CHAPTER 191. GENERAL RECORDS PROVISIONS AFFECTING COUNTIES
LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE
TITLE 6. RECORDS
SUBTITLE B. COUNTY RECORDS
CHAPTER 191. GENERAL RECORDS PROVISIONS AFFECTING COUNTIES
Sec. 191.001. COUNTY RECORDER; SEAL; GENERAL DUTIES. (a) As
provided by Article V, Section 20, of the Texas Constitution, the
county clerk of a county serves as the county recorder.
(b) The county clerk shall use the county court seal to
authenticate all of the clerk's official acts as county recorder.
(c) The county clerk shall record, exactly, without delay, and
in the manner provided by this subtitle, the contents of each
instrument that is filed for recording and that the clerk is
authorized to record.
(d) The county clerk shall keep the records properly indexed and
arranged as provided by this subtitle.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.
Amended by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 1248, Sec. 49, eff. Sept. 1,
1989.
Sec. 191.002. RECORDS TO BE KEPT IN WELL-BOUND BOOKS OR ON
MICROFILM OR OTHER MEDIA. When the county clerk records an
instrument, the clerk shall do so in a suitable well-bound book.
However, this requirement does not apply to an instrument
recorded and maintained on microfilm or other medium as provided
by Chapters 204 and 205 and rules adopted under those chapters.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.
Amended by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 1248, Sec. 50, eff. Sept. 1,
1989.
Sec. 191.003. EFFECTIVE DATE OF RECORDING. An instrument filed
with a county clerk for recording is considered recorded from the
time that the instrument is filed.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.
Sec. 191.004. ATTESTED COPIES. (a) On demand, the county clerk
shall give an attested copy of any instrument that is recorded in
the clerk's office.
(b) The fee provided by law for an attested copy shall be paid
to the clerk.
(c) Subsection (a) does not apply to birth and death records
maintained under the vital statistics laws of this state as
provided by Title 3, Health and Safety Code. The county clerk
shall allow access to and give attested copies of those records
only as provided by the vital statistics laws, rules adopted
under those laws, and Chapter 552, Government Code.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.
Amended by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 1, Sec. 43(a), eff. Aug. 28,
1989; Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 920, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1989;
Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1192, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
Sec. 191.005. EFFECT OF COPY. If made and recorded as provided
by law, a transcribed record, a translation of a Spanish archive,
a rerecorded deed, any other instrument required by law to be
recorded, or a certified copy of such a record has the same
effect as the original record.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.
Sec. 191.006. PUBLIC ACCESS TO RECORDS. All records belonging
to the office of the county clerk to which access is not
otherwise restricted by law or by court order shall be open to
the public at all reasonable times. A member of the public may
make a copy of any of the records.
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.
Amended by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 1248, Sec. 51, eff. Sept. 1,
1989.
Sec. 191.007. SPECIFICATIONS FOR LEGAL PAPERS; INCREASED FEES.
(a) A legal paper presented to a county clerk for filing or for
recording in any county must meet the requirements prescribed by
Subsections (b) through (g). Except as provided by this section,
a county clerk may not impose additional requirements or fees for
filing or recording a legal paper.
(b) A page is considered to be one side of a sheet of paper. A
page must:
(1) be no wider than 8-1/2 inches and no longer than 14 inches;
(2) have a sufficient weight and substance so that printing,
typing, or handwriting on it will not smear or bleed through; and
(3) be printed in type not smaller than eight-point type and be
suitable otherwise for reproducing from it a readable record by a
photocopy or photostatic or microphotographic process used in the
office of the county clerk.
(c) Except as provided by Section 11.008(c), Property Code, a
clearly identifying heading, similar to the headings on most
commercially supplied printed forms, must be placed at the top of
the first page to identify the type or kind of legal paper.
(d) Printing, typing, and handwriting must be clearly legible.
(e) Names must be legibly typed or printed immediately under
each signature.
(f) All photostats, photocopies, and other types of reproduction
must have black printing, typing, or handwriting on a white
background, commonly known as positive prints.
