Adams County, IL Property Records: Search Deeds, Owners, Tax Records, and Maps

Information on Adams County's 38,000 property parcels is available through three offices: the Supervisor of Assessments, the Recorder of Deeds, and the Treasurer. Typical property listings in the county remain on the market for between 60 and 90 days. Quincy and the Mississippi River towns hold most of the listed stock.

The county's housing stock is dominated by single-family detached homes built between 1880 and 1980. Many of them are located in Quincy (the largest city and county seat) and the smaller communities of Camp Point, Mendon, and Payson. Healthcare, manufacturing, and John Wood Community College are the largest employers in the county.

Recent records reveal the underlying factors influencing the local real estate market, with a median home value of {median_home_value} and median rent of {median_rent}, alongside a median household income of {median_household_income} and a median real estate tax rate of {median_real_est_tax} as a percentage of the property's assessed value.

How to Look Up Adams County Property Records

You can look up Adams County property records through multiple online resources.

• For deeds, easements, mortgages, liens, and other recorded property documents, use Tapestry Land Records Search or Laredo Records Search.

• To access tax records, use the Property Tax Inquiry portal.

Anyone can obtain copies of deeds and other recorded real estate documents in person from the Adams County Clerk and Recorder’s Office in Quincy or by calling the office at (217) 277-2125.

Who Keeps Adams County Property Records?

In Adams County, three offices manage property records. These records can be accessed under the Freedom of Information Act (5 ILCS 140). Here's how the three offices share the responsibility:

• The Supervisor of Assessments equalizes township-level assessments to the statutory 33.33% ratio, administers homestead exemptions, and serves as Clerk of the Board of Review during the appeal season.

• The Recorder of Deeds maintains the public chain of title for Adams County. As a separately elected position, the Recorder operates independently from the County Clerk's office.

• The County Treasurer prepares the tax bills, accepts payment throughout the year, runs the delinquent-tax sale annually, and processes owner redemption from tax buyers.

How to Search Adams County Property Records Online

Here are steps to retrieve property records in Adams County:

1. Begin the search from the Adams County Assessor’s Office. Address, owner name, and PIN searches all work as search parameters. Each result reveals current ownership, the assessment value, characteristics like square footage and year built, recent sales prices, and any homestead exemptions filed.

2. Check the tax record at the Adams County Treasurer portal. The Treasurer’s records show current and past tax bills, the taxing-district breakdown, payment status, and any delinquency or active refund.

3. Recorded documents are maintained by the Recorder of Deeds. The portal accepts searches by party name, document number, PIN, or recorded date. Free guest searches show the index, but full images often require a pay-per-search or subscription option.

4. Trace ownership history by working backward from the current deed. The grantor on each deed should be the grantee on the one immediately before it. A break in that chain signals a missing document worth flagging for a title professional.

5. The county GIS portal handles mapping needs. Parcel boundaries, zoning overlays, FEMA flood zones, and aerial imagery layer onto a single interactive map.

Assessor: Ownership, Values, and Parcel Data

The Supervisor of Assessments’ Office handles property valuation in Adams County. This is the office to contact for ownership records, equalized assessed values, property class codes, sales history, and the homestead exemptions on file for a parcel.

Recorder of Deeds: Deeds, Mortgages, and Liens

The Recorder of Deeds office records all deeds and liens in Adams County. Once a document is recorded, it enters the public index and any future title search will find it.

Treasurer: Tax Bills and Payments

Adams County's Treasurer’s office handles tax bills, payments, and tax-sale matters. Bills are mailed each year following the Illinois statutory schedule, and the portal handles both lookup and payment.

Property Tax in Adams County: Rates, Exemptions, and Appeals

The Illinois Property Tax Code governs how Adams County calculates and collects property taxes.

• Fair market value × 33.33% assessment ratio × state equalization factor − exemptions = Equalized assessed value

• Equalized assessed value × combined tax rate = Bill

Homestead exemptions

The main exemptions that Adams County homeowners qualify for fall into five categories. Each reduces the EAV before the combined tax rate is applied:

• General Homestead Exemption: Up to $6,000 EAV reduction for owner-occupied homes (35 ILCS 200/15-175). Adams County uses the baseline tier (applicable in most Illinois counties) under the three-tier statutory structure.

