CHAPTER 195. ELECTRONIC FILING OF RECORDS WITH AND RECORDING BY COUNTY CLERK
LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE
TITLE 6. RECORDS
SUBTITLE B. COUNTY RECORDS
CHAPTER 195. ELECTRONIC FILING OF RECORDS WITH AND RECORDING BY
COUNTY CLERK
Sec. 195.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Commission" means the Texas State Library and Archives
Commission.
(2) "Director and librarian" means the executive and
administrative officer of the Texas State Library and Archives
Commission.
(3) "Electronic document" has the meaning assigned by Section
15.002, Property Code.
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 58, Sec. 2, eff. May 10, 1999.
Amended by:
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch.
699, Sec. 3, eff. September 1, 2005.
Sec. 195.002. ADOPTION OF RULES. (a) The commission shall
adopt rules by which a county clerk may accept electronic
documents and other instruments by electronic filing and record
electronic documents and other instruments electronically under
Section 191.009.
(b) The rules must provide for:
(1) the electronic filing with and recording by the county clerk
of:
(A) real property records; and
(B) except for records maintained under Section 192.006, other
instruments filed with and recorded by the county clerk as
determined by the commission;
(2) the means by which an electronic document or other
instrument may be electronically transmitted to a county clerk
for filing;
(3) the means by which a county clerk may electronically record
an electronic document or other instrument filed electronically;
(4) requiring that the means adopted under Subdivision (2) or
(3) be generally available, nonproprietary technology; and
(5) security standards to prevent the filing and recording of
fraudulent electronic documents or other instruments or
alteration of electronic documents or other instruments that were
previously filed and recorded electronically.
(c) Rules adopted by the commission under this section that
permit the use of digital signatures in the electronic filing of
electronic documents or other instruments with the county clerk
must be, to the extent practicable, consistent with rules
governing digital signatures adopted by the Department of
Information Resources under Section 2054.060, Government Code.
(d) Before adopting or amending a rule under this section, the
commission shall consider the recommendations of the Electronic
Recording Advisory Committee established under Section 195.008.
(e) Notwithstanding Sections 322.017 and 322.018, Business &
Commerce Code, a county clerk may accept any filed electronic
record, as defined by Section 322.002, Business & Commerce
Code, or electronic document and may electronically record that
electronic document or record if the filing and recording of that
electronic document or record complies with rules adopted by the
commission under this section.
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 58, Sec. 2, eff. May 10, 1999.
Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 702, Sec. 3, eff. January 1,
2002.
Amended by:
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch.
699, Sec. 4, eff. September 1, 2005.
Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch.
885, Sec. 2.24, eff. April 1, 2009.
Sec. 195.003. PERSONS AUTHORIZED TO FILE ELECTRONICALLY. (a)
The following persons may file electronic documents or other
documents electronically for recording with a county clerk that
accepts electronic filing and recording under this chapter:
(1) an attorney licensed in this state;
(2) a bank, savings and loan association, savings bank, or
credit union doing business under laws of the United States or
this state;
(3) a federally chartered lending institution, a federal
government-sponsored entity, an instrumentality of the federal
government, or a person approved as a mortgagee by the United
States to make federally insured loans;
(4) a person licensed to make regulated loans in this state;
(5) a title insurance company or title insurance agent licensed
to do business in this state; or
(6) an agency of this state.
(b) A fee may not be charged to a person authorized to file
under this section, except as provided by Section 195.006 or
195.007.
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 58, Sec. 2, eff. May 10, 1999.
Amended by:
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch.
699, Sec. 4, eff. September 1, 2005.
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch.
1260, Sec. 21, eff. June 18, 2005.
Sec. 195.004. NOTICE OF CONFIRMATION. (a) A county clerk that
accepts electronic filing and recording under this chapter shall
confirm or reject an electronic filing of an electronic document
or other instrument not later than the first business day after
the date the electronic document or other instrument is filed.
Notice under this section must be made:
(1) by electronic means if possible; or
(2) if notice under Subdivision (1) is not possible, by
telephone or electronic facsimile machine.
(b) If the county clerk fails to provide notice of rejection
within the time provided by Subsection (a), the electronic
document or other instrument is considered accepted for filing
and may not subsequently be rejected.
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 58, Sec. 2, eff. May 10, 1999.
Amended by:
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch.
699, Sec. 4, eff. September 1, 2005.
