| Pottawatomie County Register of Deeds Frequently Asked Questions |
| What is the Pottawatomie County Register of Deeds Office? |
| The Pottawatomie County Register of Deeds Office is the repository for most of the records pertaining to real estate in Pottawatomie County. This includes deeds, mortgages, releases & assignments of mortgage, liens, plats, oil & gas leases, articles of incorporation, death certificates, and powers of attorney. Most liens on personal property (UCC’s) are also recorded in the office. In addition to records on real estate and personal property; the Pottawatomie County Register of Deeds Office maintains records of military discharges, old school records, and information on county cemeteries. |
| How can I get copies of instruments filed in the Pottawatomie County Register of Deeds Office? |
| Our filing system requires us to have a name, legal description, or property address in order to retrieve records archived in the office. Some instruments are not subject to the Kansas Open Records Act or require special search documents to retrieve; at the time of your request the Register of Deeds staff will inform you if any of these circumstances apply to the requested document. Requests may be made by telephone, fax, mail, e-mail or in person at the Register of Deeds Office. We are able to satisfy most document requests by the same methods in which they can be requested. Please remember that we are dealing with records that date back as far as 1856 so it can often take time to locate some of the older records. All of your records are in a digital database for faster retrieval. The Register of Deeds offers a monthly or annual subscription for online access to these records. Please contact the Register of Deeds Office for more information. |
| How long does it take to record a document? |
| Documents are recorded on the same day that they are received in the office. Each document goes through a multi-step process when it is filed. The document is evaluated on the basis of completeness, compliance with state statutes; and then scanned for obvious errors. The proper fee is then assessed and no document is filed until the fee has been paid. (Please refer to the Fee Schedule and Instrument Filing Guidelines for more information fees and document preparation.) After these steps are completed the documents are recorded in the proper reception books and indices. When the indexing is completed the document is reproduced digitally and as a hard copy; the original documents may then be sent back to their place of origin. |
| Where do all the fees go? |
| All of the fees collected by the Pottawatomie County Register of Deeds office are deposited in the Pottawatomie County General Fund daily. The exceptions to this rule are the money collected for the Kansas Heritage Trust Fund & the Technology Fund, which are generated by a registration tax on mortgages. |
| Are there any liens against my property? |
| Some liens (mortgages, tax liens, etc.) filed against property will be listed in the indices. To obtain specific information about the lien it is always best for you to look at the actual document. The Deeds office also handles personal property liens; commonly referred to as UCC’s. (Uniform Commercial Code Filings) Federal and State Tax Liens against real and personal property may also be on file in the Deeds office. However all liens are not handled by the Register of Deeds. You should also check with the Pottawatomie County Clerk of the District Court, Motor Vehicles Department, Kansas Department of Human Resources, etc. for other lien filings. |
| Will someone do research for me? |
| The staff of the Register of Deeds Office can assist you in researching our archives. We are unable to do in-depth searches of the archives. In-depth searches are the realm of Title Companies, Attorneys, and privately contracted researchers. Our staff will answer simple questions concerning our records to inquiries made in person, by telephone, by fax, or by e-mail. Remember not all county records are filed in the Register of Deeds office. If you have questions, which are beyond our scope, we will refer you to another office or a professional to insure the best results to your queries. |