2021 Wyoming Statutes
Title 18 - Counties
Chapter 3 - County Officers
Article 4 - County Clerks
Section 18-3-402 - Duties Generally.

18-3-402. Duties generally.

(a) The county clerk shall:

(i) Act as clerk to the board of county commissioners and as such shall:

(A) Attend all sessions of the board of county commissioners either in person or by deputy;

(B) Keep the seal, records and papers of the board of county commissioners;

(C) Keep a record of all proceedings of the board;

(D) Make regular entries of all the board's resolutions, orders and decisions in all questions coming before it;

(E) Sign all orders issued by the board for the payment of money and preserve and file all accounts acted upon by the board with a memorandum of its action thereon;

(F) Perform other duties as required by the board of county commissioners.

(ii) Keep a record of all licenses, except marriage licenses, giving the names of the persons to whom such licenses are issued with the date, amount and purpose for which the license was issued;

(iii) Keep blank county warrants or blank orders which shall be properly filled out before any warrants are delivered. He shall not deliver any warrant until it is properly signed by the chairman of the board of county commissioners, countersigned by the county treasurer and attested by himself with the county seal;

(iv) Keep a seal provided by the board of county commissioners, the impression, ink stamp or digital equivalent of which shall contain the words "The State of Wyoming, County Clerk", together with the name of the county;

(v) Designate upon every account audited and allowed the amount allowed and file such accounts as well as those not allowed in separate accounts. He shall not sign or issue any county warrants unless ordered by the board of county commissioners. He shall number each warrant issued;

(vi) Have custody and keep all books, records, deeds, maps, papers and copies thereof deposited or kept in his office as required by law. All deeds, mortgages, and other instruments in writing authorized by law to be recorded or filed in his office and left in his office shall be:

(A) Recorded in distinct handwriting or by typing, photostating, photographing, printing or other reproduction, either in whole or in part, in suitable books; or

(B) Recorded on microfilm, microcards or other permanent record retention medium. All reproduction processes shall be instituted and used pursuant to W.S. 9-2-413. Maps may either be recorded as herein provided or if the copying is unlikely to provide a satisfactory record, the county clerk may keep the originals or tracings thereof, undamaged and unfolded and make prints available for public use.

(vii) Record any deed containing a metes and bounds description which may be accompanied by a map prepared in compliance with law and delineating the land described in the deed. If a map delineating the land has been previously recorded, the deed may make reference to the recorded map;

(viii) Require any person presenting a document for recording which is legible but not sufficiently clear to produce a readable copy to substitute a clear original or legible true copy of the original document;

(ix) Keep in his office a general index, direct and inverted, in which he shall make correct entries of every instrument recorded or filed under appropriate headings, entering the names of the grantors and grantees in alphabetical order. He shall make correct entries in the index of every instrument required by law to be entered therein. He shall immediately note in the appropriate index whenever any mortgage, bond or other instrument has been released or discharged from record, whether by written release or by recording a deed of release;

(x) Keep a record specifying the time of reception, the names of the grantors, the names of the grantees, from whom received, to whom delivered and the fees received:

(A) Whenever any instrument is received for recording, immediately endorse upon the instrument his certificate, noting the day, hour and minute of its reception, the reference where recorded, the fees received for recording and date of record;

(B) The date of record of all instruments requiring recording or filing shall be the date of filing;

(C) Whenever any instrument has been filed the county clerk shall immediately make an entry of the same, and after the instrument requiring recording is recorded he shall immediately deliver it to the person authorized to receive it;

(D) No county clerk shall perform any of these duties unless any required fee has been paid.

(xi) Keep abstract records in which all transfers and mortgages of real property and all liens upon real estate are briefly entered. All instruments affecting real estate and left for record or filed in the office shall be abstracted against all lands described in the instrument either directly or by reference to another properly recorded instrument as soon as practicable in the order in which received:

(A) The county clerk shall enter in the abstract all recorded transfers of real estate and all mortgages, construction liens and judgment liens;

(B) All abstract entries of land shall describe the legal division of land or subdivision, naming section, township and range according to the United States surveys when the same is described in the instrument filed for record. The abstract entries shall include:

(I) The name of the grantor or grantee;

(II) The name of the mortgagor or mortgagee or the parties thereto;

(III) The character of the instrument;

(IV) The consideration stated in the instrument;

(V) The date of the instrument;

(VI) The date of filing in the clerk's office;

(VII) The description of the premises;

(VIII) Repealed by Laws 2019, ch. 3, § 2.

(C) All abstract entries of town lots shall be made in a similar manner to those of lands and shall reference the number of the lot and block.

(xii) File or file and record every notice, abstract or statement of any lien or claim or release or discharge thereof in favor of the United States or any department or bureau thereof as provided by the laws of the United States when any such instrument has been prepared in conformity to the laws of the United States and is presented for filing or filing and recording:

(A) The county clerk shall number such notices, abstracts or statements in the order in which they are filed and if they are required to be recorded he shall record them in accordance with subparagraph (xi)(B) of this subsection, with the character of the instrument being called "federal lien";

(B) No fee shall be charged for the performance of these services and the failure to file, record or index properly the notice, abstract or statement shall not affect the validity or legality of any such lien, claim, release or discharge.

