Logan County deed types and their role
Deed records in Logan County form the evidence trail behind recorded transfers. Yet a search can also return instruments that touch a parcel without conveying it. So identify the document type first. A conveyance names a grantor and a grantee. A deed of trust secures a loan. A release can clear a claim already on the books. A lis pendens warns that a lawsuit may affect title. Read the label before the names. That keeps a lien or court notice from being mistaken for a change in ownership.
| Instrument | What it does | Common research use |
|---|---|---|
| Deed with consideration | Records a transfer and stated consideration | Confirm a sale or chain link |
| Deed without consideration | Records a transfer with no consideration stated | Review family or entity transfers |
| Deed of trust | Records security for an obligation | Find a loan-related instrument |
| Release or satisfaction | Records that a claim or secured interest was released | Check a later status document |
| Lis pendens | Gives notice of litigation tied to property | Locate a related court file |
| Trustee report of sale | Records a trustee sale report | Trace a sale process and follow-up deed |
The clerk's fee chart lists further instruments, including land contracts, leases, liens, assignments, rights of way, and powers of attorney. A document's title alone does not settle its present effect on a parcel. Rely on the recorded text together with any later release, deed, or court order.
Logan County's online deed index begins in 1988
The Logan County Clerk points the public to Cott's West Virginia Portal. It covers land deeds, trust deeds, and liens filed from 1988 forward. That year marks the clerk's online convenience range. It does not mean older deeds are missing or destroyed. The portal publishes its own instructions on search fields, result limits, login rules, and image fees. Check those before assuming every image is open. A screenshot is no substitute for the live record.
For a recent transaction, note the parties. Also note the document type, recording date, book and page or document number, and legal description. Execution and recording dates can differ. The recording date is when the instrument entered the public record. If the web index shows nothing before 1988, turn to the clerk's books and the WVU or Archives holdings. Do not treat the portal cutoff as the start of Logan County ownership history.
The clerk's main page links the online system along with counter hours and phone contacts. Treat a search result as a lead. Order a certified copy when the document must be official.
Follow Logan County grantor and grantee names
A deed index makes more sense once the two party roles are clear. The grantor conveys an interest. The grantee receives it. To build a chain of title in Logan County, find the party as grantee on the deed that brought them the property, then search that same party as grantor on the next transfer. Names shift through marriage, initials, estate roles, company reorganizations, and plain spelling variants. Record each instrument you find rather than assuming a single match closes the chain.
- Grantor
- The party conveying an interest in the recorded instrument.
- Grantee
- The party receiving the interest.
- Recording date
- The date the clerk accepted the instrument into county records.
- Legal description
- The land description used in the deed, which may be a tract, lot, acreage, survey, or prior reference.
Where the portal allows it, run the same name in both roles. Then compare book and page, date, and legal description across the likely sequence. A person often appears as grantee on an older deed. They then appear as grantor years later. For trusts, corporations, estates, and coal-company tracts, search the exact entity name. Use the name as written in the document.
Trust deeds, liens, releases, and litigation notices
Logan County's clerk identifies land deeds, trust deeds, and liens among the online Cott records, and the fee list adds mechanics liens, statutory liens, lis pendens, judgments, releases, substitute trustees, and trustee reports of sale. These entries concern title or debt. Not every label signals an ownership change. A release follows a prior recorded claim; a lis pendens points to a court dispute; a trustee report belongs to a sale process.
Use the property account's deed book and page or legal description to tie an instrument to a parcel. Search the owner in both grantor and grantee roles, and note whether a later release or deed appears. FamilySearch catalog material lists historic trust deeds for 1874 through 1982, though deeper research should start with the county's books and official WVU or Archives finding aids.
When a notice points to foreclosure, quiet title, partition, or another lawsuit, use the statewide Court Record Access route and request the full Logan Circuit Court file. A docket recounts court events. The clerk's land index records instruments. Read the two sources together for the whole picture.
Logan County copy fees and certified records
The local fee chart lists plat maps at $11 and copies at $1.50 for the first two pages, then $1.00 per additional page. A certified copy adds $1.00. State law tells a different story in places. W. Va. Code ยง59-1-10 sets recording and copy amounts that do not match every local chart entry, so the clerk should confirm the total for your record, page count, and certification before any payment goes out.