• Senior Homestead Exemption: Up to $5,000 EAV reduction for owners 65 and older under 35 ILCS 200/15-170.

• Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze: Freezes assessed value at a base year for seniors with household income at or below $75,000 (indexed to CPI from 2026).

• Disabled Veterans Standard Homestead: Tiered by VA disability rating. It offers $2,500 EAV at 30-49%, $5,000 at 50-69%, and full exemption at 70%+.

• Persons with Disabilities and Home Improvement: Offers $2,000 EAV reduction for permanent disability and separate four-year exemption shielding up to $75,000 of improvement value.

Appealing an assessment

To contest a property assessment in Adams County, file the appeal with the Board of Review within 30 days of receiving the assessment notice. If the Board rules against you, file with PTAB within 30 days of the Board's final decision.

GIS Maps and Parcel Viewer

Adams County publishes parcel-level GIS data along with zoning, school districts, voting precincts, FEMA floodplains, and aerial imagery. Most layers are accessible through an interactive web viewer and downloadable for analysis.

• County GIS portal: The county's web GIS layers parcels, zoning, and floodplains with recent aerial imagery for Adams County.

• Illinois Geological Survey clearinghouse: The state-level ISGS clearinghouse hosts statewide layers including soil, hydrology, and DEM data.

Foreclosure and the Annual Tax Sale

Mortgage cases (judicial only in Illinois) are handled through the Adams County Circuit Court under 735 ILCS 5/15-1101 et seq.. Tax-sale cases are handled through the Treasurer's office under the Property Tax Code at 35 ILCS 200, Article 21.

Annual tax sale

The Adams County Treasurer holds an annual tax sale for prior-year unpaid taxes. Tax buyers compete by bidding the penalty interest rate downward from a 9% statutory maximum. The lowest bidder wins a tax certificate, which is a lien rather than ownership.

Right of redemption

Property owners have 2 to 2.5 years to redeem after the tax sale, under 35 ILCS 200/21-345. Redemption requires paying the original taxes, the penalty interest at the bid rate (compounded every six months), tax-buyer costs, and any subsequent taxes the buyer paid.

Scavenger sales

A scavenger sale runs every two years under 35 ILCS 200/21-145 for properties that have been delinquent three or more years and didn't sell at the annual tax sale. Bidding is on the dollar amount rather than the penalty rate.

Costs to Access Property Records

Property-records access in Adams County is free for online searches. Paper copies and certified copies carry per-page fees set by the county, and new recordings follow Illinois's Predictable Fee Schedule.

Adams County adopted the Illinois Predictable Fee Schedule under 55 ILCS 5/3-5018.1. The schedule replaces per-page fees with a flat fee per document class. Five classes exist, namely deeds, mortgages, leases, miscellaneous, and non-conforming. Non-conforming documents pay double.

Real-estate transfer taxes add to the recording cost. The state charges $0.50 per $500 of consideration; Adams County adds $0.25 per $500. Outside Chicago and selected suburbs, no municipal transfer tax applies in most cases.

How to Record a Document

A quitclaim deed, a release of mortgage, or a personal lien can be filed with the Adams County Recorder's office by doing the following:

1. Confirm the document meets Illinois formatting under 55 ILCS 5/3-5018.2.: 8.5" by 11" white paper, 20-lb weight or better, black ink, half-inch margins, and a clear 3" by 5" area in the upper-right corner of the first page for the recording stamp.

2. Pull the fee from Adams County's Predictable Fee Schedule. The flat per-document-class fees replace the old per-page system.

3. If the document transfers property, file the PTAX-203 transfer declaration via MyDec at the same time as the deed. MyDec is the state Department of Revenue's online system; the filing produces a stamp number that the Recorder ties to your document.

4. Submit through one of three channels. Walk-in at Adams County Courthouse, 507 Vermont St., Quincy, IL 62301, mail-in with payment and return envelope, or e-recording through Simplifile, CSC, or another approved vendor. Most filings are recorded within a few business days.

Once recorded, the document is part of the public index. The recording number is its permanent identifier.

FAQs

Quick Reference: Your Adams County Property Records Checklist

This checklist maps the seven most common Adams County property-records tasks to the office that handles them and the portal that fulfills them.

Key Contacts and Official Portals