Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1964 )

THE ATTORNEWGE;VEXZAL OFTEXAS Honorable W. C. Lindsey Opinion No. C- 258 Criminal mstrlct Attorney Jefferson County Courthouse Re: Should a county clerk ac- Beaumont, Texas cept for recording in the Deed Records,a certified Attention: James M. barrls, copy from a court of record Assistant upon which the Clerk of said court ha8 stamped the court seal with a rubber stamQ,and Dear Sir: related question. We are In receipt of your request for opinion from this office wherein you QrOQOUnd the following two queatlons: “1. Should a County Clerk accept for record- ing In the Deed Records a certified copy from a court of record upon which the clerk of said court has stamped the court seal with a rubber stamp? “2. Should a County Clerk accept for record- ing In the Deed Records an instrument from a sister state where the seal of the Notary Public has not been affixed but merely stamped?” We shall proceed to answer your questions In order as shown above. Your request indicate5 that some county clerks within this atate have forwarded copies of documents certified by them to your county clerk for flllng where the court seal was stamped on the copy with a rubber UtamQ rather than by lm- pressing the seal. Articles 1948 and 1966 of Vernon’s Civil Statutes state a8 follows: “Art. 1948. Shall use seal Where In any county a joint olerk shall have been elected, he shall, in performing the duties of count clerk use the seal o Afffficlal aots as added.I "Art. 1966. Seal of the court Each county court shall be provided with a seal, having engraved thereon a star of five points In the -1235- Honorable W. C. Lindsey, page 2 (c-258) center, and the words, 'County Court of ........ Article 1966 In mandatory language requires the county clerk to Impress the seal of the court on all pro- cesses in order to duly authenticateofficial acts. There 1s no provision for the use of a facslmlle of the seal, such as a rubber stamp. We therefore advise you that a county clerk may properly refuse to accept a certified COQy of an instrument from another court wherein the official seal of the court was not impressed. In connection with your second question, we are advised that several Instrumentsexecuted in California and New York have been sent to Jefferson County for recording In the Deed Records In which the notary public taking such ac- knowledgmentused a rubber stamp which denoted his seal of office. Article 6602, Vernon's Civil Statutes, specifically enumerates those officers, both within and without this State, who may take acknowledgmentsof Instrumentsof writing for record In Texas. A notary public of another state may acknowl- edge Instrumentsto be filed for record In Texas. Article 6603, V.C.S., requires that the notary, be he within or without Texas, affix his seal of office thereto as follows: "The acknowledgmentof an Instrumentof writing for the purpose of being recorded shall be by the grantor or person who executed the same appearing before some officer authorized to take such acknowl- edgment, and stating that he had executed the same for the considerationand purposes therein stated; -landthe officer taking such acknowledgmentshall make a certificatethereof, sign and seal the same with _~ his seal of office." (Emphasisadded.) Article 6606, V.C.S., states that: "An officer taking the acknowl.edgment of a deed, or other instrumentof writing, must place thereon his official certificate,signed by him and given under his seal of office substantiallyin form as hereinafter prescrlbed.d (Bnphasisadded.) Article 6607, V.C.S., sets forth the form of the certificate -1236- Honorable W. C. Lindsey, page 3 (C-258) of acknowledgment,as follows: "The form of an ordinary certificateof acknowledgmentmust be substantiallyas follows: 'ItTheState of , "'County of I "'Beforeme here insert the name and character of the officerf on this day personally appeared - known to me (Or proved to me on the oath of ) to be the person whose name is subscribed to the foregoing instrument and acknowledgedto me that he executed the same for the purposes and considerationtherein expressed. thls "(Seal) d;F~ under my hand and seal of office , AJJ l 0, . (Rmph~ded.) It Is noted that In all of the above quoted articles, that where a seal is mentioned, it pertains to the seal of the particular notary public acknowledgingthe instrument. When a notary has placed his seal of office on the instrumentof wrlt- lng and has subst.aiiFiallycomplied with Article 6607, regarding the form of acknowledgment,the instrument should be accepted by a county clerk of Texas for recording In the Deed Records. We therefore advise you that a county clerk should accept for recording,lnthe Deed Records an instrumentexecuted In a sister state where the notary public taking such acknowl- edgment used a rubber stamp to denote his seal of office if such rubber stamp is the notary's official seal in such smte. P doubt exists as to the validity of such seal, the clerk may require that the seal of the notary public of such sister statesbe authenticated. SUMMARY A county clerk should not accept for record- ing In the Deed Records a certified copy from another court of record where the seal of the court has not been affixed thereto. A county clerk should accept for recording in the Deed Records an instrument from a sister -1237- - . Honorable W. C. Lindsey, page 4 (C-258) state where the seal of the notary public con- forms with the requirementsof such sister state. Very truly yours, WAGGONER CARR Attorney General Byagdk" L F. C. Jack Goodman Assistant FCJG/fb APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE W. V. Geppert, Chairman George Black Howard Fender W. E. Allen APPROVED FOR TRE ATTORNEY GENERAL By: Stanton Stone -1238-