Search Washington County Property Records

Washington County property records are kept by the county property appraiser and the clerk of court, making ownership data, assessed values, exemption status, and deed history available to anyone who wants to look them up. The county seat is Chipley, and records cover a largely rural county in the Florida Panhandle that includes farmland, timberland, and small residential parcels spread across several small communities. All records are public under Florida law and can be accessed by anyone with a legitimate need to search them.

Washington County Property Appraiser

The Washington County Property Appraiser office is at 1331 South Boulevard, Chipley, FL 32428. The phone number is 850-638-4735. The office website is washingtonpa.com, where you can access the property search tool, exemption forms, and contact information for staff. The property appraiser values all real property and tangible personal property in the county each year and certifies the tax roll to the Florida Department of Revenue as required under state law.

Assessment work is governed by Florida Statutes Chapter 193, which sets the rules for how property must be assessed in all 67 Florida counties. Washington County is a rural Panhandle county with a high proportion of timberland, agricultural parcels, and rural residential properties. Agricultural and forestry classifications are common here and can reduce the assessed value of qualifying land well below its market value as long as the qualifying use is maintained. The appraiser's office manages those applications and periodic reviews to confirm continued eligibility.

For a county of this size, the appraiser's office tends to be a practical resource for questions about specific parcels, boundaries, and classifications. Staff have local knowledge of roads, plat names, and survey systems used in the county that can be valuable when searching rural or older properties that may not have clean addresses or standard descriptions.

The Florida Department of Revenue publishes public records request information for property-related state records at its open government page. That resource covers how to make formal requests to state agencies for data that is not available through the county appraiser's portal.

The DOR public records page at floridarevenue.com explains how to request state-level property records data and supplements the local records available through the Washington County Property Appraiser.

How to Search Washington County Property Records

The online search tool at washingtonpa.com is the primary way to pull up a property record. You can search by owner name, property address, or parcel identification number. Results show the legal description, current and prior owners, just value and assessed value, exemptions on record, and a sales history listing prior transactions with deed references. The database covers all parcels in the county, from small residential lots in Chipley and Vernon to large acreage tracts in the county's more remote areas.

For older records or properties described by metes and bounds rather than a recorded plat, visiting the office in person at the South Boulevard address in Chipley is often the most reliable approach. Staff can help locate historical files and work through descriptions that the online system may not display cleanly. Bring any identifying information you have: an address, a nearby road or community name, or a prior owner's name is usually enough to start a productive search. For rural tracts with multiple owners over many years, a combination of parcel number and deed references is the most efficient way to trace a chain of title.

Recorded documents such as deeds, mortgages, and liens are held by the Washington County Clerk of the Circuit Court, not the property appraiser. The clerk's system and the appraiser's database are separate but linked through parcel numbers and legal descriptions. Under Florida Statutes Chapter 28, the clerk records and indexes all real estate instruments. For any meaningful research on a Washington County parcel, reviewing both the appraiser's records and the clerk's recorded documents together gives the most complete picture of ownership and any encumbrances on the title.

What Washington County Property Records Contain

A standard record from the Washington County Property Appraiser includes the owner's name and mailing address, the property's physical location, the parcel identification number, and the full legal description from the recorded deed. The value section shows the just value (which is the appraiser's market value estimate), the assessed value after any applicable classification or cap, and the taxable value after all exemptions are subtracted. For Washington County's many agricultural and timber parcels, the assessed value may be far below the just value because of the classification in place.

Sales history is included with each record, listing prior transactions by date, recorded price, and deed book reference. Florida Statutes Chapter 192 requires that every parcel in the county appear on the tax roll, so every piece of real property in Washington County has an official record even if it has never changed hands in a standard market sale. Improvement data covers any structures on the parcel, including size, year built, construction type, and condition. Outbuildings, barns, and equipment sheds on agricultural parcels may be listed separately with individual valuations.

Land data shows acreage, land use classification, and any special classifications. For timberland in Washington County, the classification code on the record indicates what reduced-value benefit applies and what the owner must do to keep it in place. This information is directly useful to buyers or lenders who need to understand how the property's tax burden might change if the classification is ever removed or allowed to lapse.

Homestead Exemption in Washington County

Florida's homestead exemption reduces the taxable value of a primary residence by up to $50,000. The first $25,000 applies to all taxing authorities. The second $25,000 applies only to non-school taxes on the portion of assessed value between $50,000 and $75,000. To qualify in Washington County, you must own the home, use it as your permanent Florida residence, and file an application with the Washington County Property Appraiser by March 1 of the tax year for which you want the benefit. Applications are at washingtonpa.com or at the Chipley office.

