Madison County Property Records

Madison County property records are maintained by one of Indiana's oldest constitutional offices, the County Recorder, based in Anderson. The recorder's office holds all deeds, mortgages, liens, plats, and other instruments affecting real property in Madison County. Records are available electronically going back to 1958, and older documents are accessible by book and page. Whether you need to look up a deed on an Anderson property or check the lien status on a rural parcel, Madison County property records are accessible both in the office and through online search tools.

Madison County Recorder's Office

The Madison County Recorder's office describes itself as a constitutional office dedicated to recording the vital documents that determine ownership of property under IC 36-2-11. The office was the first constitutional office in county government in Indiana, founded along with the county itself in January 1823. That long track record means the Madison County recorder holds a deep archive of property documents spanning nearly two centuries.

Historical documents in the Madison County system come in three formats: books, microfilm, and computer images. The original books cover documents from the 1820s through 1989. Microfilm images run from 1989 to the present. Computer images cover all deeds and miscellaneous documents that have been digitized, with the electronic index running back to 1958. Documents recorded before 1958 are available by book and page reference. You can access the recorder's office information at madisoncounty.in.gov/recorders-office.

Under IC 36-2-11, the recorder maintains permanent public records and makes those documents available to the public. Madison County's recorder indexes instruments by grantor and grantee name, document type, and recording date. The office processes documents in the order received and returns recorded copies to the party who submitted them.

The Madison County Recorder's website is shown below, with links to office information, recording requirements, and the county's search and print tool for Madison County property records.

From this page you can find contact details for the recorder's Anderson office and navigate to the county's online search tools for recorded documents.

Search and Print Madison County Recorded Documents

Madison County provides a Search and Print tool at madisoncounty.in.gov/search-print for searching and retrieving recorded property documents. This online tool lets you search the Madison County recorder's index by name, document type, and date. You can view and print documents directly from the search results. It covers all deeds and miscellaneous documents available in the county's electronic index.

For in-person research, the recorder's office has public search terminals available Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. These terminals provide free access to the same document index that you can search from home. For high-volume users such as title companies and abstractors, the office offers Laredo, a remote subscription access service that allows document retrieval without a visit to Anderson.

Beyond the county's own tools, Doxpop covers Madison County with a multi-county recorded document search that is widely used across Indiana. Beacon by Schneider Geospatial provides parcel mapping with ownership and assessment data for Madison County properties on an interactive GIS map.

The Madison County Search and Print tool is shown below, where you can search recorded instruments in the county's electronic index and print documents directly from the results.

This tool is available to the public and gives you direct access to Madison County deed records, mortgage records, and other recorded documents going back to 1958.

Recording Requirements for Madison County Documents

Madison County follows Indiana's statewide recording standards for all submitted instruments. All documents must be properly acknowledged. Notarized instruments must include the notary's county of residence and commission expiration date. Names must be typed or printed exactly as signed beneath every signature. A "Prepared by" statement must appear on every document submitted for recording.

Paper must be white and no larger than 8.5 by 14 inches with at least 20-pound weight. Margins on the first and last pages must be 2 inches at top and bottom, with half-inch margins on the sides. Interior pages need half-inch margins on all four sides. Font must be at least 10-point in black ink. Non-conforming documents are accepted but add $1 per non-conforming page to the standard fee.

Transfer deeds must go to the County Assessor first, then the County Auditor, before reaching the Recorder for recording. This three-step process is standard across all Indiana counties under the framework established by IC 32-21-2. A completed Sales Disclosure form must accompany every deed. Grantee name and mailing address must appear on the face of every deed. Full Social Security numbers must not appear on any submitted document.

Fees follow the statewide schedule under IC 36-2-7-10.5: deeds at $25, mortgages at $55, most instruments at $25, releases and assignments at $25, oversized pages at $5 each, standard copies at $1 per page, larger copies at $5, and certified copies adding $5. E-recording is available through CSC eRecording (866-652-0111), Simplifile (800-460-5657), and ePN (888-325-3365).

Property Tax and Assessment in Madison County

The Madison County Assessor sets assessed values for all real property under IC 6-1.1. Those values form the basis for property tax bills issued annually. Madison County includes the city of Anderson along with smaller residential communities and agricultural areas. The Assessor applies market-based approaches to residential and commercial parcels and productivity-based approaches to agricultural land.

The Indiana Gateway Taxpayer Portal shows current and prior-year property tax bills for Madison County parcels by address or parcel number. The DLGF Assessed Value Search lets you check assessed values across Madison County for free. If you believe a Madison County parcel's value is set too high, you can appeal to the Assessor under IC 6-1.1 with a deadline typically falling on May 15 of the year following the assessment.

For historical Madison County land records, the Indiana State Archives holds early land patents and survey documents that predate the county's founding in 1823. These records can be useful for tracing chain of title on the oldest Madison County properties.

Nearby Indiana Counties

Madison County sits in east-central Indiana and shares borders with Hamilton, Tipton, Grant, Delaware, Henry, Hancock, and Marion counties. Anderson is the county's main city and has its own property records page.