THE 

## A NEY GENEIRAL, F TEXAS GERALD C. MANN -X A-ORNm:Y

G.KNERXL

Honorable Melvin Combs Criminal DistrictAttorney Beaumont, Texas Dear Sir: OpinionNo. 0-4622 Re: Should the County Clerk refuse to accept for record any affidavit that does not carry both a jurat and an acknowledgment. Your letter of May 27, 1942 submitting the above questionhas been given our careful consideration. As you state,Article 6626, Revised Civil Statutes reads: "Thefollowing instruments of writing,which shallhave been acknowledgedor proved acoording to law, are authorized to be recorded." It then names the various instruments. Article

## 6591

of the Revised Civil Statutes reads: "CountyClerks shall be recorders for their respective counties; * * + * shall record all instrumentsof writing authorized or required to be recorded." Article 1941 of the Revised Civil Statutes relates to the duties of County Clerks and states: "Theyshallbe ex-officio recorders for their several counties, and as such shall record in suitablebooks to be procured for that purpose all deeds,mortgages and other instrumentsrequired or permitted by law to be recorded." In the case of Farmers Mutual Royalty Syndicatevs. Isaacks, 138 S.W. (2) 228, the Court after discussing the effect of a recorded affidavit duly sworn to but not acknowledgedwhich related to the sale of certain lands states:Honorable Melvin Combs, Page 2, 

### O-4622

"(l-3) The affidavitwas not such an instrument as is authorizedby Article 

### 6626,Revised Civil Statutes to be placed of record in the clerk's office and, therefore, its record did not constitute constructivenotice to defendant in error of the facts revealedby it." The court then held in said case that since the purchaser of the landhad notice of said affidavitbeing on recordhe was charged with actual notice of its contents, and that although the recording of the affidavitwas not constructivenotice it did effectively give the purchaser of the land actual notice of its contents. 

### 36 Tex.Jur. 439 reads: "An instrumentwhich is not acknowledged or proved for record as requiredby law is not entitled to be recorded." Under the above statement of the law a long list of authorities are cited. Article 

### 6612,6613,6614and 

### 6615of the Revised Civil Statutes provide the methods of how instrumentsmay be proved in order to entitle same to be recordedwhen said instrumentshave not been acknowledged. There is no provision in the statutewhich authorizes an unacknowledgedaffidavit to be recordedand as above stated the recording of such an affidavit is not constructivenotice of its contents, although it would have the effect of giving actual notice if the parties at interest saw the recorded affidavit. Under Article 

### 6626of Revised Civil Statutes the only instruments which are entitled to be recorded are those that have been either acknowledgedas providedby Article 

### 6603of the Revised Civil Statutes or those proved under the provisions of Article 

### 6612,6613and 

### 6614of the Revised Civil Statutes. You ask whether an affidavit, in order to be recorded shouldhave a jurat and also an acknowledgment. It takes thenjurat to make the instrument an affidavit. Before the County Clerk can be required to record an affidavit it must be acknowledged. Yours very truly GWG:WBP/cge ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS APPROVED JUNE 

### 16, 1942 s/ Grover Sellers s/ George W. Barcus FIRST ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL BY George W. Barcus Assistant APPROVED OPINION COMMITTEE BY BWB, Chairman