Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 2006 )


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  •                                   ATTORNEY GENERAL                       OFTEXAS
    GREG        ABBOTT
    February 23,2006
    Mr. Carl Reynolds                                           Opinion No. GA-0404
    Administrative Director
    Office of Court Administration                              Re: Whether the seal placed on certified copies of
    Post Office Box 12066                                       documents recorded in the county clerk’s office
    Austin, Texas 7871 l-2066                                   must be raised (RQ-0384-GA)
    Dear Mr. Reynolds:
    You seek our opinion on “whether a county clerk may properly place a county clerk’s
    certificate on each page of a document by means other than impressing a raised seal on each page
    of the document along with the clerk’s signature.“’ You tell us that the Local Government Code
    requires county clerks to place the county clerk’s certificate on each page or part of a page of
    certified papers but that no statute defines “county clerk’s certificate.” Request Letter, supra note
    1, at 1. You further inform us that county clerks disagree about the requirements of a clerk’s
    certificate. See 
    id. Specifically, you
    write that
    [s]ome clerks contend that that [sic] the county clerk’s certificate can
    only be placed on a page of a document by impressing a raised seal
    upon the page and by including the clerk’s signature along with the
    raised seal. They sometimes will refuse to accept certified copies
    from other county clerks who do not use a raised seal on each page of
    the document. Other county clerks do not believe that a raised seal
    must be impressed upon each page along with the clerk’s signature.
    For example, one clerk uses paper containing a visible watermark on
    each page of a certified document that states “OFFICE OF COUNTY
    CLERK CERTIFIED COPY” and contains a visible image of the
    county seal.    This clerk impresses a raised seal only on the
    document’s last page, which also contains information identifying the
    type of record, the number of pages, and the clerk’s stamped
    signature.
    
