Sec. 7-24. Recording of instruments; safekeeping of records; recording of illegible instruments; form of instruments.
Sec. 7-24. Recording of instruments; safekeeping of records; recording of illegible instruments; form of instruments. (a) Each town clerk who is charged with
the custody of any public record shall provide suitable books, files or systems, acceptable
to the Public Records Administrator, for the keeping of such records and may purchase
such stationery and other office supplies as are necessary for the proper maintenance
of the town clerk's office. Such books, files or systems, and such stationery and supplies
shall be paid for by the town, and the selectmen of the town, on presentation of the bill
for such books and supplies properly certified to by the town clerk, shall draw their
order on the treasurer in payment for the same. Each person who has the custody of any
public record books of any town, city, borough or probate district shall, at the expense of
such town, city, borough or probate district, cause them to be properly and substantially
bound. Such person shall have any such records which have been left incomplete made
up and completed from the usual files and memoranda, so far as practicable. Such person
shall cause fair and legible copies to be seasonably made of any records which are worn,
mutilated or becoming illegible, and shall cause the originals to be repaired, rebound
or renovated, or such person may cause any such records to be placed in the custody of
the Public Records Administrator, who may have them repaired, renovated or rebound
at the expense of the town, city, borough or probate district to which they belong. Any
custodian of public records who so causes such records to be completed or copied shall
attest them and shall certify, under the seal of such custodian's office, that they have
been made from such files and memoranda or are copies of the original records. Such
records and all copies of records made and certified to as provided in this section and
on file in the office of the legal custodian of such records shall have the force of the
original records. All work done under the authority of this section shall be paid for by
the town, city, borough or probate district responsible for the safekeeping of such records, but in no case shall expenditures exceeding three hundred dollars be made for
repairs or copying records in any one year in any town or any probate district comprising
one town only, unless the same are authorized by a vote of the town, or in any probate
district comprising two or more towns, unless the same are authorized by the first selectmen of all the towns included in such district.
(b) There shall be kept in each town proper books, or in lieu thereof a recording
system approved by the Public Records Administrator, in which all instruments required
by law to be recorded shall be recorded at length by the town clerk within thirty days
from the time they are left for record.
(c) The town clerk shall, on receipt of any instrument for record, write thereon the
day, month, year and time of day when the town clerk received it, and the record shall
bear the same date and time of day; but the town clerk shall not be required to receive
any instrument for record unless the fee for recording it is paid to the town clerk in
advance, except instruments received from the state or any political subdivision thereof.
When the town clerk has received any instrument for record, the town clerk shall not
deliver it up to the parties or either of them until it has been recorded. When any town
clerk has, upon receiving any instrument for record, written thereon the time of day
when the town clerk received it and the day and year of such receipt, and when any
town clerk has noted with the record of any instrument the time of day when the town
clerk received the record, such entries of the time of day shall have the same effect as
other entries that are required by law to be made.
(d) Each town clerk shall also, within twenty-four hours of the receipt for record
of any such instrument, enter in chronological order according to the time of its receipt
as endorsed thereon, (1) the names of sufficient parties thereto to enable reasonable
identification of the instrument, (2) the nature of the instrument, and (3) the time of its
receipt.
(e) If the town clerk receives an instrument for record which the town clerk deems
to be illegible, the town clerk shall record such instrument, write thereon that it is being
recorded as an illegible instrument and, if there is a return address appearing on such
illegible instrument, give notice to the return addressee that a legible instrument should
be submitted for rerecording forthwith. The fact that the town clerk records the instrument as an illegible instrument shall not affect its priority or validity.
(f) Each instrument for record shall have a blank margin, that shall be not less than
three-fourths of an inch in width, surrounding each page of the instrument. Each such
instrument that is to be recorded in the land records shall have a return address and
addressee appearing at the top of the front side of the first page of the instrument. The
town clerk shall not refuse to receive an instrument for record that does not conform to
any requirement set forth in this subsection, and the fact that the town clerk records an
instrument that does not conform to any requirement set forth in this subsection shall
not affect its priority or validity.
(1949 Rev., S. 550; 1955, S. 223d; 1967, P.A. 389, S. 1; 655, S. 2; P.A. 93-389, S. 1, 7; May 25 Sp. Sess. P.A. 94-1,
S. 5, 130; P.A. 07-252, S. 52.)
History: 1967 acts divided section into Subsecs. (a), (b) and (c) and added Subsec. (d) re daily index record book,
replaced references to "books" and "record books" with "records", added to Subsec. (b) allowance for alternate recording
system approved by examiner of public records and removed from Subsec. (d) specific reference to daily index record
book; P.A. 93-389 added Subsec. (e) specifying the responsibilities of a town clerk upon receiving an illegible instrument
for record and providing that the fact that the clerk records the instrument as illegible does not affect its priority or validity,
effective July 1, 1993; May 25 Sp. Sess. P.A. 94-1 made technical change in Subsec. (e), effective July 1, 1994; P.A. 07-252 made technical changes in Subsecs. (a) to (e) and added Subsec. (f) re form requirements for instruments, effective
October 1, 2008.
See Sec. 11-8(b) re appointment of Public Records Administrator.
See Sec. 11-8i et seq. re historic documents preservation grant program for municipalities.
See Sec. 47-16a re acceptance for recording of certified copy of deed or other instrument recorded in land records of
another town.
As to whether payment of recording fee is a condition precedent to lodging for record, see 132 C. 554.