Mercer County Recorder Information

Land records in Mercer County are recorded by the County Recorder. The office is held by Julie Peel.

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.

Deeds recorded since 1946 can be obtained online for free.

Checked September 2026 against official publications. Sources: Ohio Revised Code Chapter 317 Recorder · Recorder - Mercer County, Ohio · Questions

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

Added at recording

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.

The office's sample schedule lists deeds, mortgages, leases and other documents at $39.00 for the first two pages and $8.00 per additional page after the first two. Zoning amendments $20.00 and zoning resolutions $50.00 for the entire document. UCC financing statements and UCC amendments: $12.00 plus $4.00 for each indexed name. Some state and federal documents require different fees.

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.

For mailed conveyance documents, separate checks must be prepared for the Mercer County Auditor's office, Mercer County Recorder's office, and Mercer County Treasurer's office; combined checks cause the documents to be rejected.

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.

Checked September 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 - Mercer County, Ohio · General Info and Fees · Questions

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
• Tax Map office pre-approval of legal description Mercer County Tax Map office
  Deeds and other instruments of conveyance submitted by mail

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.

Conveyances of land must go to the Tax Map and Auditor's Office before they are submitted to the Recorder's Office. For mailed conveyances, the legal description should be preapproved by the Tax Map office and the Auditor's forms must be filled out. Conveyance documents are accepted by eRecording as of 11/5/2025.

Checked September 2026 against official publications. Sources: Ohio Revised Code Chapter 317 Recorder · Real Property Conveyance Fee Statement of Value and Receipt (DTE 100) · Recorder - Mercer County, Ohio · General Info and Fees · Questions · E-Recording