About the Brazoria County Clerk
The County Clerk is an elected office, currently held by Joyce Hudman. The office describes its mission as giving citizens high-quality service and 24-hour access to available public records through its website. Its archive runs deep into Texas history, and the office brands its work as "The Record Keepers of Brazoria County," with treasures like a settlers map and an original Spanish deed signed by Stephen F. Austin.
Texas splits clerk duties between two offices. The County Clerk handles county court, probate, marriage, vital, and real property records. The District Clerk handles district court matters such as felony, divorce, and large civil cases. The District Clerk page covers that side of the county's records.
Records the Brazoria County Clerk Keeps
The County Clerk keeps a wide range of official records. Most are open to the public, though some carry redactions for protected data. The list below shows the main types the office holds.
- Real property records, including deeds, liens, and plats.
- Vital records, such as birth and death certificates.
- Marriage licenses and informal marriage declarations.
- Misdemeanor and county criminal court records.
- Probate, guardianship, and county civil records.
- Assumed names, marks and brands, and commissioners court records.
Probate and county court cases can be searched in the county portal, which the court records page explains. Marriage and divorce are split, since marriage is a County Clerk record and divorce is a District Clerk record, as the marriage and divorce records page covers.
This range is why the County Clerk touches so many parts of daily life. A new home buyer interacts with the office through a recorded deed. A couple interacts with it for a marriage license. A family interacts with it for a death certificate or a probate case. A business interacts with it through an assumed name filing. The office is the public memory of the county for everything except district court matters.
Brazoria County Clerk Office Locations
The County Clerk runs offices beyond Angleton, which helps residents in the northern and coastal parts of this large county. Some branch offices close for lunch, so check hours before a midday visit. The main offices are below, and the office also keeps a Manvel substation and an East Annex election office.
County Clerk Courthouse Office
237 E. Locust St., Suite 306
Angleton, TX 77515
979-864-1355
Mon-Fri 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Real Property Records Office
237 E. Locust St., Suite 102
Angleton, TX 77515
979-864-1059
Mon-Fri 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Lake Jackson Annex
202 Peach Street, Room 103
Lake Jackson, TX 77566
979-388-2728
Mon-Fri 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; closed for lunch
Pearland Substation
2436 S. Grand Ste. 106
Pearland, TX 77581
281-412-3399
Mon-Fri 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; closed for lunch
Brazoria County Clerk Recording and Copy Fees
The County Clerk publishes a recording and vitals fee schedule. Recording fees apply when a document is filed into the official public records. Copy and vital fees apply when you request a record. The common amounts are below. Confirm current amounts with the office, since fees can change.
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Official public record recording, first page | $25.00 |
| Each additional page | $4.00 |
| Non-certified copy (per page) | $1.00 |
| Certification fee (per document) plus page cost | $5.00 |
| Birth certificate | $23.00 |
| Death certificate | $21.00 |
| Marriage license | $81.00 |
| Assumed name filing | $23.00 |
A military discharge DD214 records at no charge, which honors veterans who file their service records with the county. The full schedule covers plats, utility instruments, and more. The marriage and divorce records page lists the full set of marriage fees.
How to Request a Brazoria County Clerk Copy
Many County Clerk records can be viewed online, and copies are available online, in person, or by mail. A certified copy carries the clerk's seal and is what a court, a bank, or an agency will accept. The steps below outline a request.
- Identify the record, such as a deed, a vital record, or a county case.
- Search the County Clerk's online records or the county court portal.
- Note the instrument or case number, the names, and the recording date.
- Choose a plain or certified copy and the delivery method.
- Pay the copy and certification fees to receive the record.
For a vital record like a birth or death certificate, the office may ask for proof that you are entitled to the record, since those carry extra access rules.
Bring the right details to speed things up. For a land record, an instrument number, the recording date, and the grantor and grantee names help staff find the document. For a court case, a cause number and the party names do the same. A clear request with a precise identifier almost always gets a faster answer than a vague one, especially across a county with several branch offices.
Vital Records and Property Fraud Alert
The County Clerk issues vital records for the county, including birth and death certificates. These records carry extra access rules, since they hold personal data. The office may ask for proof that you are entitled to a certified birth or death certificate before it issues one. Marriage records also live here, and the office redacts Social Security numbers from marriage applications under state law to protect applicants.
The office also runs a property fraud alert service. Property fraud happens when someone records a fake deed or lien against a property. The County Clerk links a free alert tool that notifies a property owner when a document is recorded in their name, so they can act fast if something looks wrong. For a county with as much land and growth as Brazoria County, that alert is a useful guard against title fraud.
Assumed Names and Business Filings
A business that operates under a name other than its owner's legal name usually files an assumed name certificate, often called a DBA, for "doing business as." In Brazoria County, that filing is a County Clerk record. The assumed name filing fee is $23.00, and the record becomes public so customers and creditors can find out who stands behind a business name.
The County Clerk also records marks and brands, a nod to the county's ranching roots, and keeps commissioners court records that document county government decisions. These filings sit alongside deeds and vital records in the official public records, all searchable through the County Clerk rather than the district court. A business owner or researcher looking for a company's local registration starts here, not with the District Clerk.
Real Property Records and the 2026 Photo-ID Rule
Real property records are a core County Clerk duty. The office records deeds, deeds of trust, liens, releases, and plats, and indexes them by grantor and grantee names. A new rule takes effect soon. Beginning January 1, 2026, anyone presenting a document for filing in person into real property records must show photo ID, under Local Government Code Section 191.010.
The office also warns that its online real property database is not the official repository and may not reflect the complete or unaltered records. So for a legal use, confirm the recorded instrument with the office rather than relying only on the online image. Some instruments also have personal identifiers redacted.
Using the County Clerk Online Records
The County Clerk gives 24-hour online access to many available records, which is a real convenience for a county this size. Land and vital records route to one online system, while county court, civil, and probate cases route to the county court portal. So a single search may not cover every record type at once.
Treat the online image as a starting point. It is excellent for research and for finding the instrument or case number you need. For an official copy, request a certified version from the office. The public records page explains the broader access framework under Texas law, including how the open-records act applies to county records.
County Clerk Compared to District Clerk
Mixing up the two clerks is the most common reason a request is misrouted. The County Clerk and the District Clerk keep different records. This table sets them side by side.
| Point | County Clerk | District Clerk |
|---|---|---|
| Court level | County courts at law | District courts |
| Criminal | Misdemeanor | Felony |
| Family and probate | Probate and guardianship | Divorce and family |
| Other records | Marriage, deeds, vital records | Civil district cases |
For district court files and divorce records, see the Brazoria County District Clerk page.