Guide · Texas · records
Where Texas land and mineral records are kept
Land title in Texas is spread across a few offices, and none of them holds the whole answer. This page maps a question to the office, the record book or database, and what that record cannot tell you.
In one paragraph
The recorded chain is at the county clerk: deeds, oil and gas leases, releases, plats and the other instruments recorded against the land. Where the county clerk serves as clerk of the county court, the clerk also keeps probate files. The General Land Office holds the land grant archive. The Railroad Commission of Texas reports wells, permits, operators and production. The county appraisal district keeps the appraisal records, which list the owner's name, or say it is unknown. The Railroad Commission says its online data is not an authoritative public record, and a mistake in an owner's name does not affect the validity of the appraisal records (Tax Code § 25.02(b)). Treat those two as places to start a search or check a fact, then run the chain in the county records.
Quick map
| The question | The office | The record | What it will not tell you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who owns it of record, and what instruments affect it? | County clerk, as recorder | Deed Record or Official Public Records of Real Property, Release Record, Plat Record | Instruments never recorded, or recorded only in another county (Prop. Code § 13.001, § 13.003) |
| Who was the original grantee, and where is the survey? | General Land Office. Schedule CC also lists a county Patent Record and, among the county surveyor's records, a Survey Record. | Land Grant Database, searchable by abstract number and grantee; Land & Lease Mapping Viewer for survey boundaries | Anything after the grant. Later transfers are in the county records. |
| Is there a lease of record? | County clerk | Oil and Gas Lease Record, or the real property records; ask the clerk which | Whether the lease is still in force. That turns on its terms and on production (No. 14). |
| Is it drilled, and is it producing? | Railroad Commission of Texas | Drilling Permit (W-1), Wellbore, Production Data and Production Reports queries | Who owns the minerals. The Commission says the data is not an authoritative public record. |
| Whom does the appraisal district list as owner? | County appraisal district | Appraisal records (Tax Code § 25.02) | Title. The listed owner can be wrong: a mistake in the owner's name does not affect the validity of the appraisal records (§ 25.02(b)). |
| Did the owner die, and was there a probate? | County clerk, as clerk of the county court | Probate case papers, will record, inventory record, small estates record | Heirs of an estate that was never opened. A recorded affidavit of heirship is a separate instrument in the deed records. |
| Is there a pending suit or a judgment against an owner? | County clerk | Lis pendens record; abstract of judgment, indexed by name | A pending suit where no lis pendens was filed, since filing one is something a party "may" do. The rules are in the index guide. |
County clerk
To be effectively recorded, an instrument relating to real property must be recorded in the county where a part of the property is located (Tex. Prop. Code § 11.001(a)). A county clerk must record instruments relating to the same property in the order they are filed and must "provide and keep in the clerk's office the indexes required by law" (§ 11.004(a)(3), (4)). How those indexes work, and where a name search slips, is in the guide on the grantor-grantee index and the tract index.
The Texas State Library and Archives Commission publishes Local Schedule CC, the retention schedule for records of county clerks (revised third edition, effective March 25, 2019). It has parts for the county clerk as recorder, the county clerk as clerk of the county court, the Official Public Records, and the records of the county surveyor. It lists record series a clerk may keep and the minimum time each must be kept. These are the series a title run leans on, and the schedule marks every one of them permanent. Five of them the schedule lists by title only, with no description: the Deed Record (CC1275-11), the Oil and Gas Lease Record (CC1275-14), the Patent Record (CC1275-16), the Plat Record (CC1275-17) and the Public Land Lease Record (CC1275-18, also titled "Abstract of Leases of Public Land"). Four more it describes, or explains in a note:
| Record series | Schedule no. | What the schedule says |
|---|---|---|
| Transfer of Property Register | CC1275-22 | A record or register of property transfers showing grantor and grantee, type of instrument, description of the property, date filed, and the page and volume of the Deed Record where the instrument is recorded. |
| Release Record | CC1300-25 | Recorded releases of mortgages, deeds of trust, liens and other instruments affecting real property. |
| Official Public Records | CC1820-01 to CC1820-08 | Seven series with the class titles in Local Government Code § 193.008, starting with Official Public Records of Real Property, and an eighth, "Official Public Records" (CC1820-08), which the schedule describes as a combination of the real property series and the governmental, business, and personal matters series. |
| Survey Record (Record of Field Notes) | CC1825-06 | Recorded copies of field notes and plats of surveys of public land. The schedule's note says that when the office of county surveyor is vacant or has been abolished, the county clerk takes custody of the surveyor's records. |
The schedule also lists a Burned Deed Record (CC1275-06), a Transcribed Deed Record (CC1275-20) and a Transcribed Spanish Deed Record (CC1275-21), all permanent. It gives no description of them, so ask the clerk what a given county holds under those names.