    Id. (citation omitted).
    You ask whether the seal that is placed on every page must be raised on every
    page or whether it may be raised only on the last page of the document. See 
    id. ‘Letter Tom
    Carl Reynolds, Administrative Director, Office of Court Administration, to Honorable Greg Abbott,
    Attorney General of Texas (Aug. 22, 2005) (on file with the Opinion Committee, also available at http://www.oag
    .state.tx.us) [hereinafter Request Letter].
    Mr. Carl Reynolds        - Page 2                       (GA-0404)
    The office of the county clerk is an elected constitutional office. See TEX. CONST. art. V,
    6 20 (“There shall be elected for each county, by the qualified voters, a County Clerk, who shall hold
    his office for four years, who shall be the clerk of the County and Commissioners             Courts and
    recorder of the county, whose duties, perquisites and fees of office shall be prescribed by the
    Legislature . . . .“); see also TEX. Lot. GOV’T CODE ANN. 0 191 .OOl(a) (Vernon 1999); Tex. Att’y
    Gen. Op. No. GA-0203 (2004) at 3. A primary duty of the county clerk is to serve as the county
    recorder. See TEX. CONST. art. V, $20; TEX. Lot. GOV’T CODE ANN. $ 191.001(a). “The county
    clerk shall record, exactly, without delay, and in the manner provided . . . , the contents of each
    instrument that is filed for recording and that the clerk is authorized to record.” TEX. LOC. GOV’T
    CODE ANN. 9 19 1.OO1(c) (Vernon 1999). Chapter 192, Local Government Code, expressly provides
    for specific instruments to be recorded. See 
    id. ch. 192
    (Vernon 1999 & Supp. 2005). The Local
    Government Code also directs the manner in which the county clerk should record and index
    recorded documents. See 
    id. ch. 193.
    The Local Government Code requires that “[o]n demand, the
    county clerk shall give an attested copy of any instrument that is recorded in the clerk’s office.” 
    Id. 3 191.004(a)
    (Vernon Supp. 2005); see also Tex. Att’y Gen. Op. No. GA-0203 (2004) at 3 (“The
    clerk provides an ‘attested,’ or certified, copy of an instrument recorded in the clerk’s office . . . .“).
    And the county clerk is required to “use the county court seal to authenticate all of the clerk’s official
    acts as county recorder.” TEX. Lot. GOV’T CODE ANN. 9 191.001(b) (Vernon 1999).
    Chapter 118 of the Local Government Code governs the fees to be charged by county
    officers. See 
    id. ch. 118
    (Vernon 1999 & Supp. 2005). Section 118.011 sets out the fee schedule
    for fees that the county clerk shall collect for rendition of certain services. See 
    id. 0 118.01
    l(a)
    (Vernon Supp. 2005). Section 118.052 establishes a similar fee schedule for certain services
    rendered by the clerk of a county court2 See 
    id. 6 118.052.
    Both sections establish a fee for
    “Certified Papers.” See 
    id. $0 118.01
    l(a)(3), .052(3)(B). In both sections, the fee for “Certified
    Papers” has two components: a fee for the clerk’s certificate and a fee for copying each page or
    part of a page. See 
    id. $5 118.01
    l(a)(3), .052(3)(B). Section 118.014 clarifies that the “fees for
    ‘Certified Papers’ under section 118.0 11 are for the county clerk’s certificate that shall be placed on
    each page or part of a page, and a fee for copying each page or part of a page, of a notice, statement,
    license or document that the clerk is authorized or required to issue.” 
    Id. 5 118.014(a)
    (Vernon
    1999). The language of section 118.060 is almost identical with respect to the fees charged under
    section 118.052(3). See 
    id. 3 118.060(a).
    Sections 118.014 and 118.060 use the term “clerk’s certificate.” See 
    id. $6 118.014(a),
    .060(a). Though undefined by Texas statute or judicial opinion, clearly the clerk’s certificate
    referred to in sections 118.014 and 118.060 is the same clerk’s certificate referenced in sections
    118.011 and 118.052. See 
    id. $0 118.01
    1, .052 (Vernon Supp. 2005). The clerk’s certificate is that
    which makes a copy of a document a “certified copy” distinguishable from a “noncertified copy.”
    ‘The county clerk is also clerk of the county court, See TEX. CONST.art. V, $ 20 (“There shall be elected for
    each county, by the qualified voters, a County Clerk, who shall hold his office for four years, who shall be clerk of the
    County and Commissioners Courts and recorder of the county, whose duties, perquisites and fees of office shall be
    prescribed by the Legislature . . . .“); see also TEX. GOV’T CODEANN. 4 25.0010(b) (Vernon 2004) (“The county clerk
    shall serve as clerk of each statutory county court.“); TEX. Lot. GOV’T CODE ANN. 9 192.006(a) (Vernon 1999)
    (providing that the county clerk is custodian of the records of the county court in civil and criminal cases and probate
    matters).
    Mr. Carl Reynolds     - Page 3                     (GA-0404)
    See 
    id. $4 118.0145(a),
    .0605(a) (Vernon 1999). Certification signifies that the copy is a “true copy.”
