Three meridians, and deeds recorded somewhere people do not expect. Here is what the legal description on your deed, lease or division order is actually telling you, and where to check it for free.
Alabama uses public land survey system. Three meridians, and deeds recorded somewhere people do not expect.
A principal meridian and its base line are the origin of a rectangular survey. Township and range numbers count outward from that origin, which means the same township and range numbers repeat under every meridian. The meridian is the part of the description that says which grid you are on.
Three meridians in one state means township and range numbers repeat, and older Alabama instruments that leave the meridian off are genuinely ambiguous. The other thing catches nearly every out of state heir: Alabama records deeds in the county Probate Court, with the Judge of Probate, not with a recorder or a county clerk. An heir who calls the circuit clerk asking for a deed copy will be told the record does not exist.
Deeds and mineral instruments are with each county Judge of Probate. Alabama has no free official statewide land records portal.
What it covers, how many net mineral acres it actually is, and whether anything is producing on it. Free, no obligation, and the answer does not change if you never sell anything to us. We do this every day and it usually takes us an hour.
Ask a Landman Get a Free ValuationCompiled from BLM, state land offices, state archives and statute, current as of 2026-08. Berlin Royalties is a mineral buyer and a landman shop in Tulsa, not a law firm or a licensed surveyor. Nothing here is a boundary opinion, and a description that matters to a transaction should be run by a title attorney or a licensed surveyor in the state where the land sits.