(1) The clerk of the circuit court shall be the recorder of all instruments that he or she may be required or authorized by law to record in the county where he or she is clerk.
(2) The clerk of the circuit court shall record all instruments in one general series called “Official Records.” He or she shall keep a register in which he or she shall enter at the time of filing the filing number of each instrument filed for record, the date and hour of filing, the kind of instrument, and the names of the parties to the instrument. The clerk shall maintain a general alphabetical index, direct and inverse, of all instruments filed for record. The register of Official Records must be available at each office where official records may be filed.
(3) The clerk of the circuit court shall record the following kinds of instruments presented to him or her for recording, upon payment of the service charges prescribed by law:
(a) Deeds, leases, bills of sale, agreements, mortgages, notices or claims of lien, notices of levy, tax warrants, tax executions, and other instruments relating to the ownership, transfer, or encumbrance of or claims against real or personal property or any interest in it; extensions, assignments, releases, cancellations, or satisfactions of mortgages and liens; and powers of attorney relating to any of the instruments.
(b) Notices of lis pendens, including notices of an action pending in a United States court having jurisdiction in this state.
(c) Judgments, including certified copies of judgments, entered by any court of this state or by a United States court having jurisdiction in this state and assignments, releases, and satisfactions of the judgments.
(d) That portion of a certificate of discharge, separation, or service which indicates the character of discharge, separation, or service of any citizen of this state with respect to the military, air, or naval forces of the United States. Each certificate shall be recorded without cost to the veteran, but the clerk shall receive from the board of county commissioners or other governing body of the county the service charge prescribed by law for the recording.
(e) Notices of liens for taxes payable to the United States and other liens in favor of the United States, and certificates discharging, partially discharging, or releasing the liens, in accordance with the laws of the United States.
(f) Certified copies of petitions, with schedules omitted, commencing proceedings under the 1Bankruptcy Act of the United States, decrees of adjudication in the proceedings, and orders approving the bonds of trustees appointed in the proceedings.
(g) Certified copies of death certificates authorized for issuance by the Department of Health which exclude the information that is confidential under s. 382.008, and certified copies of death certificates issued by another state whether or not they exclude the information described as confidential in s. 382.008.
(h) Copies of any instruments originally created and executed using an electronic signature, as defined in s. 695.27, and certified to be a true and correct paper printout by a notary public in accordance with chapter 117, if the county recorder is not prepared to accept electronic documents for recording electronically.
(i) Any other instruments required or authorized by law to be recorded.
(4) The county recorder shall remove recorded court documents from the Official Records pursuant to a sealing or expunction order.
(5) Any reference in these statutes to the filing of instruments affecting title to real or personal property with the clerk of the circuit court shall mean recording of the instruments.
(6) The clerk of the circuit court may maintain a separate book for maps, plats, and drawings recorded pursuant to chapters 177, 253, and 337.
(7)(a) All instruments recorded in the Official Records 2must remain open to the public, under the supervision of the clerk, for the purpose of inspection thereof and of making copies therefrom.
(b) The clerk is not required to perform any service in connection with such inspection or making of copies without payment of service charges as provided in s. 28.24.
(c) The clerk, in his or her capacity as county recorder, must retain the service charge payments under s. 28.24, except that those service charge payments that relate to court records or functions and meet the description of court-related functions in s. 28.35(3)(a) must be distributed for those court-related functions.
History.—ss. 2, 4, ch. 71-4; s. 24, ch. 81-259; s. 2, ch. 84-114; s. 2, ch. 92-25; s. 1, ch. 93-42; s. 100, ch. 94-119; s. 11, ch. 94-348; s. 1324, ch. 95-147; s. 2, ch. 95-214; s. 83, ch. 97-237; s. 3, ch. 99-259; s. 2, ch. 2013-109; s. 18, ch. 2019-71; s. 1, ch. 2021-116; s. 1, ch. 2021-215.
1Note.—Replaced by the 1978 Bankruptcy Code.
2Note.—As amended by s. 1, ch. 2021-116. The amendment by s. 1, ch. 2021-215, uses the word “are” instead of the words “must remain.”