    See Tex. Attorney Gen. v. Litten, 999 S.W.2d 74,78 n.7 (Tex. App.-Houston          [ 14th Dist.] 1999, pet.
    denied) (quoting BLACK’SLAW DICTIONARY287 (4th ed. 1968)); see also Tex. Att’y Gen. Op. No.
    GA-0203 (2004) at 3. A county clerk puts the clerk’s certificate on a copy of an original document
    to certify or attest to the fact that the copy is an exact reproduction of the original. See 
    Litten, 999 S.W.2d at 78
    n.7; Tex. Att’y Gen. Op. No. GA-0203 (2004) at 3. The Office of Court
    Administration’s Manual for County Clerks appears to equate the placing of the seal and the clerk’s
    signature on a document with certification.         See OFFICEOF COURT ADMINISTRATION,COUNTY
    CLERKMANUALII-20 (2003) (stating that the “clerk, by affixing his or her seal and signature, swears
    that the copy is a true and exact replica of the recorded instrument in its entirety.“) Other than
    requiring placement of the county seal and clerk’s signature on each page of a document, neither
    chapter 118 nor any other Texas statute dictates the exact prerequisites and contours of the clerk’s
    certificate. See generally TEX. Lot. GOV’T CODE ANN. ch. 118 (Vernon 1999 & Supp. 2005).
    Similarly, section 191 .OO1(b), Local Government Code, requires the placement of the seal on every
    page of the document that is to be certified, but does not address whether the seal must be raised on
    one, all, or any of the pages of the document. See 
    id. 5 191.001(b)
    (Vernon 1999).
    While the recording of documents is a ministerial task of the county clerk, see Turrentine v.
    Lasane, 
    389 S.W.2d 336
    , 337 (Tex. Civ. App.-Waco               1965, no writ) (holding that the “clerk’s
    ministerial duty to record is properly enforced by mandamus”); see also Tex. Att’y Gen. Op. Nos.
    JM-508 (1986) at 3, JM-3 10 (1985) at 3; Tex. Att’y Gen. LO-98-016 at 7 (concluding that the
    “county clerk has a ministerial duty to accept a document for filing and recording if a statute
    authorizes, requires or permits it to be filed in the clerk’s office, and if it is regular on its face.“), the
    clerk nevertheless is an elected county officer with a certain sphere of authority. See TEX. CONST.
    art. V, 0 20; Tex. Att’y Gen. Op. No. GA-0203 (2004) at 3 (“As an elected officer, the clerk occupies
    a sphere of authority within which another elected officer may not interfere.“).             The sphere of
    authority of the county clerk includes records in the clerk’s office. See Tex. Att’y Gen. Op. No.
    GA-0203 (2004) at 3.
    A “county officer retains control over the accomplishment of the officer’s constitutional and
    statutory duties,” Tex. Att’y Gen. Op. No. JC-0239 (2000) at 3 (concluding that “[a]n elected county
    official’s authority to accomplish the constitutional or statutory purposes of his or her office
    encompasses the authority to dismiss his or her employees for all or part of a day for any reason” that
    does not violate the constitution), and has “sufficient discretion to administer the office as the official
    wishes.” Tex. Att’y Gen. Op. No. JC-0323 (2001) at 5. With regard to public functionaries,
    discretion has been defined as the “power or right to act officially, according to what appears just
    and proper under the circumstances.” Permanent Rd. Comm ‘rs v. Johnson, 23 1 S.W. 859,860 (Tex.
    Civ. App.-Dallas      192 1, no writ) (quoting Bd. of Comm ‘rs of Rio Grande County v. Lewis, 
    28 Colo. 378
    , 
    65 P. 51
    (1901)). Unlike ministerial duties that “require obedience to orders or the
    performance of a duty to which the actor has no choice,” Deaver v. Bridges, 
    47 S.W.3d 549
    , 553
    (Tex. App.-San      Antonio 2000, no pet.), discretion involves choice in the absence of hard-and-fast
    rules. See The Styria v. Morgan, 
    186 U.S. 1
    , 9 (1902); Tex. Att’y Gen. Op. No. GA-0353 (2005)
    at 4. Texas statutes do not mandate that the seal placed on every page of a document as part of the
    clerk’s certificate be raised. We therefore conclude that a county clerk has discretion to determine
    whether the seal placed on every page of the document must be raised. A document that bears a
    clerk’s certificate is a certified document.
    Mr. Carl Reynolds   - Page 4                  (GA-0404)
    SUMMARY
    Texas statutes do not mandate that the seal placed on every
    page of a document as part of the clerk’s certificate be raised. As an
    elected officer the county clerk has discretion to determine whether
    the seal placed on every page of the document must be raised. A
    document that bears a clerk’s certificate is a certified document.
    d   Attorney &r&al    of Texas
    BARRY R. MCBEE
    First Assistant Attorney General
    ELLEN L. WITT
    Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel
    NANCY S. FULLER
    Chair, Opinion Committee
    Charlotte M. Harper
    Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee
    

Document Info

Docket Number: GA-0404

Judges: Greg Abbott

Filed Date: 7/2/2006

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 2/18/2017