Sec. 195.005. TIME ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT OR OTHER INSTRUMENT
CONSIDERED FILED OR RECORDED. An electronic document or other
instrument that is recorded electronically under this chapter is
considered to be recorded in compliance with a law relating to
the recording of electronic documents or other instruments as of
the county clerk's business day on which the electronic document
or other instrument is filed electronically. An electronic
document or other instrument filed electronically under this
chapter must be recorded as timely as an instrument filed by any
other means.
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 58, Sec. 2, eff. May 10, 1999.
Amended by:
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch.
699, Sec. 4, eff. September 1, 2005.
Sec. 195.006. ADDITIONAL FEE PROHIBITED. The fee to file or
record an electronic document or other instrument electronically
under this chapter is the same as the fee for filing or recording
the instrument by other means, and a county clerk may not charge
an additional fee for filing or recording an electronic document
or other instrument electronically under this chapter.
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 58, Sec. 2, eff. May 10, 1999.
Amended by:
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch.
699, Sec. 4, eff. September 1, 2005.
Sec. 195.007. ACCESS TO ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT OR OTHER INSTRUMENT
RECORDED ELECTRONICALLY. (a) An electronic document or other
instrument filed or recorded electronically must be available for
public inspection in the same manner and at the same time as an
instrument filed or recorded by other means.
(b) The county clerk shall provide a requestor, as defined by
Section 552.003, Government Code, of an electronic document or
other instrument filed or recorded electronically under this
chapter with electronic copies of the electronic document or
other instrument in a form that is capable of being processed by
the use of technology that is generally available and
nonproprietary in nature. The county clerk shall provide the
copies to the requestor at the cost of producing the copies in
accordance with Section 552.262, Government Code.
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 58, Sec. 2, eff. May 10, 1999.
Amended by:
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch.
699, Sec. 4, eff. September 1, 2005.
Sec. 195.008. ELECTRONIC RECORDING ADVISORY COMMITTEE. (a) The
Electronic Recording Advisory Committee shall be appointed as
required by this section to recommend to the commission initial
and subsequent rules to be adopted under this chapter.
(b) The committee consists of:
(1) the following persons appointed by the director and
librarian:
(A) one person who is employed by or is an officer of a title
insurance agent or title insurance company;
(B) an officer or employee of a federal government-sponsored
entity;
(C) a person who as a usual business practice obtains copies of
recorded instruments from a county clerk to maintain an abstract
or title plant; and
(D) a public representative;
(2) two persons who are county judges or county commissioners
appointed by the County Judges and Commissioners Association of
Texas;
(3) four county clerks appointed by the County and District
Clerks' Association of Texas;
(4) three persons who are employed by or officers of different
title insurance agents or companies appointed by the Texas Land
Title Association;
(5) the presiding officer of the Title Insurance Subcommittee of
the Real Estate, Probate, and Trust Law section of the State Bar
of Texas or the functional equivalent of that subcommittee;
(6) the attorney general or a person designated by the attorney
general;
(7) the comptroller or a person designated by the comptroller;
(8) the executive director of the General Services Commission or
a person designated by the executive director;
(9) the executive director of the Department of Information
Resources or a person designated by the executive director; and
(10) the director and librarian or a person designated by the
director and librarian, who also serves as presiding officer of
the committee.
(c) A member of the committee serves a term of two years that
expires on August 31 of each odd-numbered year.
(d) A vacancy in the membership of the committee is filled in
the same manner as the initial appointment and is for the
remainder of the unexpired term.
(e) A meeting of the committee is at the call of the presiding
officer and is subject to Chapter 551, Government Code.
(f) A member of the committee is not entitled to compensation or
reimbursement of expenses from the commission for serving on the
committee. A member of the committee who is an employee or
officer of a state agency is entitled to compensation and
reimbursement of expenses for service on the committee as
determined by the state agency of which the member is an officer
or employee. Chapter 2110, Government Code, does not apply to the
committee.
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 58, Sec. 2, eff. May 10, 1999.
Sec. 195.009. FILING. For purposes of this chapter, an
electronic document or other instrument is filed with the county
clerk when it is received by the county clerk, unless the county
clerk rejects the filing within the time and manner provided by
this chapter and rules adopted under this chapter.
Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 702, Sec. 4, eff. January 1,
2002.
Amended by:
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch.
699, Sec. 4, eff. September 1, 2005.