Find Property Records in Ellis County

Ellis County property records are maintained by the County Clerk at the courthouse in Arnett. The office records deeds, mortgages, oil and gas leases, mineral deeds, tax liens, releases, and other instruments affecting real estate in the county. Online access is available through OKCountyRecords.com, which holds indexed records going back to January 1901 and scanned images from January 1938. That makes Ellis County one of the deepest historical records databases in the state. Whether you are searching ownership history, looking up a lien, or tracing a mineral deed chain, the County Clerk and the online portal cover most Ellis County property records needs.

Ellis County Clerk and Property Records Office

The Ellis County Clerk is Lynn Smith. Her office is the official custodian of all land records for the county. The clerk records instruments affecting real estate and keeps them in a permanent public index. The office is located at the Ellis County Courthouse in Arnett and can be reached by phone or email. As one of Oklahoma's smallest counties by population, the clerk's office operates on a schedule that is a bit later in the morning than many county offices.

Staff can search the record index by name or legal description and provide copies while you are there. Certified copies carry the county seal and are often needed for title work, estate proceedings, or legal filings. Uncertified copies are less expensive and work for most general research. The clerk's office also has a book list that helps locate older records by book and page number, which is useful given how far back the index goes.

Search Ellis County Property Records Online

Ellis County has one of the most extensive online record databases in western Oklahoma. The OKCountyRecords.com search portal for Ellis County holds indexed data from January 1901 and scanned images going back to January 1938. The index covers more than 408,000 instruments, and the image library has over 1 million scanned pages. New documents are added in real-time as the clerk records them. That depth makes OKCountyRecords especially useful for historical title research and chain-of-title work in Ellis County.

You can search the Ellis County index by party name using the "Last, First" or business name format. Other search fields include party type (grantor or grantee), instrument type, recorded date range, and legal description using quarter, section, township, range, addition, block, and lot. The free index shows results and document details. Printing or downloading copies requires a small fee, and all revenue from those copies goes directly to support Ellis County.

Visit okcountyrecords.com/search/ellis to start your search. No login is required to browse the index.

The OKCountyRecords search interface for Ellis County provides access to over 408,000 indexed instruments with records dating to 1901, making it one of the deepest county record databases in Oklahoma.

Types of Property Records in Ellis County

Warranty deeds are the most common document recorded in Ellis County. They transfer land ownership and come with the grantor's guarantee of clear title. Quitclaim deeds transfer whatever interest the grantor holds, no warranty given. Both types are filed when property changes hands. Mortgages and deeds of trust create liens against real estate to secure debt. Releases cancel those liens when the loan is repaid. All of these go into the county's permanent land record index.

Oil and gas leases are a major part of the Ellis County record index. The Texas County Panhandle and western Oklahoma have a long history of mineral development, and Ellis County is part of that. Leases go on file with the County Clerk when signed, making them public record. Mineral deeds transfer subsurface rights separate from the surface, and this split ownership is a routine part of Oklahoma land title work. Tax liens for unpaid property taxes also appear in the index, as do federal and state liens recorded against property owners.

Plat maps are available through the same system. They document the legal layout of subdivisions and land additions in the county. The book list is another useful tool for navigating older records filed by book and page rather than by instrument number.

Recording Fees for Ellis County Property Records

Oklahoma recording fees are set by state law. Under Title 28 Section 32, effective November 1, 2024, the fee for the first page of any recorded instrument is $8.00. Each additional page costs $2.00. A records management and preservation fee of $10.00 is charged per instrument. Non-conforming documents that do not meet margin requirements are charged $25.00 for the first page and $10.00 for each additional page.

Senate Bill 57, also effective November 1, 2024, set the margin standard at 2 inches on top and 1 inch on all other sides. Documents outside those specs are recorded but at the higher rate. Oklahoma also charges a documentary stamp tax of $0.75 per $500 of consideration under Title 68 Section 3201. On a $200,000 sale, the stamp tax comes to $300, paid at recording. Photographic copies cost $1.00 per page. Certified copies add another $1.00 per page on top of that.

Ellis County Assessor and Property Valuation

The Ellis County Assessor is Christi Pshigoda. The assessor's mailing address is P.O. Box 276, Arnett, OK 73832. The office can be reached at (580) 885-7316. The assessor values all real and personal property in the county for tax purposes and maintains assessment rolls with owner names, parcel descriptions, and valuations. These records are separate from the deed records at the County Clerk but are an important part of a full property search, especially when you want to confirm current ownership or assessed value.

For property tax payment history and current tax status, contact the Ellis County Treasurer's office in Arnett. Tax liens for unpaid property taxes show up in the land record index at the County Clerk's office. Statewide tax roll data can also be found through OKTaxRolls.com, which pulls data from across all Oklahoma counties.

Electronic Recording in Ellis County

Ellis County accepts electronic recording through three providers: Simplifile, CSC eRecording, and ePN. Title companies, lenders, and law firms can use any of these platforms to submit documents directly to the County Clerk without mailing paper copies. The clerk reviews each submission, records it, and returns the stamped document electronically. Having all three providers available is notable for a small county and gives filers flexibility in their preferred platform.

Cities in Ellis County

Ellis County's county seat is Arnett. Other small communities in the county include Fargo, Shattuck, and Gage. All property records for land anywhere in Ellis County are on file with the County Clerk in Arnett, regardless of which community the parcel is nearest to. None of the towns in Ellis County meet the population threshold for a dedicated property records page on this site.

Nearby Counties

These counties border Ellis County. Each maintains its own County Clerk and property records system. Check the legal description or a county parcel map if you are not certain which county a piece of land is in.