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SENATE FLOOR VERSION
February 11, 2025
AS AMENDED
SENATE BILL NO. 961 By: Bullard of the Senate
and
Williams of the House
[ county clerks - duty of register of deeds -
notification - fee - optional confirmation -
liability - effective date ]
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 19 O.S. 2021, Section 298, as
amended by Section 1, Chapter 250, O.S.L. 2024 (19 O.S. Supp. 2024,
Section 298), is amended to read as follows:
Section 298. A. Every county clerk in this state shall require
that the mandates of the Legislature be complied with, as expressed
in Sections 287 and 291 of this title, and for that purpose, every
instrument offered which may be accepted by the county clerk for
recording, affecting specific real property whether of conveyance,
encumbrance, assignment, or release of encumbrance, lease,
assignment of lease, or release of lease, shall be an original or
certified copy of an original instrument and clearly legible i n
accordance with the provisions of subsection B of this section, and
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shall by its own terms describe the property by its specific legal
description, and provide such information as is necessary for
indexing as required in Sections 287 and 291 of this ti tle, and on
each such instrument shall be listed the mailing address of the
grantee, mortgagee, assignee , or other designated party to which the
instrument is to be delivered after recording. If an instrument
offered to a county clerk for recording contains more than twenty-
five legal descriptions requiring separate entries in the indexes
required by Sections 287 and 291 of this title, the descriptions
shall be sorted by addition, block, and lot if platted property, or
by township, range, and section if de scribed by governmental survey
description. Any instrument offered to a county clerk for recording
containing more than twenty -five legal descriptions per page,
counted as each description which could require a separate line
entry in the numerical index, sh all be accompanied by an additional
filing fee of One Dollar ($1.00) per legal description in excess of
twenty-five legal descriptions per page to be paid to the county
clerk. Unless the person offering a nonconforming instrument for
filing is willing to reform the instrument to conform to statutory
requirements, for which purpose it may be withdrawn and refiled
during the same business day, the county clerk may refuse to record
the same in the records of deeds, leases , or mortgages or to index
the same upon the index records referred to in Section 287 or 291 of
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this title, or to file or record the same in the office of the
county clerk.
B. All documents filed of record in the office of the county
clerk pursuant to subsection A of this section or pursuan t to any
other law shall be an original or a certified copy of an original
document. Such documents shall be clearly legible, in the English
language, using xerographically reproducible dark ink, on paper of a
color that is xerographically reproducible by t he copying equipment
in use by the county clerk. Unless otherwise provided by law, such
documents shall measure no larger than eight and one -half (8 1/2)
inches by fourteen (14) inches. All documents shall provide an area
free of printed information su fficient in size to accommodate
affixation of the documentary stamps required by Section 3201 of
Title 68 of the Oklahoma Statutes, any certification of the payment
of mortgage taxes required by Section 1901 et seq. of Title 68 of
the Oklahoma Statutes, and the recording information affixed by the
county clerk upon acceptance of a document for recordation. Any
part of a signature or any stray markings within the margin shall
not void the requirements for accepting and filing any document by
any county within the state, provided there remains sufficient space
for the affixation of stamps and recording information without
covering language contained in the instrument. If an instrument
submitted to the county clerk for recording does not contain
sufficient space for the affixation of such stamps and recording
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information without covering language contained in the instrument,
the county clerk shall attach an additional page to the document to
provide for the affixation of such stamps and recording information.
A county clerk shall not charge any additional fee or fine for stray
markings within the margin of a document. The top margin of all
documents shall be at least two (2) inches and all other margins
shall be at least one (1) inch.
C. Despite any provision in this section to the contrary, the
county clerk shall accept for filing any document that fails to meet
the requirements of subsection B of this section if:
1. The document is an original or a certified copy of an
original;
2. The document is legible without the aid of magnification or
other enhancement of the text;
3. The document is xerographically reproducible by the copying
equipment in use by the county clerk;
4. The document meets all other statutory requirements for
recordation; and
5. The person offering the instrument for recording pays the
additional fee provided in Section 32 of Title 28 of the Oklahoma
Statutes for nonconforming documents.
D. Despite any provision in this section to the contrary, a
digitized image or electronic copy of an original or certified copy
of an original instrument or document shall satisfy the requirement
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that the document be an original or certified copy of an original
instrument or document, provided that the digitized image or
electronic copy is submitted for recording electronically pursuant
to the Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act in Title 16 of
the Oklahoma Statutes and all other rules promulgated pursuant to
that act.
E. This section shall not apply to plats, filings under the
Uniform Commercial Code, or any other instruments that may be filed
pursuant to any other law.
F. All documents accepted for filing, including all documents
filed before February 18, 1997, shall be deemed to comply with the
requirements of this section and, except as oth erwise provided by
law, impart constructive notice of the contents of such document to
third parties unless a person claiming adversely to any such
document files an affidavit setting forth the basis of such claim in
the office of the county clerk of the county where the property is
located within six (6) months from February 18, 1997.
G. Upon the filing of a deed, the county clerk shall notify or
attempt to notify the previous deed holder of the filing. The
county clerk may determine the most effective w ay to notify the
previous deed holder and may use third -party vendors, provided the
method used is effective in sending a timely notification to the
previous deed owner. Such notification shall inform the previous
deed holder of the new filing. The cou nty clerk may charge a one-
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dollar notification fee to the filer of the deed for each deed filed
with the county clerk to effectuate the purposes of this subsection.
H. The county clerk shall provide an immediate option for a
deed holder to, at any time, place a trigger within their deed ,
which shall require the county clerk to contact such deed holder at
the time of any subsequent filings to immediately notify and verify
that they are or are not the person or entity transferring the deed.
If the deed holder, once contact is established, contests the
validity of the proposed deed filing, the county clerk shall cease
completion of the filing and submit a formal and immediate inquiry
to the local district attorney to investigate and make a
determination as to w hether the awaiting filing of a deed is
fraudulent or is a legitimate deed conveyance. The district
attorney shall verify with the original deed holder if they want to
allow the new deed to be filed or if they want to halt the filing.
If the deed holder does not respond within five (5) business days
and every reasonable attempt has been made to contact such deed
holder, then the county cle rk shall complete the proposed filing .
I. The county clerk shall not be liable to a deed holder for
any damages pursuant to this section when the notification processes
of this section are followed.
SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2025.
COMMITTEE REPORT BY: COMMITTEE ON LOCAL AND COUNTY GOVERNMENT
February 11, 2025 - DO PASS AS AMENDED