Once homestead is on your record, Florida Statutes Section 193.155 limits how fast the assessed value of your home can rise. The Save Our Homes cap holds annual increases to 3% or the rate of inflation, whichever is less. For owners who have held their Washington County home for several years, the gap between assessed value and current market value can be meaningful, especially in areas where land values have increased. If you sell and buy a new home in Florida, portability lets you transfer part of that accumulated cap benefit to the new property. The appraiser's office handles portability applications at the time you apply for exemption on the new home.

Additional exemptions are available for veterans with service-connected disabilities, surviving spouses of veterans or first responders, seniors who meet income requirements, widows and widowers, and people with total and permanent disabilities. Each requires separate documentation and must be on file before March 1. Missing the annual deadline means waiting a full year, so file early if you become newly eligible at any point during the year.

Property Tax Process in Washington County

Each August, the Washington County Property Appraiser sends a Truth in Millage (TRIM) notice to every property owner in the county. The TRIM notice is not a bill. It shows the proposed assessed value, exemptions on file for the parcel, and proposed millage rates from the county commission, school board, and any applicable special districts. The notice also lists dates for public budget hearings where owners can comment on proposed spending and rates before they become final.

If you think your proposed value is wrong, call or visit the property appraiser's office after receiving the TRIM notice. In a smaller county like Washington, informal contact with staff often resolves valuation questions without needing a formal appeal. If an informal review does not fix the issue, you can file a petition with the Value Adjustment Board before the deadline printed on the notice. The VAB holds a hearing and can lower the assessed value if your evidence supports it.

Tax bills are mailed in November by the Washington County Tax Collector. Early payment discounts are 4% in November, 3% in December, 2% in January, and 1% in February. The full amount with no discount is due by March 31. Unpaid taxes after that date become delinquent and subject to a tax certificate sale. The Florida statutes page at the legislature's website covers the legal framework behind the tax calendar, assessment process, and appeal rights in one place.

The Florida Legislature's statutes site at leg.state.fl.us gives direct access to the state laws governing property assessment, exemptions, and tax collection in Washington County and across Florida.

Official Records at the Washington County Clerk

Deeds, mortgages, liens, lis pendens filings, and other documents affecting real estate in Washington County are recorded by the Clerk of the Circuit Court. Recording gives public notice of ownership and claims, which is the foundation of Florida's property record system. Florida's public records law, Chapter 119, makes virtually all of these instruments available to any member of the public, whether for in-person review at the courthouse or through a copy request. Certified copies are available for a per-page fee set by state law.

Reviewing the clerk's official records is a necessary step in any thorough property research in Washington County, particularly for rural or agricultural parcels where the history of ownership may span many decades. Older deeds in rural Panhandle counties sometimes use metes-and-bounds descriptions that reference fences, streams, or corner trees, and reviewing the actual recorded instrument is the only way to understand the exact boundaries claimed. The appraiser's database and the clerk's recorded documents together provide the full picture of what a parcel is, who owns it, and what obligations or rights are attached to its title.

Florida Department of Revenue Oversight

The Florida Department of Revenue's Property Tax Oversight program reviews Washington County's annual tax roll to confirm that assessments comply with state standards. Every county appraiser in Florida must submit a certified roll to the DOR each year, and the DOR has authority to require corrections if a county's assessments are found to be systematically out of line with state requirements. For a rural county like Washington with many agricultural and timber classifications, the DOR's review also covers whether those special classifications are being applied properly and consistently.

The DOR website at floridarevenue.com/property is a practical resource for Washington County property owners who want to understand how the tax system works. The site has plain-language guides on the exemption process, how to read your TRIM notice, how to appeal a value, and what the Save Our Homes cap means for long-term owners. It also publishes annual data comparing assessment ratios and millage rates across all Florida counties, which gives context for how Washington County compares to neighbors like Bay, Calhoun, Holmes, Jackson, and Walton. If you have a question about how a state law applies to your specific situation, the DOR's contact page for Property Tax Oversight is a good place to start.

Cities in Washington County

No city in Washington County meets the population threshold for a dedicated city page on this site. Chipley is the county seat and the largest community in the county, but it remains well under the threshold. Vernon, Wausau, Caryville, and Ebro are other small communities in the county, none of which qualify. All property records for parcels throughout Washington County are handled at the county level through the Property Appraiser and Clerk offices in Chipley.

Nearby Counties

Washington County borders five other Florida Panhandle counties, each with its own property records system and appraiser office.