Blog · September 30, 2026
What Is a Reception Number?
A reception number is a sequential number a recorder assigns when a document is accepted for recording. It is the handle for that document in counties that use reception numbers instead of, or in addition to, book and page. It is not a parcel id.
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The number on the recording stamp
When a plat or a deed is recorded, the clerk’s stamp may show a date, a time, a fee, and a reception number. That number is how you request the image later in that county. A citation such as Reception No. 20240012345, or a shorter series used in an older era, points at one instrument. It does not describe the land by itself. Two plats recorded the same day have different reception numbers. The same digits in another county are a different document or no document at all. Always keep the county and the state with the number. Title commitments love reception numbers because they are unique inside that recorder’s sequence. Tax bills love parcel ids because they are unique inside the assessor’s roll. Cross-using them sends you to the wrong counter.
Book and page beside it
Some counties moved from book and page to reception numbers, and older plats are still cited by book and page while newer ones use the reception number. A deed may recite both: recorded in Book 800 at Page 12, Reception No. 900112. Either handle should reach the same sheet if both were stamped. If you have only a parcel id from the GIS, you do not yet have the reception number of the plat. The parcel report sometimes lists a recording reference and sometimes does not. When it does, copy it exactly, including letters. Then pull that instrument. The map on the screen remains an assessment drawing. Platbookmapper gets you to the county GIS so you can harvest whatever recording clue the parcel page offers. It does not search the recorder and it does not store reception numbers.
What the number cannot prove
A reception number proves the recorder took the document into the public record at a time, subject to that office’s rules. It does not prove the survey is correct, that the city approved the road, or that the lots were built. It does not expire, and it does not update itself when a replat is filed. The replat gets a new number. Anyone still citing the old number is citing the old plat. Look for later instruments. Do not use a phone GPS to test a document you have not opened. First get the document the number names. Then read the lots, the notes, and the surveyor’s seal on that sheet.
What to do next
- Copy the reception number with the county and the recording date.
- Do not confuse it with the parcel id or the lot number.
- If both book and page and a reception number are given, keep both.
- Search for later replats instead of assuming the first number is the last word.
The mix-up to avoid
Typing the parcel id into the recorder’s reception search. They are different numbering systems. A miss can look like the plat does not exist when you simply used the wrong key.
Questions people ask
Is a reception number the same as an instrument number?
In many offices the words describe the same idea, a unique recording identifier. Some offices use one term, some the other, and some use both for different series. Read the stamp. Do not translate the number into another county’s format.
Can two documents share a reception number?
Not in one sequence at one office, if the system is doing its job. A number can be reused in a different county or in a different series, such as a surveyor’s corner-record file. Context is part of the citation.
Find the county map
The county GIS map is the practical place to start. Find it from the Platbookmapper directory, then treat the recorded plat and deed as the documents behind the picture.
Not a survey. County GIS and tax parcel maps are assessment and planning layers. They are not a substitute for a recorded plat, deed, or licensed survey.