Bowie County Death Index

Bowie County death records are kept at the County Clerk's office in New Boston, Texas. The Bowie County death index covers records from 1903, and you can request certified death certificates through the clerk's office in person or by mail, or through the Texas state vital records ordering system.

Bowie County Clerk Vital Records

The Bowie County Clerk in New Boston is the local registrar for vital records in the county. The office is at the Bowie County Courthouse in New Boston, Texas. Phone: 903-628-6740. Hours are 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM Monday through Friday. The clerk handles death certificates, marriage licenses, land records, and probate filings.

Bowie County is notable for having two county seats. New Boston serves as the main county seat, while Boston is a secondary one. The clerk's office is in New Boston. Bowie County was created in 1840 from Red River County, making it one of the older counties in northeast Texas. A courthouse fire in 1889 destroyed some early records, but death records from 1903 under the mandatory statewide registration system are intact. Records from 1889 to 1903 that were destroyed in the fire would not include official death certificates in any case, since the statewide system did not begin until 1903.

Bowie County sits in the Texarkana metropolitan area, which straddles the Texas-Arkansas state line. Deaths that occurred in the Arkansas side of Texarkana are registered in Arkansas, not in Texas or Bowie County. If you are searching for a record from the Texarkana area, be sure you know which state the event occurred in before submitting a request.

Fees follow the state standard: $21.00 for the first certified copy and $4.00 for each additional copy. Bring valid photo ID. Search fees are not refunded if no record is found.

The Bowie County government website has contact details for the County Clerk in New Boston and general information about records and services available through the office.

Confirm current hours and location before visiting the Bowie County Courthouse, as some services may be subject to schedule changes.

How to Get Bowie County Death Certificates

In-person requests at the Bowie County Courthouse in New Boston are the quickest method. Bring your photo ID and the fee. Staff will search the death index by name and date and issue a certified copy if the record is found.

Mail requests are accepted. Fill out the VS-142 Death Certificate Application from DSHS, attach a copy of your photo ID, and include a check or money order payable to Bowie County Clerk. Send the complete packet to the clerk's office at the Bowie County Courthouse, New Boston, TX 75570. Allow extra time for mail delivery and processing.

Online orders through the Texas vital records portal go through DSHS in Austin. The state fee is $20.00 for the first copy and $3.00 for additional copies. Average processing is 20 to 25 business days. For people in the Texarkana area or elsewhere who cannot easily get to New Boston, the online state system is a practical option.

Access Rules for Bowie County Death Records

Under Texas Government Code Section 552.115, death records are restricted for 25 years from the date of death. Only immediate family members or legal representatives can get certified copies during that period. After 25 years, records are public. All requesters need valid government-issued photo ID.

The DSHS acceptable ID list covers what forms the clerk accepts. A driver's license, state ID, US passport, or military ID are all acceptable. Providing false information to obtain a vital record is a felony under Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 195, with penalties of 2 to 10 years in prison and fines up to $10,000.

Bowie County Death Index for Historical Research

Bowie County death records from 1903 are open to genealogy researchers for events that occurred 25 or more years ago. The county's position in the Texarkana metro area and northeast Texas gives the records a distinct character, with families tied to both Texas and Arkansas roots. The death index covers more than a century of Bowie County residents.

Free online resources include the FamilySearch Texas Death Index 1903-2000 and the Ancestry Texas Death Index. Both provide name, county, date, and certificate number for each entry and are useful for narrowing down a specific record before requesting a certified copy. The FamilySearch Bowie County genealogy page notes that marriage records go back to 1840 and land records from the same year, which provides a deep research base for this older northeast Texas county.

The Texas State Library and Archives holds statewide microfilmed death indexes from 1903 to 1973 and is open to the public in Austin. For researchers focused on the Texarkana area, county records on the Arkansas side are maintained separately by the Arkansas Department of Health.

The Texas DSHS Vital Statistics office in Austin holds state copies of all Bowie County death records and can issue certified copies when local records are unavailable.

State records are a reliable backup source for any Bowie County death index entry that is not available at the county clerk's office in New Boston.

Cities in Bowie County

Bowie County includes the Texas side of Texarkana as well as New Boston. Texarkana, Texas is the largest city in the county, but its population does not qualify it above the threshold for a separate city page. All death records for events in Bowie County are handled by the County Clerk in New Boston.

Communities in Bowie County include Texarkana, New Boston, Hooks, and Nash. Deaths in the Texas side of Texarkana are registered in Bowie County. Deaths in the Arkansas side are registered in Arkansas.

Nearby Counties

These Texas counties border Bowie County. Bowie County also borders Miller County, Arkansas, on the east side of the state line.

Red River County • Morris County • Cass County • Titus County