Opinion ID: 2618281
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: payne county court clerk's index

Text: PCTC next argues the district court erred in concluding that AOI could use an index copied from the court clerk's office in creating its index. The applicable statute, 74 O.S.Supp. 1984, § 227.11(2), states in its definition of an abstract plant that the indexes created by a permit holder or certificate holder are not to be copied from any county index. Such a law is designed to force abstractors to have an independent set of abstract books or indexes so no reliance is placed upon the indexes of the county office. T.I.M. Co. v. Oklahoma Land Title Ass'n, 698 P.2d 915, 918 (Okla. 1984). This requirement also exists because the county records are not designed for the purpose of abstracting and are more likely to cause erroneous abstract compilations. Id. AOI admitted in the hearing that the index they created was first copied from the indexes of the Payne County Court Clerk prior to 1984. From this shell index, AOI added other information taken directly from filed instruments. This manner of compiling an index for an abstract plant clearly violates the statute as it is a copy of a county index. For this reason, the Auditor ordered the destruction of all records entered into the computer prior to 1984, the year that the abstractors law became effective and the year that AOI's permit to build an abstract plant was issued. The Auditor has again proceeded beyond the authority granted by ordering the destruction of all pre-1984 records, and the district court was correct in overturning the Auditor's determination. Hence, whenever AOI applies for a Certificate of Authority, the Auditor is only authorized to issue or deny such application.