Certification matters. A certified copy bears the clerk's seal and carries weight that an online index or a printed screen does not. Ask whether the record can come by email, mail, or counter pickup, and give the full book/page or document number. No reference in hand? Provide the parties, property address, parcel number, legal description, and approximate filing period so staff can narrow the search. Logan County Clerk's fee chart posts the current listed charges and copy schedule.
The statute and the county chart disagree in spots. Let the clerk settle the total before you place an order.
Order Logan County clerk records through the counter
The County Clerk sits at 300 Stratton Street, Room 102, Logan, West Virginia 25601. Listed weekday hours run 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The office closes daily from noon to 1 p.m. The office phone is 304-792-8600. Call ahead when you need a specific deed book, a probate file, or a record older than the Cott range. The local page also lists fax 304-792-8246 and logancounty@wvsos.com.
Keep the request narrow so staff can find the right instrument fast. Give the parties in their correct roles if known. Include the approximate date, book/page, property location, map/parcel, and record type. Ask whether inspection or a copy is available and whether a certification fee applies. Skip extra personal identifiers; a land-record search does not need them. The official Logan County Clerk page posts the office details. It also shows stated service hours and the lunch closure.
The counter is the fallback when an online result comes back incomplete or an older deed index must be consulted by hand. The statewide County Clerk Directory lists Logan County's office contact too, which helps separate the county custodian from a portal provider.
Call the clerk's office or stop at the counter to confirm the book, page, and copy type before you order.
Use Logan County's historical index reels
WVU's West Virginia & Regional History Center holds Logan County's older deed records on microfilm. The grantor indexes sit on LOG 1-4. The grantee indexes sit on LOG 5-8, and the deed books sit on LOG 9-19. That division turns an old deed hunt into a precise request. The finding aid adds surveyor records on LOG 177-179 and LOG 202. It also lists land books on LOG 181-188, contracts on LOG 190-192, leases on LOG 193-196, and commissioners' records on LOG 197-201.
Walking a chain backward takes patience. Start with the newest deed. Identify its grantor. Search that name as grantee in the earlier index, then follow the prior instrument to the next grantor, and keep both indexes in play. Older entries may spell names differently. They may lean on a first initial, entity name, acreage, or tract instead of a road address. Write down every reel and book reference so the search can be repeated. The WVU Logan County records finding aid describes the reel and book groups. It also helps when you need a precise span.
Asking for LOG 5-8 grantee reels is not the same as requesting a modern Cott image. Both support the chain, though.
Logan plats connect deeds to land
A plat shows lot layout, subdivision geometry, and features like roads or rights of way. Logan County's clerk fee chart lists plat maps at $11, while state law sets $10 for a plat or map without a deed. Confirm the local charge before ordering. A plat can translate an older legal description into a lot or addition, but it cannot alone establish present ownership or the exact ground boundary.
Use a deed's book/page and legal description to locate the related plat, then compare its lots and rights of way with the statewide parcel map. Logan research often turns on acreage, a creek or river, a survey, coal-company land, a named neighbor, or an old tract. A current road number may never appear in a historic instrument. Preserve the terms as written. Do not force a metes-and-bounds description into an assumed street parcel.
For a disputed location, the deed and recorded plat frame the question. A licensed surveyor answers where the legal line lies on the ground. GIS and plat geometry serve as research aids.
Connect Logan County deeds with court records
Court filings can change who holds title. A lis pendens or judgment tied to a parcel can affect a deed. It can limit the interest the deed seems to convey. The West Virginia Judiciary runs a statewide Court Record Access page for circuit records. It covers Logan County matters. Its WVPASS launch information dates to 2025. The page does not publish its live filters or image limits. Search by case number or party name. Then call the Logan Circuit Clerk at 304-792-8550 for the complete file.
Ask for the right papers. A complaint, answer, orders, decree, sale confirmation, or release may fit the issue. A docket entry is not a recorded deed. When an order transfers or limits an interest, confirm the related instrument. It should sit in the land-record index. Dates and legal descriptions must match before anyone decides what changed.
The judiciary's court access page is the statewide entry point. The public landing screen shows the search options a visitor first encounters.
Logan County publishes no property-fraud alert service. If an unexpected filing appears, compare the certified instrument and ask the clerk which office should get the report.