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

If you're searching property records in Perry County, three county offices have the information you need. The County Clerk doubles as Recorder of Deeds. The Supervisor of Assessments handles parcel data, and the Treasurer handles tax bills. The property record management system covers roughly 12,000 parcels in the county.

Perry County's housing market is made up mostly of single-family homes. Most homes remain on the market for 80 to 110 days before selling. Housing activity is concentrated in Du Quoin, Pinckneyville, Tamaroa, and Willisville. Located in southern Illinois, the county was historically known for coal mining, and the Pinckneyville Correctional Center remains a major employer.

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How to Look Up Perry County Property Records

Use any of the three online resources to view Perry County property records. The Assessor's Property Tax Inquiry lets users look up assessment data and parcel information, The Treasurer’s portal covers tax bills and payments, and recorded documents can be viewed through the Remote Land Records Access. Older records that have not been digitized may only be available in person at the Clerk and Recorder's Office in Pinckneyville. For information about historical records and copy fees, call (618) 357-5116.

Who Keeps Perry County Property Records?

Public access to Perry County property records flows from the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, codified at 5 ILCS 140. The tax-side rules come from the Property Tax Code at 35 ILCS 200. The county splits the work three ways:

• 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 County Clerk and Recorder maintains the public chain of title for Perry County, including every deed, mortgage, lien, and recorded easement. Like most smaller Illinois counties, this office is merged with the County Clerk.

• 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.

Perry County was organized in 1827 and named for Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, the U.S. Navy hero of the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813.

How to Search Perry County Property Records Online

Online property research in Perry County means moving across three portals. One office handles ownership and assessment. Another handles deeds and liens. A third handles tax bills and payment status. This sequence works for nearly every search task:

1. First stop is the Perry County assessment portal. The search interface accepts address, owner name, and PIN as entry points. Results include the registered owner, equalized assessed value, sales history, and any exemptions currently in place.

2. Cross-check the tax record at the Perry County Treasurer portal. The Treasurer shows current and past tax bills, the taxing-district breakdown, payment status, and any delinquency or active refund.

3. To pull deeds, mortgages, liens, or other recorded documents, use the County Clerk and Recorder's search system. Searches by grantor, grantee, document number, PIN, or recorded date are typical. Free index search is usually available; full document images may require Tapestry pay-per-search or a Laredo subscription.

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 often signals a missing document worth flagging for a title professional.

5. Mapping work goes through the county GIS portal. Parcel boundaries, zoning, and floodplains layer onto a single interactive map alongside recent aerial imagery.

Assessor: Ownership, Values, and Parcel Data

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

County Clerk and Recorder: Deeds, Mortgages, and Liens

Recorded documents in Perry County run through the County Clerk and Recorder. The office handles the formal recording, maintains the searchable index, and produces certified copies on request.

Treasurer: Tax Bills and Payments

Perry County's Treasurer is the office to use for 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 Perry County: Rates, Exemptions, and Appeals

The Illinois Property Tax Code governs how Perry County calculates and collects property taxes. The basic math: fair market value × 33.33% assessment ratio × state equalization factor − exemptions = equalized assessed value, then × combined tax rate = bill.

Homestead exemptions

The main exemptions that Perry 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). Perry 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

Two appeal levels exist. The County Board of Review takes initial appeals within 30 days of the notice. If the Board denies, escalate to PTAB within 30 days. Successful appeals at either level reduce the EAV and lower the bill.

GIS Maps and Parcel Viewer

Perry 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 Perry 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

Illinois distinguishes mortgage foreclosure from tax-delinquency foreclosure. Mortgage cases (judicial only in Illinois) go through the Perry County Circuit Court under 735 ILCS 5/15-1101 et seq. Tax-sale cases run through the Treasurer's office under the Property Tax Code at 35 ILCS 200, Article 21.

Annual tax sale

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

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

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 a dollar amount rather than a penalty rate.

Costs to Access Property Records

Perry County's online search portals are free. The county charges fees only when you need a copy of a recorded document, request a certified copy, or file a new document for recording. Illinois sets a predictable fee schedule for new recordings under 55 ILCS 5/3-5018.1.

Perry 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.

On top of the recording fee, Illinois imposes a state real estate transfer tax of $0.50 per $500 of consideration. Perry County adds another $0.25 per $500. Most municipalities outside Chicago and a few suburbs do not impose a separate transfer tax.

How to Record a Document

Filing a document yourself in Perry County is straightforward. A quitclaim deed, a release of mortgage, or a personal lien filing follows this four-step path through the Recorder's office:

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 Perry County's Predictable Fee Schedule: The flat per-document-class fees replace the old per-page system. Skipping formatting requirements in step 1 doubles the fee under statute, so it's worth double-checking your document.

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 3764 State Routes 13-127, Room 204, Pinckneyville, IL 62274, 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.

The Recorder assigns a permanent document number at filing. Keep this number with the original; it's the fastest lookup key for any future certified copy request or title research.

FAQs

Quick Reference: Your Perry County Property Records Checklist

The seven most frequent Perry County property-records workflows are summarized here. Each row points you to the right office and the right portal.

Key Contacts and Official Portals