The schedule is a retention schedule. It is not a list of what each county has, and it does not say that every county keeps each series as a separate book. Under § 193.008 a clerk who keeps records on microfilm divides them into seven classes, and § 193.002(a) lets a clerk who does not use microfilm do the same. Records relating to real property are one of those classes, and the clerk may combine it with the class for governmental, business and personal matters (§ 193.008(d)). Ask which book or class holds what you need. This page does not say which counties put their records online.
Probate and the courts
Section 3-3 of Local Schedule CC lists the probate record series for the county clerk as clerk of the county court. Among the series:
- Probate case papers, described as "original case papers, including wills, of matters within the jurisdiction of a county court as probate court" (CC1625-10).
- Will Record, recorded copies of wills (CC1625-22), and the Probate Minutes (CC1625-14).
- Inventory Record, recorded inventories and appraisements of property in probate cases (CC1625-08).
- Small Estates Affidavits and the Small Estates Record, affidavits filed by the distributees of small estates (CC1625-17 and CC1625-19).
The case papers series covers matters within a county court's probate jurisdiction. If the estate was handled in another court, ask that court's clerk.
A recorded affidavit of heirship is a different thing and sits in a different place. Under Tex. Est. Code § 203.001(a), in a proceeding to declare heirship or a suit involving title to property, a court receives a statement of facts about family history, genealogy, marital status or the identity of heirs as prima facie evidence of the facts in it if the statement is in an affidavit or other instrument sworn or acknowledged before an authorized officer, or in a court judgment, and has been of record for five years or more in the deed records of a county in this state where the property is located when the suit is commenced, or where the decedent was domiciled or had a fixed place of residence at death. If the recorded statement has an error, anyone interested in the proceeding may prove the true facts (§ 203.001(b)). So a family with no probate file can still have an affidavit in the deed records. See No. 01, and No. 03 for a will probated out of state.
Two other records come back to the clerk. The clerk records a lis pendens in a lis pendens record and indexes it under the name of each party (Prop. Code § 12.007(c)). The clerk records an abstract of judgment in the county real property records and indexes it by plaintiff and defendant (§ 52.004).
General Land Office
The General Land Office (GLO) keeps the land grant archive and searches it through its Land Grant Database. The database's search filters are county, abstract number, original grantee, patentee, class, file number, certificate, title date, patent date, patent number, patent volume, part section, and survey, block or township. So the abstract number and survey name in a legal description are what to search on. The patent is the first link in the chain (Pat. in the glossary). Schedule CC lists a county Patent Record but gives it no description, so ask the clerk whether the county has a recorded copy of a patent and where it is kept.
The GLO's "Search Our Collections" page also lists a Map Database and Store, an Archival Collections Database, and Spanish Collection catalogues for Spanish and Mexican land records. Its Land & Lease Mapping Viewer shows upland and submerged Original Texas Land Survey boundaries, Permanent School Fund land, upland and coastal leases, oil and gas well locations, and current aerial imagery.
The grant record gives the original grantee, the patentee, the abstract and the survey. It does not show who owns the land now. The county records carry the chain from there.
