Hancock County Recorder Information

Land records in Hancock County are recorded by the County Recorder. The office is held by Tracy Coldren.

StatewideBy June 30, 2026, each county recorder is required to post on its website electronic indexes and electronic versions of all instruments recorded on or after January 1, 1980, except veteran discharge papers and legally protected information. A username and password may be required, but no fee may be charged for access.

Online search has documents recorded and imaged from January 1, 1985 to present; records prior to 1985 are searched in office. Historical indexes are available online for viewing. Names are entered last name first. A search cannot be done with a parcel number in the Recorder's office.

Checked October 2026 against official publications. Sources: Ohio Revised Code Chapter 317 Recorder · Staff Directory • Recorder · Recorder | Hancock County, OH

These government fees are separate from any Deeds.com service fees. Confirm current charges with the recorder's office.

Other charges

Fee schedule effective January 1, 2025.

StatewideEach fee in R.C. 317.32 is made up of a base fee for the recorder's services and a housing trust fund fee collected under R.C. 317.36. The recorder may charge and collect a document preservation surcharge of up to five dollars, deposited to the county general fund. Pages are measured at 8.5 x 14 inches or fraction of a page, including the caption page. Plats, maps, and prints recorded by photostatic or similar process: base fee of five cents and housing trust fund fee of five cents per square inch, with minimums of twenty dollars each. Zoning resolutions: $25 base plus $25 housing trust fund fee; zoning amendments: $10 plus $10. Notices of federal liens: $5 per notice; certificates of discharge or release: $3 (R.C. 317.09). The fees do not apply to instruments recorded by a county land reutilization corporation.

Copies: $0.15 per page unassisted. Plats: 11 x 17, $40.00 per page; 24 x 36, $50.00 per page. UCC recording: $12.00 flat fee plus $4.00 for each name on document. Unemployment lien release: $2.00 per document; unemployment and workers compensation liens and workers compensation releases: no fee. Township zoning resolutions $50.00; amendments $20.00. Search: $20.

Paying the office

StatewideFees are paid upon presentation of the instruments for record; payment of fees for electronic recording may be made by electronic funds transfer, automated clearing house, or other electronic means after presentation.

Separate checks are requested for Auditor's and Recorder's office payments. Credit cards are not accepted.

Transfer tax

Real property conveyance fee. One dollar, or ten cents for each one hundred dollars or fraction of one hundred dollars, whichever is greater, of the value of the real property transferred. The tax is collected when the document is recorded. (statewide, R.C. 319.54(G)(3))

StatewideThe conveyance fee is paid to the county auditor, and a deed of absolute conveyance is not recorded until it bears the auditor's stamp showing compliance with R.C. 319.202 and is indorsed "transferred" or "transfer not necessary" (R.C. 317.22). Counties may also levy a real property transfer tax under R.C. 322.02 at a rate not to exceed thirty cents per hundred dollars of value conveyed, paid to the county auditor prior to presentation of the deed to the recorder. R.C. 319.54(G)(3) lists transfers on which no fee is charged.

Hancock County Auditor's conveyance fee: $3.00 per thousand. Auditor's transfer fee: $0.50 per parcel.

Checked October 2026 against official publications. Sources: Ohio Revised Code Chapter 317 Recorder · Section 317.32 | Recording fees · Section 319.54 | Auditor fees · Section 322.02 | Real property transfer tax · Recorder | Hancock County, OH · Hancock County Recorder Fee Schedule · Fee Schedule | Hancock County, OH

Confirm current requirements with the recorder's office before submitting documents.

StatewideRight half of the 3-inch first-page top margin is reserved for the county recorder's indorsement. A 1.5-inch margin of blank space is required across the top of each remaining page.

StatewideNonconforming instruments are accepted with an added fee; no fee for incidental items such as page numbers, initials, or bar codes in side or bottom margins. The format standard does not apply to documents from courts, taxing authorities, or state or federal agencies, to plats, or to documents executed before July 1, 2009. Illegible signatures must have the name legibly printed, typewritten, or stamped beneath them unless the name appears elsewhere in the instrument (R.C. 317.11). Instruments must be of a quality that allows legible reproduction (R.C. 317.112). Personal information such as Social Security numbers may not be included (R.C. 317.082). Instruments in a language other than English need a certified English translation (R.C. 317.113).

Forms filed along with a transfer

• DTE 100 Real Property Conveyance Fee Statement of Value and Receipt Statewide Ohio Department of Taxation; filed with the county auditor
  Conveyances of real property presented to the county auditor

Submitting documents

StatewideBy June 30, 2026, each county recorder is required to make available to the public a method for electronically recording instruments related to conveyances of real property and other instruments listed in R.C. 317.08(A) or (D), except plats and maps.

Recording of documents ends at 4:00 pm daily; documents presented after are recorded the next business day. Mail submissions should include payment, a self-addressed envelope, conveyance forms if the document needs transferred, and recording instructions if needed. Blanket assignments and satisfactions are not accepted.

Checked October 2026 against official publications. Sources: Ohio Revised Code Chapter 317 Recorder · Real Property Conveyance Fee Statement of Value and Receipt (DTE 100) · Staff Directory • Recorder · Recorder | Hancock County, OH · Hancock County Recorder Fee Schedule