evidence in support of the facts of birth.

History. Acts 1981, No. 120, § 7; A.S.A. 1947, § 82-507; Acts 1989, No. 396, § 2; 1995, No. 1254, § 16.

Research References

ALR.

Brad Aldridge, Comment: A Constellation of Benefits and a Universe of Equal Protection: The Extension of the Right to Marry Under Pavan v. Smith, 72 Ark. L. Rev. 245 (2019).

U. Ark. Little Rock L.J.

Survey, Family Law, 12 U. Ark. Little Rock L.J. 631.

Case Notes

Constitutionality.

Provision of Arkansas law which required the name of a mother's male spouse to appear on a child's birth certificate, but did not include the female spouse of a woman who gave birth in the State, violated Obergefell v. Hodges, 135 S. Ct. 2584, 192 L. Ed. 2d 609 (2015), which provided same-sex couples the same constellation of benefits that states linked to marriage. Pavan v. Smith, 137 S. Ct. 2075, 198 L. Ed. 2d 636 (2017).

Circuit court erred in ruling that subsections (e) and (f) of this section were unconstitutional based on Obergefell v. Hodges, 135 S. Ct. 2584, 192 L. Ed. 2d 609 (2015), which concerned the constitutionality of same-sex marriage, as that decision did not address Arkansas's statutory framework regarding birth certificates, nor did this section impermissibly intertwine the concepts of “parent” with the rights and presumptions of marriage by using the words “husband” and “wife.” Smith v. Pavan, 2016 Ark. 437, 505 S.W.3d 169 (2016), rev'd, 137 S. Ct. 2075, 198 L. Ed. 2d 636 (2017).

Subsections (e) and (f) of this section do not run afoul of Obergefell v. Hodges, 135 S. Ct. 2584, 192 L. Ed. 2d 609 (2015). Smith v. Pavan, 2016 Ark. 437, 505 S.W.3d 169 (2016), rev'd, 137 S. Ct. 2075, 198 L. Ed. 2d 636 (2017).

Circuit court erred in finding that subsections (e) and (f) of this section and § 20-18-406(a)(2) facially violated the appellees' rights to due process. The purpose of the statutes is to truthfully record the nexus of the biological mother and the biological father to the child. On the record presented, the Supreme Court of Arkansas could not say that naming the nonbiological spouse on the birth certificate of the child is an interest of the person so fundamental that the State must accord the interest its respect under either statute. Smith v. Pavan, 2016 Ark. 437, 505 S.W.3d 169 (2016), rev'd, 137 S. Ct. 2075, 198 L. Ed. 2d 636 (2017).

Circuit court erred in finding that subsections (e) and (f) of this section and § 20-18-406(a)(2) facially violated the appellees' rights to equal protection. The affidavit of the State Registrar of Vital Records established that the challenged classification serves an important governmental objective—tracing public-health trends and providing critical assistance to an individual's identification of personal health issues and genetic conditions—and that the means employed—requiring the mother and father on the birth certificate to be biologically related to the child—are substantially related to the achievement of those objectives. Smith v. Pavan, 2016 Ark. 437, 505 S.W.3d 169 (2016), rev'd, 137 S. Ct. 2075, 198 L. Ed. 2d 636 (2017).

Names of Father and Child.

Subdivision (f)(3) merely states that the full name of the father and the surname of the child shall be entered on the birth certificate “in accordance with the finding and order of the court”; nothing in the language suggests the two must be the same. McCullough v. Henderson, 304 Ark. 689, 804 S.W.2d 368 (1991).

Subdivision (f)(3) does not direct that the surname of the child become that of the father. Reaves v. Herman, 309 Ark. 370, 830 S.W.2d 860 (1992).

A finding of paternity under this section does not mean that the surname of the child should necessarily be that of the father. Mathews v. Oglesby, 59 Ark. App. 127, 952 S.W.2d 684 (1997).

Cited: Huffman v. Fisher, 63 Ark. App. 174, 976 S.W.2d 401 (1998); Carter v. Reddell, 75 Ark. App. 8, 52 S.W.3d 506 (2001).

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 17 cases, 1991–2017 · leading case: Smith v. Pavan, 2016 Ark. 437 (Ark. 2016).

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Smith v. Pavan, 2016 Ark. 437 (Ark. 2016). · cites it 42× “The first, Arkansas Code Annotated section 20-18-401 provides in part as follows: (e) For the purposes of birth registration, the mother is deemed to be the woman who gives birth to the child, unless otherwise provided by state law or determined by a court of competent…”

Huffman v. Fisher, 987 S.W.2d 269 (Ark. 1999). · cites it 12× “The chancellor considered Ark. Code Ann. § 20-18-401 (e)(3) (Supp. 1989), which read: “In any case in which paternity of a child is determined by a court of competent jurisdiction, the name of the father and surname of the child shall be entered on the certificate of birth in…”

Linder v. Linder, 72 S.W.3d 841 (Ark. 2002). · cites it 4× “We merely employed factors for the trial court to consider in determining the best interest of the child when a name change was the issue under Ark.Code Ann. § 20-18-401 (Repl. 2000). For this court to completely overhaul our GPVA would be a significant task.”