(xiii) Accept and use as official records, when furnished to him without charge, records containing printed forms of water right contracts, forms for subscription to the stock of corporations or associations whereby water rights are acquired and forms of deeds of water rights from all corporations and water user associations organized for constructing, maintaining or operating ditches, reservoirs or other water works for irrigation, mining, milling or power purposes;

(xiv) Issue certificates under the seal of the county relating to the selection or relinquishment of state or school lands required by the state board of land commissioners without requiring the payment of fees:

(A) At the request of the state board of land commissioners the county clerk shall record and abstract all contracts between the United States and the state of Wyoming. All deeds, relinquishments or assignments executed by the authority of the state board of land commissioners shall be executed under his seal without requiring the payment of fees.

(xv) Endorse a certificate upon every bond or evidence of debt issued pursuant to law that the same is within the lawful debt limit of the county and is issued according to law. Such certificates shall be signed in his official character;

(xvi) Collect and remit to the county treasurer the following fees:

(A) Recording charges for any instrument-first page ...............................$12.00

Each additional page ..................$3.00

(B) Abstract of personal property (per year) ................................................$1.00

(C) Acknowledgments ..................$2.00

(D) Bond oath and notary public commission-first page ...............................$12.00

Each additional page ..................$3.00

(E) Military discharge and separation papers (first recording) .........................No Charge

(F) Marriage license ................$30.00

(G) Marriage license certified copy ..$5.00

(H) Repealed by Laws 2002, Ch. 96, § 2.

(J) Certification ....................$5.00

(K) State tax liens .................$20.00

(L) Release of state tax liens................................INCLUDED IN FILING FEE

(M) Additional recording charge for any instrument with more than five (5) grantors or grantees of a different surname or more than five (5) claim names-each additional name ......................................$1.00

(N) Additional recording charge for each section (including quarter and quarter-quarter, if applicable), block, lot or tract-description in excess of ten (10) .............................................$1.00

(O) Plats filed (including cemeteries and amended plats) ......................................$75.00

(P) Liens filed pursuant to Title 29-first page ................................................$12.00

Each additional page ..................$3.00

(Q) Filing charge for each corner record or certificate ..........................................$5.00

(R) Recording charge for any instrument containing more than two (2) real estate descriptions by book and page only-each additional description .......$2.00

(S) Liens filed upon real property pursuant to W.S. 20-6-106(y) .................................$12.00

Each additional page ..................$3.00

Additional recording charge for each additional collateral description ....................$1.00

(T) For filing and indexing an original financing and termination statement .................$20.00

For each additional certificate of title upon which the lien is note for perfection ...........$1.00

(U) For statements of amendment, continuation or assignment............................$5.00

(W) For lien search and certification of filings of record and affixing the seal .............$20.00

(Y) Repealed By Laws 2010, Ch. 69, § 204.

(xvii) Permit any person authorized by the board of county commissioners of any new county or of any bonded abstract company, and at the expense of the new county or abstract company, to examine the records of all deeds, mortgages, maps and other instruments which affect any property located within the boundaries of the new county, and to transcribe, photograph or reproduce the same:

(A) The county clerk shall compare the transcribed, photographed or reproduced instruments in his office and shall certify to the county clerk of the new county or the abstract company that they are true and correct copies of the originals. The county clerk certifying the instruments shall not receive any additional payment for time spent in comparing and certifying the instruments. All expenses shall be paid by the new county;

(B) The county clerk of the new county or the bonded abstract company shall index and abstract all transcribed, photographed or reproduced instruments in accordance with paragraphs (vi) through (xii) of this subsection which shall be received in evidence and have the same effect as if they had been originally filed in the new county.

(xviii) Deliver upon the written demand of the county clerk of any new county all records containing abstracts of lands in townships lying wholly within the boundaries of the new county and all records containing abstracts of townsites and town lots lying wholly within the boundaries of the new county together with the plats of the townsites or town lots. When the county clerk of the new county has received the records and abstracts they shall become a part of the records of the new county and no further abstracts of the instruments are required;

(xix) Repealed By Laws 2010, Ch. 34, § 2.

(xx) Deliver to his successor in office all books, records, papers and other items belonging to his office;

(xxi) Remit all monies coming into his office to the county treasurer;

(xxii) Perform other duties as prescribed by law, as county clerk and register of deeds;

(xxiii) Perform all duties or general accounting required to implement the Uniform Municipal Fiscal Procedures Act;

(xxiv) File maps as defined in W.S. 33-29-801. The county clerk shall charge a fee of fifty dollars ($50.00) for filing the maps;

(xxv) If the county clerk accepts electronic recordings of deeds, mortgages, conveyances, patents, certificates, instruments and other like documents, establish procedures to govern the electronic recordings consistent with rules promulgated by the department of enterprise technology services pursuant to W.S. 34-1-405.

(b) No individual, corporation or governmental entity is exempt from payment of fees in advance.

(c) A county clerk may charge a reasonable fee for a copy or a reproduction of a public record, but the fee shall not exceed the actual cost of duplication of the record. As used in this subsection, "actual cost of duplication" means the cost of materials and supplies used to duplicate or reproduce the record, but shall not include the cost of labor or the overhead associated with the duplication.

(d) Each county clerk shall, after receiving a proposed budget for a special district or other specified entity under W.S. 9-1-507(a)(viii), ensure that the proposed budget is forwarded to the board of county commissioners and county assessor.