Marshall County Deed Records Lookup

Marshall County deed records are filed with the Marshall County Clerk and Recorder at 122 N. Prairie St. in Lacon, Illinois, where all property instruments are indexed by grantor and grantee name and maintained in the permanent public archive. Whether you need to record a new deed or search ownership history for any Marshall County parcel, the Lacon office at (309) 246-6325 is where that work happens.

Marshall County Clerk and Recorder Office

The Marshall County Clerk and Recorder is at 122 N. Prairie St. in Lacon. The phone number is (309) 246-6325. The office is open Monday through Friday. Like many smaller Illinois counties, Marshall County combines its Clerk and Recorder functions so that the same office handles both county administrative records and the official deed archive for all land recorded in the county.

When a deed arrives at 122 N. Prairie St. for recording, staff check it for compliance, stamp it with the date and time, and assign a document number. The grantor's and grantee's names both go into the public index the same day. That index is searchable at no charge by any member of the public during business hours at the Lacon office. It covers every instrument ever recorded in Marshall County.

The Marshall County deed archive includes far more than simple property conveyances. The office records warranty deeds, quitclaim deeds, trustee's deeds, mortgages and their releases, mechanic's liens, judgment liens, easements, plat maps, land contract memoranda, UCC filings tied to real property, and DD-214 military discharge records. Every instrument is indexed under both party names and is retrievable by document number at 122 N. Prairie St.

The Illinois MyDec portal, shown below from mytax.illinois.gov, is the system used to submit the PTAX-203 Real Estate Transfer Declaration online before bringing taxable deeds to the Marshall County Recorder in Lacon.

After submitting the PTAX-203 through MyDec, print the barcode confirmation that the system generates. Bring that printout along with the signed deed to 122 N. Prairie St. The Marshall County Recorder will verify the MyDec confirmation before accepting the instrument for recording in Lacon.

How to Record a Deed in Marshall County

The Illinois Conveyances Act at 765 ILCS 5 sets the statewide recording standards that apply in Marshall County. The deed must name the grantor and the grantee. It needs a full legal description of the property being transferred. The grantor's signature must be acknowledged before a notary public. Any deed missing one of those three elements will be returned at the Lacon counter without recording.

Marshall County deeds must include the parcel identification number. The PIN connects the instrument to the correct parcel in the county assessor's records and is required for proper indexing in Lacon. Place the PIN near the top of the document or next to the legal description. If you are unsure of the correct PIN, confirm with the Marshall County assessor in Lacon before submitting the deed at 122 N. Prairie St.

A clear 3-inch by 5-inch space must be left open in the upper right corner of the first page. That space is reserved for the Recorder's official stamp, which captures the recording date, document number, and instrument type. Nothing can appear in that corner before the stamp. Any text, seal, or watermark placed there means the deed is returned for correction before it can be recorded in Marshall County.

Most taxable property sales in Marshall County need the PTAX-203 at recording. Complete it online through the MyDec portal at mytax.illinois.gov before coming to Lacon. Print the barcode confirmation and bring it with the deed. Transfers between spouses, conveyances to living trusts, and certain court-ordered transfers often qualify for exemptions. Even exempt transfers need a PTAX-203 with the exemption code filled in properly.

Recording Fees and Transfer Taxes

Illinois collects a real estate transfer tax on most deed recordings under 35 ILCS 200. The state rate is $0.50 per $500 of sale price or any part of $500. Marshall County adds $0.25 per $500 at the county level. On a $65,000 sale in Lacon, the state tax is $65 and the county portion is $32.50, for a combined total of $97.50. Revenue stamps showing the taxes paid are affixed to the deed when it is recorded at 122 N. Prairie St.

Per-page recording fees are governed by 55 ILCS 5/3-5018. That statute sets maximum amounts that county recorders in Illinois can charge per page. Contact the Lacon office at (309) 246-6325 to get the current Marshall County fee schedule before submitting any instruments for recording. Calling ahead saves time if you need to know the exact total cost before your trip to 122 N. Prairie St.

