Find Deed Records in Perry County

Perry County deed records are filed and maintained by the Perry County Clerk and Recorder in Pinckneyville, Illinois. The office serves as the county's official repository for all recorded property instruments, from warranty deeds and quitclaim deeds to mortgages, liens, and easements. Searching Perry County deed records is how buyers, sellers, attorneys, and title researchers confirm property ownership and trace the history of land in southern Illinois.

Perry County Clerk and Recorder Office

The Perry County Clerk and Recorder is located at 3764 State Route 13/127 in Pinckneyville. The office accepts and indexes property instruments for all of Perry County. Warranty deeds, quitclaim deeds, trustee's deeds, special warranty deeds, mortgages, mortgage satisfactions, mechanic's liens, judgment liens, easements, and plat maps all pass through this office. Each accepted document gets a recording timestamp and a unique document number that places it permanently in the county's index.

The indexing system at the Pinckneyville office uses both a grantor index and a grantee index. The grantor index lists every document by the name of the party who transferred an interest in property. The grantee index lists documents by the name of the party who received the interest. Title researchers use both indexes to trace ownership from an early period forward to the present, or to verify that a specific transaction appears in the record. Staff can direct you to the right index volume or terminal, but they do not conduct searches for the public.

Perry County has a mix of rural farmland, timber parcels, and residential lots, particularly around Pinckneyville and Du Quoin. Coal mining history in this part of southern Illinois means older deed records may include mineral rights conveyances and severance deeds that separated surface rights from underground mineral interests. If you are researching property with a mining history, the recorder's index may show multiple layers of ownership affecting the same parcel.

The Illinois MyDec transfer portal, shown below from mytax.illinois.gov, is where PTAX-203 declarations for Perry County sales are completed online before the deed is brought to the Pinckneyville office.

Using MyDec before your appointment at the Perry County Courthouse means transfer tax calculations and barcode generation are handled in advance. The recorder's staff scan the barcode at the counter, which cuts down on processing time at the window.

Recording Deeds in Perry County

Illinois deeds must satisfy the requirements of 765 ILCS 5, the Conveyances Act. A deed filed in Pinckneyville needs a named grantor, a named grantee, a full legal description of the property, and a notarized acknowledgment. If any element is missing or incomplete, the Recorder will reject the document and return it. Illinois recorders do not accept defective deeds on the assumption they will be corrected later.

Perry County deed legal descriptions follow the Public Land Survey System. The county is laid out in townships and ranges, with each township divided into sections. A proper legal description in Perry County specifies the section, township, range, and any subdivision of that section. For smaller parcels that have been subdivided over time, the description may reference a recorded plat. Whatever form the description takes, it must match what the county assessor's records show for that parcel's PIN.

The parcel identification number (PIN) must appear on the face of every deed submitted for recording in Perry County. The PIN connects the deed to the tax records maintained by the Perry County Assessor. If you do not have the PIN, the assessor's office in Pinckneyville can look it up from the property address or a prior deed description. Do not submit a deed without the PIN. It will not be accepted.

Document formatting also matters. The first page of any deed submitted in Perry County must have a blank 3-inch by 5-inch area in the upper right corner for the recorder's official stamp. Type must be legible and of adequate size for scanning. These are standard Illinois document requirements under 55 ILCS 5/3-5018, which governs what county recorders can and cannot accept.

Transfer Taxes and Recording Fees in Perry County

Real estate transfer taxes in Illinois are governed by 35 ILCS 200. The state tax rate is $0.50 for every $500 of sale price. Perry County charges an additional $0.25 per $500. On a $90,000 sale in Perry County, that works out to $90 in state tax and $45 in county tax, totaling $135. Transfer tax stamps go on the deed at the recorder's window. Under most Illinois purchase contracts, the seller pays the transfer taxes, though parties can agree otherwise.

The Rental Housing Support Program surcharge, set at $18 per document recorded, applies on top of the per-page recording fees. Call (618) 357-5116 for the current recording fee schedule before filing. Fee amounts can change by county ordinance, and small county offices do not always update their public-facing information immediately. Knowing what you owe avoids delays at the counter.

Veterans recording a DD-214 in Perry County typically pay no recording fee for that document. The clerk will confirm eligibility when the document is presented. This fee waiver applies to DD-214 military discharge records only. Other documents submitted at the same time are charged at the standard rate.

Exempt transfers, such as gifts, court-ordered conveyances, or transfers between certain family members, still require a PTAX-203 form with the appropriate exemption code noted. The exemption does not mean you skip the form. It means you fill it out and select the correct exemption. The PTAX-203 instructions list all valid exemption codes and when each applies.

Searching Perry County Deed Records

The starting point for any Perry County deed search is the grantor-grantee index at the Clerk and Recorder's office. The index is organized by name, so you bring the name of a prior owner or a current owner and trace the transactions they were party to. Title examiners typically search backward in time, starting from the current owner and tracing each link in the chain back at least 40 years. Each grantor in one deed should appear as a grantee in the prior deed, and gaps in that chain are title problems.

Remote access to Perry County deed records depends on what the county has set up. Some Illinois counties have contracted with online search vendors. Others require in-person or mail requests. Call (618) 357-5116 or check the Perry County official website to find out what is currently available for remote searching. Third-party data sites carry aggregated property data but may not be current and charge fees for access.

If you are searching for older mineral rights records in Perry County, the grantor-grantee index covers those as well. A deed that conveyed only subsurface mineral rights while retaining surface ownership creates a separate ownership interest. Those instruments appear in the same index as standard surface conveyances. This is something to watch for in Perry County, where coal mining has been historically significant.

The Perry County Circuit Court is the place for foreclosure cases and probate proceedings. Executor's deeds and sheriff's deeds arising out of those proceedings get recorded with the Clerk and Recorder, but the underlying court file is in the circuit court. A thorough title search in Perry County checks both the recorder's index and circuit court records.

Electronic Recording and Remote Filing

Illinois law at 55 ILCS 5/3-5018, shown below, sets out what county recorders in Illinois are authorized to do, including accepting electronically submitted documents when the county opts in.

The statute framework lets Perry County accept eRecording through platforms like Simplifile, CSC, EPN, Hopdox, or Indecomm if the county has enabled that option. Title companies and attorneys who file regularly in Perry County will know the current status. Call the office to confirm before setting up an eRecording account for Perry County filings.

For those who cannot visit Pinckneyville in person, mail submission is generally possible. Send the deed, the PTAX-203 form, a check for the correct fees, and a prepaid return envelope. Call the office first to confirm the current process and fee total. Returned mail submissions that have wrong fees or missing documents will come back unprocessed, which adds days to the timeline.

Related Records and Resources

Mortgage instruments in Perry County are recorded alongside deeds in the Clerk and Recorder's office. Releases and satisfactions of mortgage are recorded when loans are paid off. A title search that turns up a mortgage but no release needs further investigation before closing. The lender may need to be contacted to provide a release if one was not timely recorded after payoff.

The Perry County Assessor maintains the parcel records that link to recorded deeds. The assessor updates ownership data when a new deed comes in, but there can be a short lag. Do not rely on the assessor's records alone to determine current ownership. The recorder's index is the authoritative source for what has been legally filed and when. The assessor's data is useful for PIN lookups, property descriptions, and tax status.

For legal help with deed recording or property questions in Perry County, the Illinois Legal Aid guide on recording documents is a free resource that explains the general process for any Illinois county. For specific legal advice, the Perry County Bar Association or a local real estate attorney in Pinckneyville can assist with deed preparation, title questions, and recording problems.