Reaves v. Herman, 830 S.W.2d 860 (Ark. 1992). · cites it 5× “The appellant first argues that pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 20-18-401 (e)(l) (1987) the court was without discretion to apply any surname other than Reaves, however, the appellant quotes the statute as it read prior to a 1989 amendment and the amended statute does not apply to…”

Smith v. Pavan, 2015 Ark. 474 (Ark. 2015). · cites it 8× “On December 1, 2015, the circuit court entered both an order and a memorandum opinion.”

McCullough v. Henderson, 804 S.W.2d 368 (Ark. 1991). · cites it 4× “Relying on Ark. Code Ann. § 20-18-401 (1987), the chancellor held he was without discretion in the matter and ordered the name change.”

Rice v. Merkich, 34 So. 3d 555 (Miss. 2010). · cites it 2× “" Ark.Code Ann. § 20-18-401(e)(3) (Rev. 2005).”

Carter v. Reddell, 52 S.W.3d 506 (Ark. Ct. App. 2001). · cites it 2× “However, appellant admitted that at that time, appellee also asked when Merritt’s last name would be changed to Reddell and she told him that Merritt’s last name would be Loudon.”

Smith v. Pavan, 2016 Ark. 437 (Ark. 2016). · cites it 18× “The circuit court’s opinion suggests that it based its analysis of the constitutionality of the birth-certificate statutes at issue here entirely on the holding of Obergefell.”

Mathews v. Oglesby, 952 S.W.2d 684 (Ark. Ct. App. 1997). “Arkansas Code Annotated § 20-18-401(^(3) (Supp. 1995) provides that, when the paternity of a child is determined by a court of competent jurisdiction, the name of the father and the surname of the child shall be entered on the birth certificate in accordance with the finding and…”

Huffman v. Fisher, 976 S.W.2d 401 (Ark. Ct. App. 1998). · cites it 4× “Arkansas Code Annotated section 20-18-401 (f) (Supp. 1997) provides: (2) If the mother was not married at the time of either conception or birth or between conception and birth, the name of the father shall not be entered on the certificate of birth without an affidavit of…”

Ellis v. Bennett, 10 S.W.3d 922 (Ark. Ct. App. 2000). “the person responsible under § 20-18-401 for providing birth registration information shall: Provide an opportunity for the child’s mother and natural father to complete an affidavit acknowledging paternity.”

Show all 17 citing cases →

— Ark. Code Ann. § 20-18-401(e) — 3 cases

Smith v. Pavan, 2016 Ark. 437 (Ark. 2016). “The first, Arkansas Code Annotated section 20-18-401 provides in part as follows: (e) For the purposes of birth registration, the mother is deemed to be the woman who gives birth to the child, unless otherwise provided by state law or determined by a court of competent…”

Smith v. Pavan, 2016 Ark. 437 (Ark. 2016). “The circuit court’s opinion suggests that it based its analysis of the constitutionality of the birth-certificate statutes at issue here entirely on the holding of Obergefell.”

Smith v. Pavan, 2017 Ark. 284 (Ark. 2017).

— Ark. Code Ann. § 20-18-401(e)(3) — 2 cases

Huffman v. Fisher, 987 S.W.2d 269 (Ark. 1999). “The chancellor considered Ark. Code Ann. § 20-18-401 (e)(3) (Supp. 1989), which read: “In any case in which paternity of a child is determined by a court of competent jurisdiction, the name of the father and surname of the child shall be entered on the certificate of birth in…”

Rice v. Merkich, 34 So. 3d 555 (Miss. 2010). “" Ark.Code Ann. § 20-18-401(e)(3) (Rev. 2005).”

— Ark. Code Ann. § 20-18-401(f) — 4 cases

Carter v. Reddell, 52 S.W.3d 506 (Ark. Ct. App. 2001). “However, appellant admitted that at that time, appellee also asked when Merritt’s last name would be changed to Reddell and she told him that Merritt’s last name would be Loudon.”

Huffman v. Fisher, 976 S.W.2d 401 (Ark. Ct. App. 1998). “Arkansas Code Annotated section 20-18-401 (f) (Supp. 1997) provides: (2) If the mother was not married at the time of either conception or birth or between conception and birth, the name of the father shall not be entered on the certificate of birth without an affidavit of…”

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