Public Records in Franklin County

Franklin County public records include land documents, court filings, and vital records across 26 municipalities in the Connecticut River Valley of northern Massachusetts. The Registry of Deeds in Greenfield is the main source for property-related public records. This page explains how to find and access Franklin County public records through online tools and direct contact with the Registry and other local offices.

Franklin County Registry of Deeds

The Franklin County Registry of Deeds is located at 425 Main Street in Greenfield. Register Robert E. Jones runs the office. The Registry holds all recorded land documents for the county's 26 cities and towns. Franklin County is one of Massachusetts's less populous counties, with a single city -- Greenfield -- and 25 towns spread across the Connecticut River Valley and hill communities. The Registry handles all these municipalities from its Greenfield location.

The index runs from 1960 forward. Document images are available for most records from the 1960s onward. You can search the Registry online through the statewide MassLandRecords portal at masslandrecords.com/Franklin/. Searching is free and requires no account. The office also has separate Plan Counter and Land Court lines for specialized inquiries.

Searching Franklin County Public Records Online

The MassLandRecords portal is the main tool for online access to Franklin County land records. You can search the Franklin Registry index by grantor or grantee name, document type, date range, book and page, or document number. No account is needed. Once you locate a record, you can view and print the document image directly from the site for free.

The screenshot below shows the MassLandRecords portal where Franklin County property public records are indexed and searchable.

The Franklin County index on MassLandRecords covers documents from 1960 and includes images for most records from the 1960s onward.

Property tax records for Franklin County municipalities are maintained by each town's assessor. The state Division of Local Services provides an overview of property assessment data through its own portal. The screenshot below shows the state property tax records tool that covers Franklin County towns.

Town assessor records can supplement Registry data when researching property ownership in Franklin County.

For court records, use the MassCourts case lookup system to search civil, criminal, and probate cases filed in Franklin County. Searches are free and available to the public.

Note: Many of Franklin County's 25 towns are small and rural. Some towns may have limited online access for local records. Contacting the town clerk directly is often the fastest path for municipal public records.

Document Recording Fees

The Franklin County Registry follows the standard Massachusetts fee schedule for recording documents. A deed is $155. A mortgage is $205. A discharge is $105. A homestead declaration is $35. A Declaration of Trust runs $255. UCC filings cost $75. A Federal tax lien recording is $5. Plan sheets are $105 per sheet. Municipal Lien Certificates are $80. Certified copies are $1 per page.

The real estate excise tax applies to all property transfers and is set at $4.56 per $1,000 of the sale price. Payment is required at the time of recording. You can submit documents by mail to P.O. Box 537 in Greenfield, in person at 425 Main Street, or through a title company or attorney. The Registry takes checks, money orders, and credit cards.

Public Records Law in Franklin County

The Massachusetts public records law at MGL Chapter 66, Section 10 applies to all government bodies in Franklin County. Town clerks, select boards, police departments, school committees, and all other public agencies must respond to records requests within 10 business days. The first two hours of staff time are free for municipalities with more than 20,000 residents. For smaller towns -- which is most of Franklin County -- the free period follows the state agency rate of four hours. After the free period, agencies can charge up to $25 per hour. Copies are capped at $0.05 per page.

Franklin County has some of the smallest towns in Massachusetts. Towns like Monroe, Hawley, and Rowe have only a few hundred residents. Clerks in these towns often work part-time hours. When requesting public records from very small Franklin County towns, call ahead to confirm hours and preferred submission method for requests. If a town denies your request or fails to respond, you can appeal to the Supervisor of Records at One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, MA 02108, or call (617) 727-2832.

The Secretary of the Commonwealth publishes a public records guide that walks through the request process and explains your rights under the law.

Vital Records for Franklin County

Birth, death, and marriage records in Franklin County are held at the town clerk level and at the state level. Each of the 26 municipalities keeps records for events that happened within its borders. For older or statewide records, the Registry of Vital Records and Statistics has records going back to 1926.

To get a certified copy of a birth, death, or marriage certificate for an event in Greenfield, Deerfield, Orange, or any other Franklin County community, contact that town's clerk directly. Fees vary by municipality. For state-level copies, the RVRS charges $20 per certified copy. You can order state vital records online, by mail, or in person in Boston. Genealogy researchers can request older birth records (50-plus years) and death or marriage records (25-plus years) more freely under Massachusetts law.

Municipalities in Franklin County

Franklin County has one city -- Greenfield -- and 25 towns. No municipalities in Franklin County currently qualify for a dedicated public records page. All 26 municipalities file land records at the Franklin County Registry of Deeds in Greenfield.

Communities in Franklin County include Greenfield (county seat), Deerfield, Orange, Montague, Northfield, Shelburne, Sunderland, Bernardston, Buckland, Erving, and Gill, among others. Several of the smaller hill towns have populations well under 1,000 residents. Each town has its own clerk for local public records requests.

Nearby Counties

Franklin County borders Hampshire County and Worcester County to the south, Hampden County to the southwest, and Berkshire County to the west. It also borders Vermont to the north.