Sierra County Property Records

Sierra County Clerk-Recorder-Registrar — Overview

The Sierra County Clerk-Recorder-Registrar's office maintains all official real property records for the county, including deeds, deeds of trust, liens, reconveyances, notices of default, and other instruments affecting title to real property. The office is located at 100 Courthouse Square, Room 11, Downieville, CA 95936.

Clerk-Recorder's Office serves as the Clerk-Recorder-Registrar. Office hours are Mon–Fri 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM, with document recording accepted during 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM. Phone: (530) 289-3295.

✓ E-Recording Available

Sierra County Recording Fees

Population: 3,000 — The Smallest County in California's Recording System

Sierra County is the second-least populated county in California — approximately 3,000 residents in 962 square miles of rugged Sierra Nevada terrain. Downieville, the county seat, is an unincorporated community nestled at the confluence of the Downie and North Yuba Rivers. The county has no incorporated cities, no traffic lights, and no chain stores. It is, in many ways, a time capsule of Gold Rush California.

For property professionals, Sierra County's size is both a challenge and an advantage. The Clerk-Recorder's office in Downieville handles the smallest recording volume in the state, which means personal service is the norm but response times for mail requests depend on limited staff availability. The office operates out of the historic 1854 courthouse — one of the oldest continuously used courthouses in California.

Title chains in Sierra County frequently trace back to original mining claims from the 1850s and timber patents from the late 1800s. The Tahoe National Forest covers most of the county, so private parcels are often isolated inholdings surrounded by federal land. Access easements across Forest Service roads are essential — and sometimes contested — elements of any title search.

The county's Gold Rush heritage means that unpatented mining claims may still encumber some parcels. While most have been abandoned, verification requires checking both county records and the Bureau of Land Management's LR2000 database. Mineral rights severances from the mining era can create split-estate situations where surface rights and subsurface rights are held by different parties.

Loyalton, in the Sierra Valley on the county's eastern side, is the only incorporated city and presents a very different recording profile — ranch properties, water rights, and agricultural easements rather than mining claims and forest inholdings.

Sierra County Online Records

The Sierra County Clerk-Recorder-Registrar's office provides online access through the Limited online access. Online records are available from varies to present. You can search by grantor/grantee name, recording date, document type, or document number.

For records predating the online index, visit the Clerk-Recorder-Registrar's office at 100 Courthouse Square in Downieville for in-person research. Document copies can also be requested by mail with appropriate fees and a self-addressed stamped envelope.

Need a Sierra County Title Search or Lien Report?

How to Record a Document in Sierra County

Sierra County records documents at the historic Courthouse Square in Downieville — population approximately 300. The office is open Monday through Friday 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. With a county population of roughly 3,000 residents, this is one of the lowest-volume recorder's offices in California. The intimate scale means personalized service, but also means the recorder may be handling other county functions simultaneously. Call ahead to confirm availability for complex transactions.

Documents submitted for recording in Sierra County must meet California Government Code §27361 standards: 8.5" × 11" white paper, black ink, minimum 3-inch top margin on the first page, and 1-inch margins elsewhere. Non-conforming documents incur a $3.00 surcharge per non-standard page or may be rejected outright.

Pro tip: Sierra County's Downieville office is one of the most historic in California. The 1854 courthouse is a state landmark. With only 3,000 county residents, the recorder serves multiple functions — patience and a phone call ahead will make your visit more productive.

Sierra County Property Issues — Local Market Insights

Sierra County Property Landscape

Sierra County is California's second-smallest county by population — roughly 3,000 residents across 962 square miles of Sierra Nevada terrain. This extreme sparsity creates a property market where individual parcels may have no comparable sales within the county for years, making title history the primary tool for establishing property context.

The Downieville-Sierra City corridor along Highway 49 contains the county's primary residential properties. These Gold Rush-era mining towns have property boundaries that trace to 1850s mining claim patents — instruments that used natural landmarks like rock outcroppings and creek bends as boundary markers. Modern surveys of these parcels frequently reveal discrepancies between original metes-and-bounds descriptions and current occupation patterns, creating boundary disputes that must be resolved through quiet title proceedings or boundary line agreements.

Loyalton, in Sierra Valley on the county's eastern side, is the county's only incorporated city and has a different property character entirely — ranching and agricultural parcels with water rights appurtenant to Sierra Valley irrigation. The Lakes Basin recreation area between Gold Lake and Sardine Lake contains vacation cabins, many on Forest Service special use permits rather than fee simple ownership. These permit-based properties have no title chain in the traditional sense — the "ownership" is a revocable federal permit, not a recorded deed.

Sierra County FAQ

Counties Neighboring Sierra