Land Patenting Process in Kentucky

Originally published 15 Feb 2017 and re-published 9 Jan 2023.

Acquiring land through the patenting process in Kentucky consists of the following steps:

1.  The Warrant - authorizes a survey. There are four types of warrants: Military Warrants, Pre-emption Warrants, Treasury Warrants and Exchange Warrants.  Warrants could be traded, sold or assigned.

2.  The Entry - signals the intention of filing for a patent and contains the name of the person wanting to patent the land, the type of warrant authorizing the survey and the date of the entry. The date can be very important, especially when there were conflicting claims on the same land.

3.  The Survey - describes the metes and bounds of the land and names the closest watercourse. The only exception to this surveying method is in the Jackson Purchase, which uses sections, townships, ranges in their surveys. The survey includes the names of the surveying party (chain carriers and markers).

4.  The Grant (Patent) - final step in the patenting process. The grant lists the name of the recipient of the land, date of the survey,  type of warrant, description of the land and date of the grant was issued. The grant could not be assigned.

Sources:

"Land Distribution in Kentucky," Kentucky Dept. for Libraries and Archives leaflet, Dec. 1995.

"The Kentucky Land Grant System," Saddlebag Notes, Technical Leaflet, The Circuit Rider, Historical Confederation of Kentucky, Vol. 13, No. 3: May/June 1990.

"Non-Military Registers and Land Records," Kentucky Secretary of State Website , accessed 17 Jan 2017.