Every instrument recorded in Marshall County carries a flat $18 RHSP surcharge per document. The Rental Housing Support Program fee is fixed. It does not change based on the page count, the value of the property, or the type of instrument. Budget the $18 for each deed or other instrument you file at the Lacon office, on top of all other recording costs.

Veterans can record DD-214 military discharge papers at the Marshall County Clerk and Recorder at no charge. Certified copies of a filed DD-214 are available to eligible veterans and surviving family members. Call (309) 246-6325 to confirm the current policy and any eligibility requirements before bringing discharge documents to Lacon.

Searching Marshall County Property Records

The public grantor and grantee index at 122 N. Prairie St. is free to search in person during regular office hours in Lacon. Bring the full legal name of the owner you are researching. A property address or PIN helps narrow things down faster. Staff at the Marshall County office will orient you to the index but do not do the searching for you. The index is organized by name and then by recording date within each name section.

To trace ownership for a Marshall County parcel, work through the grantee index to find when each owner took title and then the grantor index to find when each owner conveyed the property. Move through each prior owner one at a time to build the full chain of title going back as far as the Marshall County records reach. Each index entry includes a document number you can use to pull a copy of the full recorded instrument from the Lacon archive.

The Illinois Legal Aid recording guide at illinoislegalaid.org explains the recording process in plain language and is a useful resource for anyone who has not dealt with an Illinois county recorder before. It covers what to bring, how the index works, and what happens if a document is rejected at the counter in a county office like the one in Lacon.

Copies of recorded instruments are priced per page under the 55 ILCS 5/3-5018 schedule. Certified copies cost more per page and are required for court filings and some title insurance purposes. Request copies in person at 122 N. Prairie St. or by mail to 122 N. Prairie St., Lacon, IL 61540. Include party names, approximate recording years, any document numbers you have, and a check for the estimated copy fee.

Illinois is a race-notice state. The first party to record a deed who had no knowledge of a prior unrecorded transfer holds the stronger title. Record Marshall County deeds quickly after any closing. Every day between the closing and the recording in Lacon is a window of exposure. Get the deed to 122 N. Prairie St. as soon as the ink is dry to protect the buyer's title position.

eRecording Marshall County Deeds

The Illinois Electronic Recording Act at 765 ILCS 33 allows Illinois county recorders to accept documents submitted digitally through approved vendor platforms. When eRecording is active in Marshall County, title companies and lenders can use systems like Simplifile, CSC, EPN, Hopdox, or Indecomm to submit deed packages online, have them processed at the Lacon office, and receive stamped copies electronically without traveling to 122 N. Prairie St.

Call (309) 246-6325 to ask whether eRecording is currently active at the Marshall County Clerk and Recorder and which vendor platforms are accepted in Lacon. Individual buyers and sellers who are not enrolled with an eRecording vendor bring their signed, notarized deed and the printed MyDec barcode confirmation to the counter at 122 N. Prairie St. That in-person process is the standard path for one-time recordings in Marshall County and requires no advance account setup with any vendor.

The Marshall County Deed Archive

The permanent archive at the Marshall County Recorder's office in Lacon holds all instruments ever recorded in the county. The collection covers warranty deeds, quitclaim deeds, trustee's deeds, sheriff's deeds from tax and foreclosure sales, land contract memoranda, mortgages and mortgage releases, mechanic's liens, lien releases, judgment liens, easements, right-of-way documents, subdivision plat maps, survey records, UCC financing statements tied to real property, and DD-214 military discharge records. Every instrument has a document number and an entry in the grantor-grantee index at 122 N. Prairie St.

Sale price data from PTAX-203 forms filed with Marshall County deed recordings goes directly to the county assessor in Lacon. The assessor uses that data to calibrate assessed values for property tax purposes. Revenue stamps on older recorded deeds carry sale price information that is useful for anyone tracing property values over time in Marshall County. That historical data is in the public archive at 122 N. Prairie St. and is accessible to any member of the public who visits the Lacon office during business hours or submits a mail-in copy request.

Nearby Counties

Property near a Marshall County boundary may have deed records on file at a neighboring county recorder. Each office below maintains its own separate archive for all land instruments recorded within its jurisdiction.