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

Clark County property records cover roughly 9,000 parcels of land, and three separate offices manage them. The County Clerk doubles as Recorder of Deeds. The Supervisor of Assessments handles parcel data, and the Treasurer handles tax bills.

The county's housing stock primarily consists of single-family detached homes spread across Marshall, Casey, Martinsville, and Westfield. The county sits along the Indiana border on Interstate 70. Farmland fills most of the unincorporated land area. Housing stock skews older, with substantial pre-1950 stock in the county-seat towns.

Clark County’s listings typically sell after 80 to 110 days on the market, a trend that is comparatively slower than the state average. 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}, serving as a percentage of the property's assessed value.

How to Look Up Clark County Property Records

Look up real estate documents, including deeds, liens, and easements, on the County Clerk and Recorder web portal or in person at its office. Search the Clark County Property Tax Inquiry portal for assessed values, tax data, and parcel information. The Treasurer is responsible for tax billing and collection. Call the County Clerk’s Office at (217) 826-8311 for property-related information.

Who Keeps Clark County Property Records

Illinois property records are managed at the county level under the state's open-records law, the Freedom of Information Act (5 ILCS 140). The property tax framework is established through 35 ILCS 200. In Clark County, the three core offices break down this way:

• The Supervisor of Assessments sets assessed values for every parcel, processes the homestead-exemption applications that reduce tax bills, and updates the parcel database that the Treasurer relies on.

• The County Clerk and Recorder houses all recorded real-estate documents in Clark County, including deeds, mortgages, liens, plats, and easements. The county combines this role with the County Clerk position.

• The County Treasurer mails the annual tax bills, processes payments, runs the annual tax sale, and handles redemption from tax buyers.

Clark County was organized in 1819 from Crawford County and named for George Rogers Clark, an officer who served in the American Revolution. Land records run back to that year.

How to Search Clark County Property Records Online

Search Clark County property records by using three county portals in the following order. Each portal covers a different piece of the data, and pulling all three gives you a complete picture for any parcel.

1. Open the Supervisor of Assessments portal. Search by address, by owner's last name, or by PIN. The result shows ownership, assessed value, sales history, exemption status, and the property's class designation under 35 ILCS 200.

2. Move to the Treasurer's portal. Tax bills, payment history, and taxing-district breakdowns are all there. Delinquent parcels are flagged.

3. For deeds and other recorded documents, use the County Clerk and Recorder's portal. You can search via grantor name, grantee name, document number, PIN, or date range. Some counties offer free guest access while others use Tapestry or Laredo for paid full access.

4. Build the chain of title by starting at the current deed and tracing back. Each grantor in the chain should match the grantee on the previous deed. Gaps usually mean missing records that a title company will need to research.

5. For parcel mapping, the county GIS portal is the source. Layers include parcels, zoning, school districts, voting precincts, and floodplains. Aerial imagery is usually available at multiple recent dates.

Assessor: Ownership, Values, and Parcel Data

Clark County's assessment work runs through the Supervisor of Assessments. The office maintains parcel data, equalizes township-level work, administers exemptions, and serves as Clerk of the Board of Review during the appeal season.

County Clerk and Recorder: Deeds, Mortgages, and Liens

The County Clerk and Recorder is the public registry for title documents in Clark County. The office records, indexes, and makes available every deed, mortgage, lien, and related documents affecting real estate property in the county.

Treasurer: Tax Bills and Payments

The Treasurer in Clark County manages everything tax-bill-related: the bills themselves, payment processing, the annual tax sale for delinquencies, and redemption from tax-buyers.

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

Property tax in Clark County works the same way as in most Illinois counties: a third-of-market-value assessment ratio is assessed, state equalization and statutory exemptions are determined, and then taxing-district rates are applied. The local detail is in which exemption tiers apply and what the township assessor structure looks like.

Homestead exemptions

Several homestead exemptions reduce the equalized assessed value before the tax rates apply. These are the most commonly used in Clark County:

• General Homestead Exemption: Up to $6,000 EAV reduction for owner-occupied homes (35 ILCS 200/15-175). Clark 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: $2,500 EAV at 30-49%, $5,000 at 50-69%, full exemption at 70%+.

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

Appealing an assessment

The Illinois two-step appeal process applies in Clark County. The Board of Review hears the first round (30-day filing window after the notice). The Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board hears the second round of appeals from the Board of Review's decision.

GIS Maps and Parcel Viewer

Clark County maintains a GIS portal layering parcels, zoning, school districts, voting precincts, and floodplains over recent aerial imagery. The viewer is web-based, and most layers download as shapefiles.

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

Two distinct foreclosure-style processes affect Clark County property. Mortgage foreclosures are judicial in Illinois and run through the Circuit Court under 735 ILCS 5/15-1101. Tax-delinquency foreclosures run through the Treasurer's annual tax sale under 35 ILCS 200, Article 21.

Annual tax sale

Each year, the Treasurer publishes a list of tax-delinquent parcels and conducts a public tax sale. Buyers bid the penalty rate down from 9%; the lowest rate wins. The winning buyer gets a tax certificate (a lien claim, not title).

Right of redemption

The redemption right runs about 2 to 2.5 years from the sale date. The Property Tax Code at 35 ILCS 200/21-345 sets the math. The owner pays original taxes plus a penalty at the buyer's winning rate (compounded semi-annually), buyer costs, and any subsequent-year taxes the buyer has paid.

Scavenger sales

Properties with more than three years of unpaid taxes that don’t clear at the annual sale go to the scavenger sale, which takes place every two years. Scavenger bidding uses dollar amounts (not interest rates).

Costs to Access Property Records

Looking up Clark County property records online is free across all three county offices. Fees apply when you need a copy of a recorded document or are filing a new document for recording.

Clark 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: deeds, mortgages, leases, miscellaneous, and non-conforming. Non-conforming documents pay double.

Property transfers in Clark County pay two transfer taxes: state ($0.50 per $500 of consideration) and county ($0.25 per $500). Chicago and a few of its suburbs add a municipal transfer tax; most municipalities do not.

How to Record a Document

Document recording in Clark County follows four steps. They apply whether you're filing a deed, mortgage release, lien, or any other document affecting title:

1. Verify the document is properly formatted. Under 55 ILCS 5/3-5018.2, documents need 8.5"x11" white paper at 20-lb or better, black ink only, half-inch margins all around, and a blank 3"x5" space in the upper-right corner of page one for the recording stamp.

2. Calculate the recording fee from the county's Predictable Fee Schedule. Non-conforming documents are charged double under 55 ILCS 5/3-5018.1, so making sure your document meets formatting requirements saves money.

3. For property-transfer documents, complete the PTAX-203 through Illinois MyDec before filing. The MyDec submission produces a stamp number that goes on the deed. Clark County participates in MyDec like all Illinois counties.

4. File at the County Clerk and Recorder: in person at 501 Archer Ave, Marshall, IL 62441, by mail with check or money order, or via an e-recording vendor (Simplifile and CSC handle most Clark County electronic filings). Recording typically completes within two to three business days.

The recording number assigned by the office becomes the permanent locator for the document. Note it down, as any future title search or document copy requests will use this number as the primary lookup key.

FAQs

Quick Reference: Your Clark County Property Records Checklist

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Key Contacts and Official Portals