Orange County Property Records Lookup

Orange County property records are kept by the Circuit Court Clerk in Orange, Virginia, the official record keeper for all real estate instruments filed in the county. Deeds, deeds of trust, plats, liens, and other land documents are recorded and indexed at the courthouse and open to the public. You can search online through the SRA system at vacourts.gov or look up parcel data through the CivQuest GIS viewer. In-person visits to the clerk's office are welcome during business hours, and mail-in requests for copies are accepted. Assessment data is available through the Commissioner of Revenue and the county's Real Estate Assessment Department. This page explains all of your options for finding Orange County property records.

Circuit Court Clerk - Official Land Records

The Clerk of the Circuit Court of Orange County is a Constitutional officer elected by citizens for an eight-year term. The primary functions of this office are to provide administrative support for all aspects of the circuit court, to act as probate judge, and to serve as the official recorder of all land records as prescribed by law.

The Orange Circuit Court is part of the 16th Judicial Circuit of Virginia. The Clerk of Court is Hon. Melissa Morris. Office hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Physical Address: 110 N. Madison Road, Suite 300, Orange, VA 22960. Mailing Address: P.O. Box 230, Orange, VA 22960. Phone: (540) 672-6162. Fax: (540) 672-2939.

Payment Options at the Clerk's office include cash, check, Visa, and MasterCard in person. Checks should be made payable to "Orange County Circuit Court." Credit card transactions of $50 and less carry a $2 service fee. A 4% service fee is assessed on each transaction greater than $50. Online payments can be made through the Virginia Judiciary Online Payment System.

The Circuit Court Clerk's Office is not permitted to notarize documents on a citizen's behalf. For land record recording, visit the office during business hours. Under Title 55.1 of the Code of Virginia, deeds and other conveyance instruments must be recorded to be effective against third parties. Visit the Orange County Circuit Court Clerk page for full procedural details.

The Virginia Judicial System page for Orange County provides the current clerk's contact information and hours.

GIS Parcel Viewer and Open Data

Orange County's primary online parcel tool is the CivQuest GIS parcel viewer. This interactive mapping system displays tax parcels, roads, floodplain, zoning, topography, and other geographic layers. Users can turn layers on and off to customize the map view. The system allows you to search for and view tabular data such as tax parcel ownership, draw shapes, measure distances, and print maps.

The parcel viewer is linked directly from the Orange County official website homepage and is one of the most convenient ways to look up a property before visiting the courthouse. You can search by parcel number, owner name, or address and pull up property card data including ownership and assessment information.

Orange County also maintains an open data repository at the GIS Department page. Through Orange County Open Data, users can search, view, and download various data layers in formats including spreadsheet, KML, shapefile, file geodatabase, and others. This is useful for title researchers, surveyors, or anyone who needs to download bulk parcel data for their own GIS software.

For mapping questions, addressing issues, or to report mapping inaccuracies, email the county's GIS contact through the GIS Department page. A Mapping Errors Form is also available to report problems with the parcel data.

The Orange County CivQuest GIS parcel viewer provides an interactive map of tax parcels, roads, floodplains, and zoning layers.

The parcel viewer at orange.civ.quest lets users search by owner name, parcel number, or address and view property card data.

The Orange County GIS Department page describes the tax parcel viewer, open data portal, and available data layer downloads.

Orange County Open Data lets you download parcel data in multiple formats for use in personal GIS software or mapping applications.

Commissioner of Revenue and Real Estate Assessments

The Office of the Commissioner of the Revenue is a Constitutional Office of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the County of Orange. The Commissioner is locally elected every four years and is the chief tax authority for the locality. The office is responsible for administering the Tax Relief for the Elderly and Handicapped program, Land Use and Veteran's Exemptions.

The Commissioner is also responsible for accurately assessing all personal and business property, Individual Income tax filing, Short Term Rental tax, and Meals Tax for the County of Orange. For questions about items on your tax bill, contact the Commissioner of the Revenue office at (540) 672-4441.

Orange County has established a separate Real Estate Assessment Department to conduct assessments. Inquiries about current assessing processes should be directed to the County Assessor at (540) 661-5430. This is a distinction worth noting: for tax bill questions, contact the Commissioner of Revenue; for questions about how your property was assessed, contact the County Assessor.

Visit the Commissioner of the Revenue page for current contact details and program information.

The Orange County Commissioner of Revenue page outlines tax assessment responsibilities and relief programs available to eligible residents.

The Commissioner of Revenue handles personal and business property taxes, income tax filing, and short-term rental and meals taxes in Orange County.

Treasurer - Tax Collection

In 1869, the Constitution of Virginia established the office of Treasurer in each county, city, and town. The Treasurer is an elected official directly responsible to citizens for the receipt and collection of revenue, the safekeeping of that revenue, and the appropriate accounting for and disbursements of the revenue. The Treasurer also collects state funds under the Code of Virginia and serves a four-year term.

The Orange County Treasurer collects real estate taxes, personal property taxes, and a range of other county fees. For current tax rates and payment information, visit the Treasurer's office page on the county website.

Orange County's tax and fee schedules are published annually. The FY26 Tax and Fee Schedule is effective July 1, 2025. The Tax and Fee Schedule page provides a convenient reference for all current rates. Actual rates are set by the Board of Supervisors and may be changed by ordinance or resolution at any time.

The Orange County Treasurer's page describes the constitutional basis for the Treasurer's role and tax collection responsibilities.

The Treasurer collects real estate taxes, personal property taxes, and other county revenue. Contact the Treasurer's office for payment options and current due dates.

Legal Framework for Property Records

Property records in Orange County are governed by Title 55.1 of the Code of Virginia. This title covers the full range of property law in Virginia, including conveyances, deeds, recording requirements, and the effect of recording on third parties.

The recording requirement under § 55.1-600 means that a deed is not effective against a third-party purchaser or lender who does not have notice of it unless it has been recorded in the local circuit court. This makes the land records at the Circuit Court Clerk's office the definitive source for property ownership and encumbrances.

When you research a property, the recommended approach is to use the GIS parcel viewer to locate the parcel and get basic information, then search the land records at the Circuit Court for recorded deeds and instruments, and finally check with the Commissioner of Revenue for the current assessed value and tax status. This three-step process covers the key sources of property information in Orange County.

For any property research that will be used in a legal or financial transaction, work with a licensed attorney or title company. The tools and records described on this page are intended for general reference and research purposes only.