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

Madison County’s property records system covers an estimated 136,000 parcels of land. The county’s property market is sustained by industrial development, commercial growth, and its proximity to St. Louis. The Recorder of Deeds, the Supervisor of Assessments, and the Treasurer manage property records and make them available to the public under state law.

The county's housing stock is concentrated in Granite City, Alton, Collinsville, Edwardsville (the county seat), Glen Carbon, Highland, and Wood River. Homes in Madison County spend an average of 40 to 65 days on the market. This is generally faster than the state average. The majority of the housing stock is single-family detached homes, townhouses, condominiums, and multi-family properties.

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 Madison County Property Records

Most property records are available online through three separate county portals:

• The Supervisor of Assessments’ Property Search tool allows users to search for assessment information by address or Property Index Number (PIN).

• Recorded land documents such as deeds, mortgages, releases, and liens may be accessed through the Recorder of Deeds Land Records Search.

• For property tax information, including payment history, use the Treasurer’s Property Tax Search system⁠.

Contact the Recorder of Deeds Office at (618) 296-4475 or visit the office inEdwardsville to obtain certified copies of deeds.

Who Keeps Madison County Property Records?

Madison County makes property records available to the public under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (5 ILCS 140). These three offices maintain property records in the county:

• The Supervisor of Assessments values every parcel in the county, administers homestead exemptions, and maintains the parcel database used by the Treasurer and the Board of Review.

• The Recorder of Deeds houses all recorded real estate documents in Madison County. The Recorder of Deeds is its own elected office, separate from the County Clerk.

• The County Treasurer handles tax-bill-related activities, including generation, mailing, collection, delinquency, the annual tax sale, and post-sale redemption.

How to Search Madison County Property Records Online

Search Madison County property records by navigating the three county portals. Each portal covers a different portion of the data, and checking all three gives you a complete picture for any parcel.

1. Start at the Madison County Assessor or Supervisor of Assessments portal. Use the property's address, owner name, or PIN as the search parameter. The result shows the current legal owner, equalized assessed value, property class, sales history, and active homestead exemptions.

2. Then check the tax bill status through the Treasurer's portal. This is where you see what the property owes, what's already been paid, the breakdown by school, county, township, and municipal levies, and whether anything has gone delinquent.

3. For the recorded chain of title, check the Recorder of Deeds portal. Index search is usually free for guest users. Pay-per-search options like Tapestry handle one-off retrievals, while Laredo subscriptions handle high-volume research.

4. To trace a chain of title, start from the current recorded deed and go back in time by following the grantor/grantee relationship. If a grantor on an older deed does not line up with the grantee on the deed that follows, then you have found a gap in the chain to be investigated.

5. For mapping and boundary work, use the county GIS portal. The map layers parcels, zoning, flood zones, and aerial imagery. Most Madison County GIS layers are also downloadable for further analysis.

Assessor: Ownership, Values, and Parcel Data

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

Recorder of Deeds: Deeds, Mortgages, and Liens

The Recorder of Deeds in Madison County is responsible for recording every document that affects title. Deeds, mortgages, liens, plats, easements, and similar documents are maintained by this office and become part of the public chain of title.

Treasurer: Tax Bills and Payments

The Treasurer's office in Madison County manages all tax-bill-related activity, including preparing the bills, payment processing, the annual tax sale for delinquencies, and redemption from tax-buyers.

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

Madison County property taxes follow the Illinois Property Tax Code structure.

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

• Equalized assessed value × combined tax rate = Bill

Homestead exemptions

Homestead exemptions typically reduce taxable EAV and lower the final tax bill. Madison County homeowners qualify for one or more of these statutory homestead exemptions:

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

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

Appealing an assessment

There is a two-step appeal path in Madison County. Start with the Board of Review by filing within 30 days of the assessment notice. If the Board denies, the next step is to escalate the matter to the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board within 30 days of the Board's decision.

GIS Maps and Parcel Viewer

The county GIS layers cover what most Madison County researchers need, including parcel boundaries, zoning, floodplains, school districts, and aerial imagery. The interactive viewer is free, and most layers are also available for download.

• County GIS portal: The county's web GIS layers parcels, zoning, and floodplains with recent aerial imagery for Madison 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 processes affect Madison County property. Mortgage foreclosures are judicial in Illinois. They are handled through the Circuit Court under 735 ILCS 5/15-1101. On the other hand, tax-delinquency foreclosures are handled through the Treasurer's annual tax sale under 35 ILCS 200, Article 21.

Annual tax sale

Madison County's annual tax sale is the Treasurer's method for clearing prior-year delinquencies. The bid system runs in reverse. Buyers compete by accepting a lower penalty interest rate, with the lowest bidder winning the certificate.

Right of redemption

The redemption right runs between 2 and 2.5 years from sale date. Under the Property Tax Code (35 ILCS 200/21-345), property owners pay original taxes plus penalty at the buyer's winning rate (compounded semi-annually), buyer costs, and any subsequent-year taxes the buyer has paid.

Scavenger sales

Properties three plus years tax-delinquent that do not clear at the annual sale go to the biennial scavenger sale. Scavenger bidding uses dollar amounts (not interest rates), which produces a different bidder dynamic.

Costs to Access Property Records

Three categories of fees apply when recording or accessing property records in Madison County. These are copy fees for retrieving an existing recorded document, certification fees for getting a certified copy, and recording fees for filing a new document. The state's Predictable Fee Schedule sets the recording fee amounts.

Madison 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. These include deeds, mortgages, leases, miscellaneous, and non-conforming. Non-conforming documents pay double.

Property transfers in Madison County are subject to two transfer taxes. These are state ($0.50 per $500 of consideration) and county ($0.25 per $500).

How to Record a Document

Whether you're filing a deed, mortgage release, lien, or any other instrument affecting title, here are four steps you must take to record a property document in Madison County:

1. Check formatting first. Illinois law (55 ILCS 5/3-5018.2) requires 8.5"x11" white paper, 20-lb or heavier stock, black ink only, half-inch margins, and a blank 3"x5" rectangle in the upper right of the first page for the Recorder's stamp.

2. Determine the fee using the county's adopted Predictable Fee Schedule. Each document class (deed, mortgage, lease, miscellaneous) has a single flat fee. Non-conforming documents pay double under 55 ILCS 5/3-5018.1, which is why step 1 matters.

3. Property-transfer documents require a simultaneous MyDec filing of the PTAX-203 declaration. MyDec runs through the Illinois Department of Revenue. The filing generates a stamp number that goes on the deed at recording. Exempt transfers still require the MyDec filing.

4. Submit the document to the Recorder of Deeds in person at 157 N Main St, Suite 211, Edwardsville, IL 62025, by mail with payment and a self-addressed stamped envelope, or through an approved e-recording vendor. Simplifile and CSC are the most common vendors. Recording typically completes in 1 to 3 business days.

After recording completes, the document number becomes the permanent reference. Title insurance companies, attorneys, and the Recorder's research staff all use this number to retrieve the recorded document later.

FAQs

Quick Reference: Your Madison County Property Records Checklist

The part of Madison County's property-records system to check depends on what you need.

Key Contacts and Official Portals