Search Daviess County Property Records

Daviess County property records are maintained at the Recorder of Deeds office in Gallatin, Missouri. This northwest Missouri county has deed records going back to 1837 and over 10,000 parcels on file. If you need to find a deed, check for liens, or trace the ownership of land in Daviess County, the Recorder's office is where all those documents are stored. Property records in the county include deeds, trust documents, releases, liens, plats, surveys, and other instruments that affect real estate ownership. All of these are public records and open for review.

Daviess County Recorder of Deeds

Tiffany Tadlock is the Recorder of Deeds for Daviess County. The office is at 102 N. Main Street in Gallatin. You can call (660) 663-3300, extension 8, for help with property record searches or questions about filing. The fax number is (660) 663-3376 and email goes to recorder@daviesscountymo.gov.

The Recorder's office handles all real estate document filings in Daviess County. This covers warranty deeds, quit claim deeds, deeds of trust, releases, liens, plats, surveys, and other instruments. Under Missouri Revised Statutes Chapter 59, the Recorder must accept and file any document that meets the state's formatting requirements. Each document gets stamped with the date and time, assigned a book and page number, and indexed by party names.

Daviess County Historical Property Records

Daviess County has a strong record history. Deed records go back to 1837. Marriage records also start from that year. Unlike some Missouri counties, Daviess County has no known courthouse fires or disasters that destroyed records. That means the chain of title for land in this county is relatively complete going back nearly 190 years.

This makes Daviess County a good resource for genealogy research and historical land studies. If you are tracing the ownership of a piece of property over many generations, the Recorder's office in Gallatin should have continuous records from 1837 to the present. The books may be hand-written for the earliest decades, but they are still maintained at the courthouse.

For even earlier records, the Missouri State Archives Land Records Database holds over 280,000 entries of land patents from 1777 to 1969. These cover the original federal and state land grants that created the first private ownership of land in Daviess County. You can search by name, year, or county.

Daviess County Property Data

Daviess County has 10,577 total parcels. Of those, 6,558 are residential. The median home value is $112,500. Median rent in the county is $675 per month, and the median household income is $56,071. The property tax rate sits at 0.88%.

Missouri assesses residential property at 19% of market value, commercial at 32%, and agricultural at 12%. The county assessor determines market values and reassesses real property every odd-numbered year under Section 137.115 of the Missouri Revised Statutes. Property tax bills are mailed by November 1 and payment is due by December 31.

The Missouri Department of Revenue offers property tax credits for qualifying residents, including the MO-PTC program for seniors and the Disabled Veteran Exemption.

Recording Fees in Daviess County

Recording fees follow the Missouri state schedule. A standard document is $24 for the first page and $3 for each additional page. Non-standard documents cost $49 for the first page. Plats and surveys have separate fee tiers based on paper size. These fees are set by state law and are consistent across Missouri's 115 counties.

Documents must meet formatting requirements: 8.5 by 11 inch white paper, 3-inch top margin on the first page, and at least 8-point type. Under Section 59.313, documents that fail these standards can still be recorded but carry an extra $25 charge. Make sure your documents are properly formatted before bringing them to the Daviess County Recorder's office to avoid the non-standard fee.

Missouri Land Record Resources

The Missouri Recorders Association provides contact details for all 115 county recorders and posts updates on recording standards. The Bureau of Land Management has federal land patent records for Missouri showing original public land sales. The Missouri Land Survey Index tracks surveys and plats filed across the state.

For genealogy work, the FamilySearch Missouri Land and Property guide covers how to find and use county deed records. Pre-1900 deeds for many Missouri counties are available on microfilm through the FamilySearch catalog. Missouri uses the rectangular land survey system for legal descriptions.

Note: Under Missouri law, records filed after December 31, 1969 must be requested from the original county recorder's office.

Before you file a deed in Daviess County, make sure it has a complete legal description that matches prior recordings for that parcel. Errors in the legal description can cloud the title and create problems for future buyers. It is also good practice to include the parcel number if you have it. The Recorder's staff can help you verify the format, but they cannot give legal advice about the content of your document.

Daviess County does not currently offer online access to property records, so all searches must be done in person or by contacting the Recorder's office. Call (660) 663-3300, extension 8, to ask about a specific record before you drive to Gallatin. You can also request copies by mail. Send a letter with the owner name, property address, or legal description to the office at 102 N. Main Street, Gallatin, MO 64640. Include a check for the copy fees and a self-addressed stamped envelope for the return. Copy fees in Missouri are typically $2 for the first page and $1 for each additional page. The Recorder's staff can confirm the exact cost when you call.

Nearby Counties

Daviess County is in northwest Missouri. Property must be recorded in the county where the land is located. Confirm your property falls in Daviess County before searching or filing.