(g) Riders and attachments must comply with the size requirement
prescribed by Subsection (b) and shall not be larger than the
size of the page. Only one rider or attachment may be included in
or attached to a page.
(h) The filing fee or recording fee for each page of a legal
paper that is presented for filing or recording to a county clerk
and fails to meet one or more of the requirements prescribed by
Subsections (b) through (g) is equal to twice the regular filing
fee or recording fee provided by statute for that page. However,
the failure of a page to meet the following requirements does not
result in a fee increase under this subsection:
(1) the requirement prescribed by Subsection (b)(3) relating to
type size; and
(2) provided that the legal paper complies with Section
11.008(c), Property Code, the requirement prescribed by
Subsection (c) that a legal paper have a clearly identifying
heading.
(i) If a page of a legal paper has more riders or attachments
than one, the filing fee or recording fee for each rider or
attachment in excess of one is twice the regular filing fee or
recording fee provided by statute.
(j) If a page of a legal paper has one or more riders or
attachments larger than the permitted size, the filing fee or
recording fee for each oversized rider or attachment is twice the
regular filing fee or recording fee provided by statute for the
rider or attachment.
(k) This section does not authorize a county clerk to refuse to
record a legal paper for the reason that it fails to meet one or
more of the requirements prescribed by Subsections (b) through
(g). Failure to comply with these requirements shall not in any
manner alter, amend, impair, or invalidate any document or legal
instrument of any type or character and upon recordation by the
county clerk the document or legal instrument shall be deemed and
considered as fully complying with the provisions of law dealing
with the recordation of documents or legal instruments of every
type and character.
Added by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 1, Sec. 20(c), eff. Aug. 28,
1989. Amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 555, Sec. 1, eff. Aug.
30, 1993.
Amended by:
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch.
45, Sec. 2, eff. May 13, 2005.
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch.
1036, Sec. 1, eff. June 18, 2005.
Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch.
87, Sec. 15.006, eff. September 1, 2009.
Sec. 191.008. AUTHORITY TO ESTABLISH COMPUTERIZED ELECTRONIC
INFORMATION SYSTEM. (a) The commissioners court of a county by
order may provide for the establishment and operation of a
computerized electronic information system through which it may
provide on a contractual basis direct access to information that
relates to all or some county and precinct records and records of
the district courts and courts of appeals having jurisdiction in
the county, that is public information, and that is stored or
processed in the system. The commissioners court may make records
available through the system only if the custodian of the records
agrees in writing to allow public access under this section to
the records.
(b) The commissioners court may:
(1) provide procedures for the establishment, maintenance, and
operation of the information system;
(2) establish eligibility criteria for users;
(3) delineate the public information to be available through the
system;
(4) set a reasonable fee, charged under a contract, for use of
the system; and
(5) consolidate billing and collection of fees and payments
under one county department or office.
(c) The commissioners court may contract with a person or other
governmental agency for the development, acquisition,
maintenance, or operation of:
(1) the information system or any component of the information
system, including telecommunication services necessary for access
to the system; and
(2) billing and collection services for the system.
Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 86, Sec. 1, eff. May 15, 1991.
Sec. 191.009. ELECTRONIC FILING AND RECORDING. (a) A county
clerk may accept electronic documents and other instruments by
electronic filing and record the electronic documents and other
instruments electronically if the filing or recording complies
with the rules adopted by the Texas State Library and Archives
Commission under Chapter 195.
(b) An electronic document or other instrument that is filed
electronically in compliance with the rules adopted under Chapter
195 is considered to have been filed in compliance with any law
relating to the filing of instruments with a county clerk.
(c) For purposes of this section:
(1) an instrument is an electronic record, as defined by Section
322.002, Business & Commerce Code; and
(2) "electronic document" has the meaning assigned by Section
15.002, Property Code.
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 58, Sec. 1, eff. May 10, 1999.
Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 702, Sec. 2, eff. January 1,
2002.
Amended by:
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch.
699, Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2005.
Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch.
885, Sec. 2.23, eff. April 1, 2009.