How to Search

Index & Document Search Guide 1980–1996 · Deed Indexes ONLY 1800–1979. Step-by-step instructions for searching the Grantor and Grantee index books in AVA — the Fairfield County Recorder's online land-records system.

1980 – 1996
Index & Document Search Guide — all index types.
1800 – 1979
Deed Indexes ONLY.
Search records Open AVA Search → ava.fidlar.com — the same link used for all Recorder document searches.

To search for the index books and documents back to 1980 in AVA

Use the steps below to locate Grantor and Grantee index pages in AVA and open the scanned book pages. Tip: click any screenshot to open the full-size image in a new tab.

Basic search steps

  1. Type “INDEX” in the Document Types field in AVA.
  2. Enter the first letter of the particular name you are searching for in the “Last Name…” field.
  3. Click the SEARCH button. The results display all of the Grantor or Grantee Index pages that include party names beginning with the letter entered.
AVA Document Types field with INDEX typed, showing Grantee Deed Index, Grantor Deed Index, Lease Index Book, Miscellaneous Index Book, and Mortgage Index Book options.
Step 1: Type “INDEX” in the Document Types field.
AVA Last Name / Business Name field with the letter D entered.
Step 2: Enter the first letter of the name in the “Last Name…” field.
How the search results are sorted (important)
  • The Search Results display in date range / alphabetical order descending (most recent records at the top).
  • NOTE: the value in the “Recorded Date” column is simply a placeholder date required by AVA — it does not represent an actual recording date.
AVA search results list of Grantee Deed Index rows with Document No, Document Type, Recorded Date, Party1 and Party2 columns.
Step 3: Example Search Results list.

Understanding the search results

The records in the Search Results are identified as follows:

  • The value in the “Document No” column identifies:
    • GR refers to the Grantor pages; GE refers to the Grantee pages.
    • The date range of each index book (e.g., 1900–1955) and the alphabetical range of the party names (e.g., “DO–DZ”).
    • “Key” identifies the Key pages of each book.
    • The number at the end of a record (e.g., “61”, “59”) refers to the page of the index book referenced in the Key pages.
  • The value in the “Doc Type” column identifies the type of index book.

Open and navigate an index book image

To view any record in the search results, click anywhere on the row of the desired record, then click the image icon in the upper-left of the row.

Grantee Deed Index result rows including GE1983-96-D-KEY and GE1971-82-D-KEY records.
Click the row, then the image icon to open the record.

The image of the selected pages of the index book will display. An example of the “D” pages of a Grantee Index Book is shown below.

Scanned Grantee index book key page with columns Da Db Dc Dd and De to Di to Dn listing surnames and page numbers.
Example of an opened index book image.

Use the tool bar below the image to scroll through the pages:

AVA image viewer tool bar: zoom in, zoom out, print, first, previous, next, last, a Go To Page field and a Go button.
The image viewer tool bar.
  • Click the Magnifying Glass button to zoom in or out of the image.
  • Click the Double Arrow button to scroll through the images one page at a time.

Locate a particular name using key pages

1800–1970 deed index books (cutout names + mixed name groups)

  1. Click the image icon of the desired Key page to view the image. A portion of the “GR1801-99-DA-DN-KEY” page is shown below.
  2. Click the Double Arrow button below the image to scroll through the pages.
  3. Note the page number of the name you are searching, then click Back at the top of the screen to return to the search results.
  4. In the Search Results, locate the row that contains the letter range (e.g., “DA–DN”) and, for “Cutout” names, the page number (e.g., “31”) listed on the Key page.
  5. Click the image icon in that row to display the desired page(s).
Key page GR1801-99-DA-DN showing columns Da Db Dc Dd and De to Di to Dn with surnames such as Danahy, Dean, and Defebaugh and page numbers.
Example Key page (use it to find the page number for a name).
Cutout Names vs. Mixed Name Groups (what to look for)
  • Cutout Names (top portion of each Key page): the “Document No” contains the letter range and the page number listed on the Key page.
  • Mixed Name Groups (bottom portion of each Key page): the “Document No” contains only the letter range — the page number is not listed, but the correct page opens when you view the image.
Grantor Deed Index result rows for cutout names, for example GR1900-55-DIX-DN, showing letter ranges and page numbers.
“Cutout” name records (letter range + page number).
Grantor Deed Index result rows for mixed name groups, for example GR1900-55-DO-DZ-49, showing letter ranges only.
“Mixed Name Group” records (letter range only).

1971–1996 all index books (cutout names only)

  1. Click the image icon of the desired Key page to view the image.
  2. Note the page number of the name you are searching, then click Back to close the image.
  3. In the Search Results, locate the row that contains the letter range (e.g., “B–BN”) listed on the Key page.
  4. Click the image icon in that row to display the index pages for the selected letter range.
  5. To scroll to the page number noted on the Key page, click the Double Arrow button, or enter the page number in the “GO TO PAGE” field and click Go.

Searching for 1980–1996 documents

  1. Once the Volume and Page have been found for the document, use the Back button to return to the search screen and click Reset.
  2. Once reset, enter the Volume in the “Book” field and the Page in the “Page” field. Click Search and the document will appear in the results.
AVA Basic Criteria search form with the Reset button highlighted at the bottom.
Return to the search screen and click Reset.
AVA search form with Grantee Deed Index selected and the Reset button highlighted.
The Reset button clears the previous criteria.
AVA Basic Criteria form with the Book field set to 5 and the Page field set to 178, circled in red.
Enter the Volume in Book and the Page in Page, then Search.

The Recorder's Office will do its best to assist; however, staff will not perform searches or aid in the preparation of a document.