County Clerk & Recorder

The Clerk is responsible for keeping an accurate record of all the proceedings of the County Board and to maintain all its official records. Passage of the "Consolidation of Elections Law" in 1980 provided that the Clerk has the responsibility to prepare for and administer the election process for local, state and national elections. This law provides for a more uniform election process in the State of Illinois.

By law, the County Clerk also files the commissions for notary public, files assumed names for businesses, issues marriage licenses, files campaign disclosure statements and statements of economic interest. As a service to the public, the County Clerk’s office processes passports and supplies information on national, state, county and local government. The County Clerk’s office is the depository for vital records for DeKalb County residents. The office has on file birth and death certificates from January, 1878. The Clerk’s office also has issued marriage licenses since the founding of the county in 1837.

The County Clerk’s office is responsible for annually computing the property tax rates for all parcels of land within the county and the redemption of delinquent taxes.

The functions of the DeKalb County Recorder:

The operations of the County Recorder are specified by and required by the Illinois Compiled Statutes. Briefly, the Recorder is required to record all documents submitted by the public which are qualified to be recorded; to maintain an up-to-date and accurate set of maps (or "plats") which show the current ownership of every tract of land in the entire county, and to perform all functions of a clerical and technical nature to accomplish that objective.

In DeKalb County, by order of the County Board, the Recorder also maintains a "Tract Index" of real estate transactions, which indicates the title to property and any mortgages or liens against it. The chain of title may be traced back to the original government grant in this Tract Index.