Edgar County Deed Records

Edgar County deed records are filed and maintained at the Edgar County Clerk and Recorder office in Paris, Illinois. The office keeps the official index of all recorded deeds, mortgages, liens, easements, and related land instruments for the county. Anyone who needs to search deed records in Edgar County, trace a chain of title, or record a new property transfer will work through the Paris office at 115 W. Court St. during regular business hours. This page covers how the office works, what you need to record a deed, and what to expect when searching the Edgar County deed record archive.

Edgar County Clerk and Recorder Office

The Edgar County Clerk and Recorder is at 115 W. Court St. in Paris, Illinois 61944. The phone number is (217) 466-7433. Office hours run Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM. In Edgar County, the clerk and recorder functions are handled by one elected official. That means the same Paris office that manages voter registration and vital records also holds the full deed record archive for the county.

When a deed arrives at 115 W. Court St., staff review it before recording. They check that the document names the grantor and grantee clearly, carries a legal description of the property, includes the parcel identification number, and has a notarized acknowledgment. Documents that meet all requirements under 765 ILCS 5 get a document number, a date stamp, and an entry in the index. That entry is the permanent Edgar County deed record for that instrument from that point forward.

Illinois Legal Aid Online, shown below from illinoislegalaid.org, offers a plain-language guide to recording documents at an Illinois county recorder's office. It is useful for individuals in Paris who are handling a deed without a title company or attorney.

The guide explains what the Edgar County Recorder checks when reviewing a submitted deed, what happens when a document does not meet requirements, and how to correct and resubmit a deed in Paris.

Edgar County sits in east-central Illinois near the Indiana border. The county is largely agricultural, with farmland making up most of the recorded parcels in the deed archive. Residential property activity in Paris accounts for a share of deed recordings, while farm sales, easement grants, and agricultural lease-related documents appear regularly in the Edgar County recorder's index.

Recording Deed Documents in Edgar County

To record a deed in Edgar County, bring the original signed and notarized document to 115 W. Court St. in Paris. The deed must satisfy the requirements of 765 ILCS 5. The document needs a named grantor and grantee, a legal description matching the parcel, the PIN, and a notarized acknowledgment. Leave a blank 3-inch by 5-inch space in the upper right corner of the first page so the recorder can apply the document stamp.

Most Edgar County property sales also need a completed PTAX-203 Real Estate Transfer Declaration. The form records the sale price, identifies the parties, and describes the transaction type for Illinois Department of Revenue tracking. Instructions for filling out the PTAX-203 are on the IDOR's PTAX-203 instructions page. Completing the declaration through the Illinois MyDec portal at mytax.illinois.gov before arriving at the Paris office is the most efficient approach. MyDec lets you finish the transfer declaration online and print or submit it ahead of your visit.

Certain transfers in Edgar County are exempt from the real estate transfer tax. Conveyances between family members, deeds into revocable trusts, and other specifically listed transactions under 35 ILCS 200 may qualify. Even exempt transfers still need a PTAX-203 with the correct exemption code filled in. Submitting the form with the wrong code can hold the deed at the Paris counter until the issue is resolved, which delays the official recording date.

Transfer Tax and Recording Fees in Edgar County

Illinois charges a state real estate transfer tax of $0.50 per $500 of consideration under 35 ILCS 200. Edgar County adds $0.25 per $500 on top of that. For a $75,000 farm parcel in Edgar County, the state tax comes to $75 and the county portion is $37.50, making the combined transfer tax $112.50. Transfer tax stamps are applied to the deed at the time of recording in Paris.

Recording fees in Edgar County follow the framework set by 55 ILCS 5/3-5018. That statute establishes the structure for county recorder fees across Illinois. Call (217) 466-7433 to confirm the current per-page recording fee and any other charges that apply to your document type before making the trip to Paris.

An $18 RHSP surcharge applies to every recorded instrument in Edgar County. The Rental Housing Support Program fee is collected at recording and is separate from the per-page fee and transfer taxes. It applies to all deeds, mortgages, and liens. There is no routine exemption from the RHSP surcharge for standard deed recordings.

DD-214 military discharge documents can typically be recorded at the Edgar County Clerk and Recorder in Paris at no charge. Veterans who want their discharge record preserved in the county archive as a backup against loss can bring the original or a certified copy to 115 W. Court St. for free recording.

Searching Edgar County Deed Records

The public grantor and grantee index at the Edgar County Clerk and Recorder in Paris is open to walk-in visitors during business hours. Searching by party name brings up all deed transactions where that person or entity appears in the Edgar County deed record. Bring the full legal name of the property owner, the property address, or the parcel identification number. Staff direct you to the index but do not conduct searches on behalf of members of the public.

The Illinois MyDec portal, shown below from mytax.illinois.gov, is the state's online system for completing real estate transfer declarations. While it is primarily a filing tool, understanding how it works helps when reviewing recent deed transfers in the Edgar County archive, since every taxable transfer in Paris has a corresponding PTAX-203 on file.

The MyDec system shows how transfer data is linked to deed recordings in Illinois, which matters when you are searching the Edgar County index for a recent property sale and want to understand what supporting paperwork should accompany the deed entry in Paris.

For mail requests, write to Edgar County Clerk and Recorder, 115 W. Court St., Paris, IL 61944. Include the names to search, the approximate time period, a property description, and payment for applicable copy fees. Processing by mail takes longer than in-person searching, so plan ahead if you need Edgar County deed records for a transaction with a set closing date.

Title professionals and lenders who work Edgar County transactions regularly may want to ask about remote access options when calling (217) 466-7433. The Recorder can describe what is currently available for searching the Edgar County deed record from outside Paris.

eRecording in Edgar County

The Illinois Electronic Recording Act, found at 765 ILCS 33, allows county recorders to accept documents submitted through approved electronic recording vendors. eRecording lets title companies and lenders send Edgar County deeds digitally to the Paris office and receive confirmed, stamped copies back without a courier trip. Approved vendors operating in Illinois include Simplifile, CSC, EPN, Hopdox, and Indecomm.

Whether eRecording is active at the Edgar County Clerk and Recorder depends on what the office has set up. Call (217) 466-7433 to confirm. For individual buyers or sellers recording a single deed in Paris, walking the document in to 115 W. Court St. is direct and requires no vendor account. eRecording is most useful to title companies handling many Edgar County closings at once.

Edgar County Deed Record Archive

The archive at the Edgar County Clerk and Recorder in Paris holds the full body of recorded land instruments for the county. That includes warranty deeds, quitclaim deeds, trustee's deeds, sheriff's deeds from court sales, mortgages and mortgage releases, mechanic's liens and their releases, easements, plat maps, subdivision surveys, and judgment liens. DD-214 military discharge records are also filed here. Each document gets a unique number and is indexed by both grantor and grantee name so it can be pulled from the Paris archive.

Tracing title to an Edgar County parcel means working through the grantor-grantee index from the current owner back through each prior conveyance. For agricultural land in Edgar County's rural townships, title chains can run back many generations in the Paris archive. For residential properties in and around Paris, the chain typically reflects more recent activity. Public access to the index is free during business hours, and certified copy requests carry a per-page fee set under 55 ILCS 5/3-5018.

Nearby Counties

Properties near an Edgar County boundary may have deed records filed in an adjacent county's recorder office. Each county keeps its own separate deed archive.