### THE ATTORNEWGE;VEXZAL OFTEXAS

HonorableW. C. Lindsey Criminalmstrlct Attorney Opinion

### No. C- 258 JeffersonCounty Courthouse Re: Should a county clerk acBeaumont,Texas cept for recording in the Deed Records,acertified 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 whereinyou QrOQOUnd the followingtwo queatlons:

“1. Should a County Clerk accept for recording In the Deed Records a certifiedcopy 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 recording In the Deed Records an instrumentfrom a sister state where the seal of the Notary Publichas not been affixed but merely stamped?” We shall proceed to answer your questionsIn order as shown above. Your request indicate5 that some county clerks within this atate have forwardedcopies of documentscertified by them to your county clerk for flllng where the court seal was stamped on the copy with a rubber UtamQ rather than by lmpressing 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 thereona star of five points In the -1235-HonorableW. C. Lindsey,page 2 

### (c-258)

center,and the words, 'CountyCourt 

## of

. . . . . . . .

Article 

### 1966 In mandatory languagerequires the county clerk to Impress the seal of the court on all processes in order to duly authenticateofficialacts. There 1s no provision for the use of a facslmlleof the seal, such as a rubber stamp. We thereforeadvise you that a county clerkmay properly refuse to accept a certified COQy of an instrumentfrom another court wherein the official seal of the court was not impressed.

In connectionwith your second question,we are advised that several Instrumentsexecuted in Californiaand New York have been sent to JeffersonCounty for recording In the Deed Records In which the notary public taking such acknowledgmentused a rubber stamp which denotedhis seal of office. Article 

### 6602,Vernon's Civil Statutes,specifically enumeratesthose officers,both within and without this State, who may take acknowledgments of Instrumentsof writing for record In Texas. A notary public of another state may acknowledge 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 theretoas follows:

"The acknowledgment of an Instrumentof writing for the purpose of being recorded shall be by the grantor or person who executed the same appearing before some officer authorizedto take such acknowledgment,and stating that he had executed the same for the consideration and purposes therein stated; -land the officer taking such acknowledgment shall make a certificatethereof, sign and seal the same with his seal of office." (Emphasis added.) _~ 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,signedby him and given under his seal of office substantially in form as hereinafterprescrlbed.d (Bnphasis added.) Article 

### 6607,V.C.S., sets forth the form of the certificate -1236-HonorableW. C. Lindsey,page 

### 3 (C-258)

of acknowledgment, as follows: "The form of an ordinary certificateof acknowledgment

must be substantially as follows: 'ItThe State of "'Countyof , I "'Beforeme f here insert the name and characterof the officer on this day personally appeared - known to me (Orproved to me on the oath of ) to be the person whose name is subscribedto the foregoinginstrument and acknowledgedto me that he executed the same for the purposes and consideration therein expressed. thls "(Seal)d;F~ under my hand and seal of office (Rmph~ded.) , AJJ l 0, .

It Is noted that In all of the above quoted articles, that where a seal is mentioned, it pertains to the seal of the particularnotary public acknowledgingthe instrument. When a notary has placed his seal of office on the instrumentof wrltlng and has subst.aiiFially compliedwith Article 

### 6607,regarding the form of acknowledgment, the instrumentshould be accepted by a county clerk of Texas for recordingIn the Deed Records.

We thereforeadvise you that a county clerk should accept for recording,lnthe Deed Records an instrumentexecuted In a sister state where the notary public taking such acknowledgment 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 states be authenticated. SUMMARY A county clerk should not accept for recording In the Deed Records a certifiedcopy 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 instrumentfrom a sister

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HonorableW. C. Lindsey,page 4 (C-258)

state where the seal of the notary public conforms with the requirementsof such sister state. Very truly yours, WAGGONER CARR AttorneyGeneral Byagdk" L F. C. Jack Goodman Assistant
FCJG/fb APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE W. V. Geppert, Chairman George Black Howard Fender W. E. Allen APPROVEDFOR TRE ATTORNEYGENERAL By: Stanton Stone

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