Find Logan County Deed Records

Logan County deed records are held by the Logan County Clerk and Recorder in Lincoln, Illinois. The office maintains the official archive of all property conveyances, mortgages, liens, and other land instruments filed in the county. Anyone searching deed records in Logan County for a title search, property sale, or estate matter can access the public index at the Recorder's Office at 601 Broadway St. in Lincoln during regular business hours, free of charge, without advance notice or appointment.

Logan County Clerk and Recorder

The Logan County Clerk and Recorder is at 601 Broadway St., Lincoln, IL 62656, reachable by phone at (217) 732-4148. The office is the official recordkeeper for all land instruments in Logan County. Staff accept deeds and other documents for recording, assign document numbers, enter party names into the grantor and grantee index, and archive the originals in the permanent public record. Lincoln is the county seat of Logan County and sits in central Illinois, an area with extensive agricultural land that generates a steady volume of farm and residential deed recordings each year.

The recording process at the Lincoln office is straightforward. A deed is presented at the counter, staff verify it meets Illinois recording requirements, and the document is stamped with the recording date and document number. The grantor and grantee names are entered into the index that same day. The record is immediately part of the public archive. Members of the public can then search the index by name to locate that instrument and any others associated with the same parties or parcel.

The Logan County Recorder in Lincoln handles a broad range of land instruments beyond simple deed transfers. Mortgages and mortgage releases, home equity loan documents, mechanic's liens and lien releases, judgment liens, easements, plat maps, subdivision plats, agricultural drainage district documents, UCC filings tied to real property, and DD-214 military discharge records for veterans are all filed and indexed at the Broadway St. office. Every instrument gets its own document number and appears under both party names.

The Illinois MyDec system, shown below from mytax.illinois.gov, is used to complete the PTAX-203 Real Estate Transfer Declaration online before recording most taxable deed transfers in Logan County.

After submitting the PTAX-203 through MyDec, you receive a barcode confirmation that is scanned by the Recorder's staff at the Lincoln counter when the deed is presented for recording, which streamlines the process.

Recording Requirements for Logan County Deeds

All deeds filed in Logan County must meet the requirements of 765 ILCS 5, the Illinois Conveyances Act. The document must name the grantor and grantee by full legal name, contain a complete legal description of the property, and carry a notarized acknowledgment. A blank margin of at least three inches wide by five inches tall is required in the upper right corner of the first page. Any deed that does not meet these standards is returned to the submitter and cannot be officially recorded until the defect is corrected.

The parcel identification number must appear on every deed submitted for recording in Logan County. The PIN links the deed to county assessor records and is required under Illinois law. If you need to find the PIN for a Logan County parcel before your visit to the Lincoln courthouse, the county assessor's office at the same address can assist. Having the PIN ready prevents rejection at the counter.

Taxable transfers in Logan County require the PTAX-203 Real Estate Transfer Declaration. Exempt transfers, including deeds between spouses, transfers to a living trust, or conveyances correcting a prior deed, still need to be recorded at the Lincoln courthouse; the PTAX-203 for those transfers must show the correct exemption code. The Illinois Department of Revenue publishes instructions explaining each exemption category and the corresponding code to enter on the form.

Transfer Tax and Recording Fees in Logan County

Illinois imposes a real estate transfer tax under 35 ILCS 200 at a rate of $0.50 per $500 of consideration. Logan County adds $0.25 per $500 on top. On an $80,000 property sale in Lincoln, the state tax comes to $80 and the county portion adds $40, totaling $120. Transfer tax stamps are applied at the Logan County Recorder's counter at the time of recording. The seller typically bears this cost, but the purchase agreement can assign it differently.

Recording fees in Logan County are set by 55 ILCS 5/3-5018, the state statute that governs per-page charges and related fees for county recorders in Illinois. Call (217) 732-4148 before your visit to confirm the current fee schedule in Lincoln. The per-page rate is fixed by statute and applies uniformly to deeds, mortgages, and other instruments recorded in Logan County.

Every document recorded in Logan County carries the mandatory $18 Rental Housing Support Program surcharge per instrument. The RHSP fee is separate from the per-page recording charge and applies to deeds, mortgages, liens, and nearly all other instruments filed at the Lincoln courthouse. Budget for this surcharge when planning a recording trip to the Logan County Recorder's Office.

The 55 ILCS 5/3-5018 statute page, shown below from ilga.gov, displays the full fee schedule authority for Logan County and all other Illinois county recorders.

This statute is the legal basis for the fees collected at the Logan County Recorder's Office in Lincoln, and it sets the ceiling on what the office may charge per page and per document type.

Searching Deed Records in Logan County

The public index at the Logan County Clerk and Recorder in Lincoln is open for walk-in searches during regular business hours. No appointment is needed and no fee is charged to search the index. Bring the property owner's name, the parcel address, or the parcel identification number to help narrow your search. Staff at the Lincoln office can point you to the right index but do not conduct searches on behalf of visitors. Most researchers find what they need by working through the grantee name index and pulling the associated document numbers.

Chain-of-title research in Logan County involves working backward through the grantee index from the current owner to all prior conveyances. Logan County's agricultural land base means that many parcels have been held within the same family for generations and may show relatively few recorded transfers over a long period. Farmland parcels in the outlying townships often have fewer deed recordings than residential lots in Lincoln itself, but all are indexed the same way at the Broadway St. office.

Mail requests are accepted at 601 Broadway St., Lincoln, IL 62656. Include the party names, the approximate recording period, a written description of the record sought, and a check or money order for the applicable copy fee. The Logan County Recorder mails results when the search is complete. Visiting in person at the Lincoln office is faster for most deed record requests.

eRecording in Logan County

The Illinois Electronic Recording Act at 765 ILCS 33 authorizes county recorders to accept documents submitted electronically through approved vendor platforms. When eRecording is active, title companies and lenders can submit deeds and other instruments to the Logan County Recorder in Lincoln digitally. The office processes the submission and returns a stamped electronic copy through the same vendor system without requiring a trip to the Broadway St. courthouse.

Approved eRecording vendors in Illinois include Simplifile, CSC, EPN, Hopdox, and Indecomm. Call (217) 732-4148 to find out which vendors the Logan County Recorder currently accepts and whether your document type is eligible for electronic submission. Individual buyers and sellers who are not enrolled with an eRecording service should bring the signed and notarized deed and the MyDec barcode confirmation to the Lincoln courthouse in person.

Nearby Counties

Property on or near a Logan County border may have deed records filed at a neighboring county's recorder office. Each maintains a separate land record archive.