Railroad Commission of Texas
The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) runs online research queries for oil and gas. These are the queries on its list that bear on a title run, with the update schedule the RRC gives for each:
| Query | Update listed by the RRC |
|---|---|
| Drilling Permit (W-1) Query | Nightly |
| Wellbore Query | Nightly |
| Completions Query | Nightly |
| Production Data Query System (PDQ), statewide | Monthly |
| Production Reports Query (Form PR) | Nightly |
| Organization (P-5) Query | Nightly |
| P-4 Gatherer/Purchaser Query | Nightly |
| Inactive Well Query | Nightly |
| Maps, Public GIS Viewer | Nightly |
Three of them have search criteria worth knowing. The Wellbore Query takes an oil lease number or gas well ID, district, well type, county, field, operator, drilling permit number or API number, and lets you choose wells that are current, historical or both. The Production Data Query has a general query, for an area and a span of years, and a specific lease query for when you have the lease number and the district number. The Public GIS Viewer has survey, lease and well searches.
Read the limits before you rely on a screen:
- The online production data loaded starts in 1993. When we read the Production Data Query page on September 29, 2026, it said production data was loaded from January 1993 through July 2026 and that it reflected reports processed through September 18, 2026. That range moves. Re-read it when you use it. The RRC's research page says the historical material in Central Records can be researched in person, with limited machines for microfilm and microfiche.
- Not an authoritative record. The RRC's disclaimer on the queries says the data sets are provided as a public service for informational purposes only, are "NOT intended to be used as an authoritative public record" and have no legal force or effect, and that users must check accuracy, completeness, currency or suitability themselves.
- The map is approximate. The Public GIS Viewer's disclaimer says its data generally does not represent an on-the-ground survey, shows only the approximate relative location of property boundaries, and has no legal force or effect.
- Wells, not owners. The queries above report wells, permits, operators, gatherers and volumes, and none of them is a query for mineral ownership. An oil and gas lease is an instrument, and the county clerk is where a recorded one is kept.
Curative No. 14 is where production records come in: the usual cure is a release from the lessee, or an affidavit of non-production backed by state production records. The glossary has RRC. This page covers Texas. For Louisiana parish records, see parish.land.
Appraisal district
Under Tex. Tax Code § 25.02(a), the appraisal records include the name and address of the owner (or a statement that it is unknown), real property, and separately taxable estates or interests in real property, with appraised values and the tax year. For the Tax Code, "real property" includes "a mineral in place" and an estate or interest in it (§ 1.04(2)(D), (F)).
The roll is a place to start a search. Under § 25.02(b), a mistake in the name or address of an owner "does not affect the validity of the appraisal records, of any appraisal or tax roll based on them, or of the tax imposed," and the mistake may be corrected as the Tax Code provides. Use the owner and property listing on the roll as a starting point, then run the chain in the county records.
To find a county's appraisal district, the Texas Comptroller keeps a directory of appraisal districts and county tax offices, which it says is updated periodically with information as reported by the districts and offices. The Comptroller's office does not have your local appraisal or tax information, so the directory points you to the district.
One tract across the offices
The sample runsheet on the home page uses placeholder names, Blackacre, Doe, Roe and Stiles, and no real tract. Here is which office supplies the lines of that runsheet, after a starting step.
