Jefferson County Clerk
About the Jefferson County Clerk
Jefferson County sits on the dry side of the Cascades around Madras, where roughly 300 sunny days a year and low rainfall support an irrigated farm economy built on vegetable seed, grass and flower seed, garlic, mint, and sugar beets across some 60,000 acres. Three national forests and the Crooked River National Grassland ring the county's edges, and hunting and fishing draw a steady stream of visitors on top of the roughly 25,000 residents who call the county home. The County Clerk's office in Madras, the county seat and largest city, serves this mostly agricultural population with routine, workaday filing hours.
Cities and Communities Served
Recording jurisdiction runs countywide, not by city limits — if the property sits anywhere within Jefferson County, this is the Clerk’s office that will accept the deed. That includes:
Incorporated cities: Madras (county seat), Culver, and Metolius.
Unincorporated communities: Ashwood, Gateway, Geneva, Horse Heaven, Camp Sherman, and Crooked River Ranch.
The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Reservation covers a substantial share of Jefferson County — the tribe owns and manages roughly a fifth of all land in the county, alongside the U.S. Forest Service as the other major landowner. The reservation, established by the 1855 Treaty with the Tribes of Middle Oregon, spans mainly Wasco and Jefferson counties. The reservation community of Warm Springs is included among the unincorporated communities above, but land within tribal trust follows separate property-conveyance rules and is not part of the County Clerk's general recording jurisdiction.
Office Details
Address: 66 SE D Street, Suite C, Madras, OR 97741
Phone: (541) 475-4451
Hours: Monday – Friday, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Recording Fee: Oregon recording fees are set individually by each county and change periodically — check Jefferson County's current fee schedule or call the office to confirm the exact amount before filing.
Document Search: Jefferson County Clerk Online Land Records
How to File a Document
- Prepare Your Document: Make sure your deed meets Oregon's formatting and content requirements before you file.
- Get It Notarized: Have the document signed in front of an Oregon notary public or other authorized official. No notary nearby in Madras? Oregon allows remote online notarization — you can have your Jefferson County deed notarized online by an Oregon-commissioned notary instead.
- Meet Oregon's First-Page Requirements: Oregon law requires your deed's first page to show the title, grantor and grantee names, the true consideration, and an address for tax statements. If your document doesn't already include this, you'll need to attach a cover sheet, which adds $5 to the recording fee.
- Record It: You can file in person or by mail with the Jefferson County Clerk's office.
- Pay the Recording Fee: Oregon recording fees are set individually by each county and change periodically — check the current fee schedule or call the office to confirm the exact amount before filing.
- Keep Your Receipt: Your recorded document (or a certified copy) is your proof of filing.
Filing? Get a Deed the Jefferson County Clerk Will Accept
FREE generic forms are the most common reason Oregon deeds get rejected — usually over formatting, the legal description, or notary acknowledgment.
Two ways to avoid that:
Both are Oregon-compliant and built for the Jefferson County Clerk’s exact requirements.
Disclosure: affiliate links to Standard Legal, our partner — no extra cost to you.
You are not on the official Jefferson County government website. OregonQuitclaimDeed.com is a privately owned website and is not affiliated with any government agency.