Property records in Texas are maintained at the county level. The County Appraisal District (CAD) handles property valuations and assessment data. The County Tax Assessor-Collector handles tax bills and payments. These are separate offices with separate databases.
What this page covers: Texas property assessment lookups, tax record searches, and parcel/ownership data. What it does not cover: Recorded documents like deeds and mortgages (those are on the Recorded Documents page) or property transfer history.
Where to start: For property values and tax assessments, start with the County Appraisal District (CAD). For tax payment history and bills, go to the County Tax Assessor-Collector. For ownership verification, you may need both the assessment records and the recorded documents.
Common mistake: Property assessment records (values and taxes) and recorded documents (deeds and liens) are maintained by different offices in Texas. The County Appraisal District (CAD) handles assessments; the County Clerk handles recordings. Search both if you need the full picture.
How Texas Property Records Work — Deep Dive
Who records deeds in Texas: the County Clerk
Texas Local Government Code §191.001 makes the elected County Clerk the recorder of real-property instruments in each of the 254 counties. Tarrant County's published guidance explains: the County Clerk's Recording Division receives original signed and notarized documents, indexes them by grantor/grantee, and returns them to the filer [tarrantcountytx.gov]. Travis County's Recording Division provides a similar walk-through of fee structure and document types [countyclerk.traviscountytx.gov]. Smaller counties such as Walker and Chambers maintain their own deed-records databases [co.walker.tx.us] [chamberscountytx.gov]. The Texas State Library maintains an overview of which county-record series exist statewide [tsl.texas.gov].
Appraisal Districts handle property taxes (not the Clerk)
Unlike most states, Texas separates the recording function (County Clerk) from the appraisal/tax function (the county Appraisal District, often called the CAD). The CAD determines market value annually, mails notices, and certifies the rolls used by the county Tax Assessor-Collector for billing. To look up a parcel's assessed value, ownership of record, or homestead-exemption status, search the relevant county's appraisal district website, not the County Clerk.
Statewide & specialized data
The Texas General Land Office GIS portal is the authoritative source for original state-grant survey patents, public-school land, and submerged lands. For oil-and-gas surface and subsurface data — relevant to Texas property where minerals are commonly severed from the surface estate — the Railroad Commission of Texas Public GIS Viewer exposes well, lease and unit boundaries statewide.
Which Texas counties publish parcel and property data online
138 of Texas's 256 counties run their own online source for parcel and property data, based on what this directory indexes. Every other county is covered by the statewide systems listed above — click a county for its full records page.
Frequently Asked Questions: Texas Property Records
Who records deeds in Texas?▼
The elected County Clerk in each of Texas's 254 counties is the recorder of real-property instruments — deeds, deeds of trust, releases, liens, and plats. Tarrant County's County Clerk publishes the standard recording workflow [tarrantcountytx.gov].
Where do I look up a property's appraised value?▼
Each county's Appraisal District (CAD) — a separate office from the County Clerk — maintains parcel-level appraisal and exemption records. The Texas Property Tax Code requires the CAD to value all taxable property annually.
Is there a statewide property database for Texas?▼
No statewide consolidated parcel or deed index exists. Search the County Clerk for deeds and the local Appraisal District for tax/appraisal data. The Texas General Land Office maintains the statewide GIS layer for original state grants and public lands [glo.texas.gov].
How do I find mineral rights or oil & gas leases on a Texas property?▼
The Railroad Commission of Texas Public GIS Viewer exposes wells, leases and units statewide [rrc.texas.gov]. Mineral conveyances are filed in the County Clerk's real-property records of the county where the minerals lie.
Are Texas property records free online?▼
County Clerks and Appraisal Districts in most populous counties (Travis, Tarrant, Dallas, Harris) publish free online search of indexes; document images may require a per-page fee. Smaller counties may require in-person review.
Texas Property Records — Key Facts (2026)
What Changed in 2026 — Texas Property Records
The 5-Tier Texas Property Records Stack
Five Things People Get Wrong About Texas Property Records
Primary Sources and Official Record Portals
- comptroller.texas.gov — Official Texas Property Records — State portal for Texas property records
- BLM General Land Office Records — Federal land records (patents, GLO)
- FEMA Flood Map Service Center — Federal flood-zone maps
- HUD Buying a Home — Federal housing programs & property data
- IRS Federal Tax Liens — IRS lien procedures
- USA Spending — Federal Real Property — Federal property spending portal
- National Archives — Land Records — Historical federal land records (RG 49)
Related Property Records Resources
- Texas Court Records →
- Texas Criminal Records →
- Texas Vital Records →
- Texas Voter Records →
- Texas Wants & Warrants →
- Texas Licenses →
- Texas Recorded Documents →
- Alaska
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- Arizona
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- District of Columbia
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Iowa
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Massachusetts
- Maryland
- Maine
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Mississippi
- Montana
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- Nevada
- New York
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Utah
- Virginia
- Vermont
- Washington
- Wisconsin
- West Virginia
- Wyoming
Property Records Databases
Official Texas property records sources from county recorder/clerk offices, county appraisal districts/assessors, and statewide GIS portals.