| Sample runsheet line | Where it comes from |
|---|---|
| Starting step, before the first line: owner of record and legal description | Appraisal district roll, or the vesting deed you send. |
| 1911, State of Texas to Doe, Pat. | The GLO Land Grant Database is searched by abstract number and grantee. If the county recorded a copy, ask the clerk where; Schedule CC lists both a Patent Record and a Deed Record. |
| 1938, Doe to Roe, WD | County clerk, Deed Record or Official Public Records. |
| 1952, Roe to bank, DT; "No release of record" | County clerk. A release would be a recorded instrument too, and Schedule CC lists a Release Record. |
| 1977, AOH; "No probate" | The county clerk as clerk of the county court for the probate files, and the deed records for the affidavit itself. |
| 1981, OGL; "no prod., no release" | County clerk for the lease. The RRC's online production data loaded starts January 1993, after this lease's three-year term, so for whether it produced in 1981 to 1984 ask the RRC about its historical material, which its research page says can be researched in person at Central Records. Read anything from the RRC with its caution above. |
| 1996, Stiles to Stiles, MD | County clerk's index, if the Stiles name is searched on its own. No name in the Doe and Roe chain leads to it. The index guide covers why. |
What to bring
Whoever you ask, a clerk, the GLO or the RRC, these help:
- The county, and the owner's name as it appears of record, with other forms of it.
- The legal description, or at least the abstract number and survey name, or the section and block.
- A Vol/Pg or Inst. No. if you have one.
- For the RRC, a lease number and district number, an API number, or an operator and county.
- The dates you care about, so you can say where to stop.
Sources
The statements about statutes, the schedule and the agency pages come from the texts below. The sample runsheet and the curative numbers are on this site's home page. The state's statutes site runs as a script page, so the links go to the chapter page and its section anchor. Statute text was read there and is current through the 2025 Legislature, 2nd Called Session.
- Texas State Library and Archives Commission, Local Schedule CC, Retention Schedule for Records of County Clerks, revised third edition, effective March 25, 2019. https://www.tsl.texas.gov/slrm/localretention/schedule_cc
Record series numbers, descriptions and retention periods. Opened September 29, 2026. - Tex. Prop. Code, §§ 11.001, 11.004, 12.007, 13.001, 13.003 and 52.004. https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PR/htm/PR.11.htm#11.001
Chapter 11 is at this link. Chapters 12, 13 and 52 are at the same address with PR.12, PR.13 and PR.52. Opened September 29, 2026. - Tex. Loc. Gov't Code, §§ 193.002 and 193.008. https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/LG/htm/LG.193.htm#193.008
Classification of records on microfilm, and of records not on microfilm. Section 193.002 is on the same chapter page. Opened September 29, 2026. - Tex. Est. Code, § 203.001. https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/ES/htm/ES.203.htm#203.001
Recorded statement of facts as prima facie evidence of heirship. Opened September 29, 2026. - Tex. Tax Code, § 1.04 and § 25.02. https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/TX/htm/TX.25.htm#25.02
Chapter 1 is at the same address with TX.1 in place of TX.25. Opened September 29, 2026. - Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Local Property Appraisal and Tax Information (county directory). https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/property-tax/county-directory/
Directory of appraisal districts and county tax offices. Opened September 29, 2026. - Texas General Land Office, Land Grant Database. https://www.glo.texas.gov/archives-heritage/search-our-collections/land-grant-search
Search filters listed on the page. Opened September 29, 2026. - Texas General Land Office, Search Our Collections. https://www.glo.texas.gov/archives-heritage/search-our-collections
The archival databases and Spanish Collection catalogues. Opened September 29, 2026. - Texas General Land Office, Land & Lease Mapping Viewer. https://www.glo.texas.gov/maps/land-lease-mapping-viewer
What the viewer displays. Opened September 29, 2026. - Railroad Commission of Texas, Oil & Gas Online Research Queries. https://www.rrc.texas.gov/resource-center/research/research-queries/
Query names, update schedule and disclaimer. Opened September 29, 2026. - Railroad Commission of Texas, Oil & Gas Production Data Query. https://webapps.rrc.texas.gov/PDQ
The loaded production range, read September 29, 2026. Opened September 29, 2026. - Railroad Commission of Texas, Wellbore Query. https://webapps2.rrc.texas.gov/EWA/wellboreQueryAction.do
Search criteria. Opened September 29, 2026. - Railroad Commission of Texas, Public GIS Viewer (Map). https://www.rrc.texas.gov/resource-center/research/gis-viewer/
Disclaimer language for the map data. Opened September 29, 2026.