Access Terry County Property Records

Terry County property records are filed and maintained by the County Clerk in Brownfield, a West Texas community that serves as the county seat. The clerk's office has deed records going back to 1880 and indexes all land documents including deeds, liens, oil and gas leases, mineral deeds, and plat maps. Online searches are available through TexasFile, which covers records from 1880 forward. This page explains how to access Terry County property records, what to expect from the search process, and what fees apply.

Terry County Clerk Office

The Terry County Clerk is the official custodian of all property records in the county. County Clerk Kim Carter heads the office at 500 West Main Street, Room 105, in Brownfield. The clerk records and indexes all instruments affecting real property in Terry County including deeds, deeds of trust, lien notices, oil and gas leases, mineral deeds, and plat maps. The office is open Monday through Friday during regular business hours.

Terry County deed records go back to 1880. The county has agricultural roots and a history of cotton farming, and the land records reflect decades of land transfers, lease agreements, and mineral rights activity. Oil and gas documents are an important part of the filing volume in this West Texas county. All document types are indexed in the same system under grantor and grantee names.

The District Clerk handles court-related filings separately. Tiffany O'Briant serves as District Clerk and can be reached at (806) 637-4202. The District Clerk's office is also at 500 West Main, Room 209E. If your property research involves a court judgment, foreclosure proceeding, or abstract of judgment, the District Clerk's records are the right place to look alongside the County Clerk's deed records.

How to Search Terry County Property Records

The best online option for Terry County property records is TexasFile, which indexes documents from 1880 to the present. You can search by grantor name, grantee name, document type, and date range. Free basic name searches show document type, recording date, and party names. Document images require a paid TexasFile subscription. For most research tasks, the free index results are enough to identify what records exist and when they were filed.

For in-person searches, visit the clerk's office at 500 West Main, Room 105. Public access is available during business hours. Staff can orient you to the index system, but under Texas AG Opinion WW-607, they cannot run searches for you. You are responsible for searching the index yourself. If you need help with a complex chain-of-title search, a local title company or licensed abstracter in Brownfield can do that work.

Mail requests are accepted. Include the names of all parties, approximate date of recording, and document type. Send payment for copy fees with your request or ask the clerk to bill you. Response times vary depending on office workload.

Types of Terry County Property Records

Terry County property records cover a wide range of land-related instruments. The filing volume includes surface deeds and also a significant number of oil and gas and mineral documents given the county's West Texas location. Under Texas Property Code Section 12.001, all instruments must be recorded to be enforceable against third parties.

Documents filed in the Terry County Clerk's office include general warranty deeds, special warranty deeds, quitclaim deeds, deeds of trust, releases and satisfactions, mechanic's liens, tax lien filings, oil and gas leases, mineral deeds, assignments of leases, overriding royalty assignments, easements, right-of-way agreements, plat maps, and assumed name certificates. Mineral deeds and oil and gas leases are indexed the same way as surface deeds, under grantor and grantee name with the recording date and instrument number.

Plat maps show the subdivision layouts for any platted areas within the county. These are stored as large-format originals and can be copied for a per-page fee. If you are working with a property in a platted subdivision in Brownfield or elsewhere in Terry County, the plat is an important document to pull alongside the deed chain.

Under Texas Property Code Section 13.001, recording gives constructive notice to the world. Any instrument in the public record before your purchase date is legally binding on you as the new owner. A full title search is the standard way to identify all recorded interests before closing on a property.

Terry County Appraisal District

The Terry County Appraisal District maintains the appraisal roll for all taxable property in the county. Chief Appraiser Eddie Olivas heads the office. You can reach the CAD by phone at (806) 637-6966 or by fax at (806) 637-4675. The mailing address is P.O. Box 426, Brownfield, TX 79316. The appraisal district is a separate agency from both the County Clerk and the tax assessor-collector, each handling a different function in the property tax system.

The CAD database shows current ownership, appraised values, exemption status, and property characteristics for parcels throughout Terry County. Ownership data in the CAD may be a few months behind recent deeds. For the most current transfer history, the County Clerk's deed index is the definitive source. Use both the CAD and the deed records together when doing full due diligence on a property purchase. If you want to protest your value, the deadline is May 15 or 30 days after the notice mails.

Recording Fees and Procedures

The standard recording fee in Terry County is $26.00 for the first page and $4.00 for each additional page. Indexing more than five party names costs $0.25 per extra name. These fees align with the Texas Local Government Code schedule for most counties in the state. Copies of recorded documents run $1.00 per page. Certified copies carry a $5.00 certification fee in addition to the per-page copy charge.

You can submit documents to the clerk's office in person, by mail, or through an eRecording vendor. Mail submissions need a check or money order payable to the Terry County Clerk and a self-addressed stamped envelope for return of the original. eRecording is available through authorized third-party vendors and is the fastest method for getting a document into the official record. After recording, the original is returned with the instrument number, recording date, and clerk's stamp affixed to the document.

Note: Once a document is indexed, it typically becomes available in TexasFile within a short period after the county processes the filing.

Texas Public Information Act

Terry County property records are public documents under Texas Government Code Chapter 552. Anyone can request access without giving a reason. You do not need to be the property owner or a named party. The clerk must respond promptly and, if production will take more than ten business days, must notify you of the expected timeline.

For records already in the online index, access is immediate. For older paper records or archived files, you may need to submit a formal written request. The Texas Attorney General's Open Government Division handles disputes about records access. If the clerk denies a request and you believe the records are public, the AG's office can issue a decision. Property records in Texas are broadly public, with limited exceptions for personal identifiers.

Social security numbers and financial account numbers are redacted from online document images under Texas Property Code Section 11.008(k). The original paper record held by the clerk contains the full information. Online images show blank fields where these redacted items appeared in the original document.

Additional Property Research Resources

The Texas Comptroller's Property Tax Assistance Division provides resources on property tax exemptions, protest rules, and appraisal procedures applicable to Terry County. The Texas General Land Office archives historical land grant records that may apply to older parcels in this part of West Texas. If you are tracing a chain of title back to the original grant, the GLO records are a useful complement to the county deed index.

For UCC liens and business entity searches, the Texas Secretary of State's SOSDirect is the right tool. Business-related liens filed at the state level can affect real property owned by a business entity and should be part of any full title search. The Texas State Law Library offers research guides on recording requirements and property law topics applicable throughout Texas.

Nearby Counties

Terry County is in the South Plains of West Texas. Confirm the correct county before you search, especially for properties near county lines.