Harney County Clerk & Recorder
About the Harney County Clerk & Recorder
Harney County is Oregon's largest county by area and one of its emptiest — 10,226 square miles of high desert running from Ponderosa pine forest down through Steens Mountain to the bone-dry Alvord Desert, said to be the driest spot in the state. Cattle outnumber people roughly 14 to 1 across the county's ranches, and Burns, the county seat, is the only real population center for a very long drive in any direction. With just over 7,000 residents spread across all that open country, the Clerk & Recorder's office in Burns keeps a light, predictable filing schedule — a small-town office built for a genuinely rural county.
Cities and Communities Served
Recording jurisdiction runs countywide, not by city limits — if the property sits anywhere within Harney County, this is the Clerk & Recorder’s office that will accept the deed. That includes:
Incorporated cities: Burns (county seat) and Hines.
Unincorporated communities: Crane, Diamond, Drewsey, Fields, and Frenchglen.
The Burns Paiute Tribe holds a small, roughly 760-acre reservation near Burns — a remnant of the former Malheur Indian Reservation. Tribal trust land follows separate property-conveyance rules and isn't part of the county's general recording jurisdiction.
Office Details
Address: 450 N. Buena Vista Ave, #14, Burns, OR 97720
Phone: (541) 573-6641 | Fax: (541) 573-8387
Hours: Monday – Friday, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Recording Fee: Oregon recording fees are set individually by each county and change periodically — check Harney County's current fee schedule or call the office to confirm the exact amount before filing.
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 Burns? Oregon allows remote online notarization — you can have your Harney 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 Harney County Clerk & Recorder'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 Harney County Clerk & Recorder 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 Harney County Clerk & Recorder’s exact requirements.
Disclosure: affiliate links to Standard Legal, our partner — no extra cost to you.
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