In each county that has a register of deeds, the county board shall provide suitable office room, fireproof vaults of sufficient capacity, and necessary books, blanks, stationery, and office furniture for the use of the register of deeds.
A register of deeds elected after November 1986 need not be a resident of the county when he or she files for election as register of deeds, but a register of deeds shall reside in a county for which he or she holds office.
When authorized by the county board, the register of deeds may appoint one or more deputies for whose acts he or she will be responsible. The register of deeds may not appoint the county treasurer, sheriff, clerk, or surveyor as deputy.
The appointment shall be in writing and revocable in writing by the register of deeds. Both the appointment and revocation shall be filed and kept in the office of the county clerk.
The deputy shall take the same oath as the register of deeds which shall be endorsed upon and filed with the certificate of appointment. The register of deeds may require a bond of the deputy.
In the absence or disability of the register of deeds, the deputy shall perform the duties of the register of deeds pertaining to the office, but when the register of deeds is required to act in conjunction with or in place of another officer, the deputy cannot act in the place of the register of deeds.
Unless a register of deeds is elected pursuant to section 32-518, the county clerk shall perform all the duties imposed by law upon the register of deeds and shall be ex officio register of deeds.
The register of deeds shall keep a book or computerized system, as provided by section 23-1517.02, in which every instrument filed for record in his or her office shall be entered at the time of filing the same. Such books or computerized systems shall show the final disposition of such instrument and, if in book form, be as nearly as practicable in the following form:
| Where | Recorded | Date | of | Delivery | The | |||
| Grantor | Character | Book | Page | Month | Day | Year | Party | |
| Grantee | of | To | ||||||
| Instrument | Whom | |||||||
| Delivered |
(1) Any instrument submitted for recording in the office of the register of deeds shall contain a blank space at the top of the first page which is at least three inches by eight and one-half inches in size for recording information required by section 23-1510 by the register of deeds. If this space or the information required by such section is not provided, the register of deeds may add a page or use the back side of an existing page and charge for the page a fee established by section 33-109 for the recording of an instrument. No attachment or affirmation shall be used in any way to cover any information or printed material on the instrument.
(2) Printed forms primarily intended to be used for recordation purposes shall have a one-inch margin on the two vertical sides and a one-inch margin on the bottom of the page. Nonessential information such as page numbers or customer notations may be placed within the side and bottom margins.
(3) All instruments submitted for recording shall measure at least eight and one-half inches by eleven inches and not larger than eight and one-half inches by fourteen inches. The instrument shall be printed, typewritten, or computer-generated in black ink on a white background if submitted electronically or on white paper of not less than twenty-pound weight without watermarks or other visible inclusions. The instrument shall be sufficiently legible to allow for a readable copy to be reproduced using the method of reproduction used by the register of deeds. A font size of at least eight points shall be presumed to be sufficiently legible. Each signature on an instrument shall be in black or dark blue ink and of sufficient color and clarity to ensure that the signature is readable when the instrument is reproduced. The signature may be a digital signature or an electronic signature. The name of each party to the instrument shall be typed, printed, or stamped beneath the original signature. An embossed or inked stamp shall not cover or otherwise materially interfere with any part of the instrument.
(4) This section does not apply to:
(a) Instruments signed before August 27, 2011;
(b) Instruments executed outside of the United States;
(c) Certified copies of instruments issued by governmental agencies, including vital records;
(d) Instruments signed by an original party who is incapacitated or deceased at the time the instruments are presented for recording;
(e) Instruments formatted to meet court requirements;
(f) Federal and state tax liens;
(g) Forms prescribed by the Uniform Commercial Code; and
(h) Plats, surveys, or drawings related to plats or surveys.
(5) The changes made to this section by Laws 2011, LB254, do not affect the duty of a register of deeds to file an instrument presented for recordation as set forth in sections 23-1506 and 76-237.
The register of deeds shall have and keep an official seal, which may be either an engraved or ink stamp seal, and which shall have included thereon the name of the county, register of deeds, and the word Nebraska, and he shall attach an impression or representation of said seal to every certificate made by him except such as are required to be endorsed upon instruments filed in his office for record. Copies of any record in his office, certified under his hand and said official seal, shall be receivable in evidence in all respects in the same manner as the original records.
The register of deeds shall have power to take acknowledgments and administer oaths and to certify the same under his or her hand and official seal.
The register of deeds shall have the custody of and safely keep and preserve all books, records, maps, and papers kept or deposited in his or her office. He or she shall also record or cause to be recorded all deeds, mortgages, instruments, and writings presented to him or her for recording and left with him or her for that purpose. Plats and subdivisions are not authorized to be recorded if such plat or subdivision has not been approved by the city council, the village board of trustees, the agent of a city of the first or second class or of a village designated pursuant to section 19-916, or the governing body of the county, whichever is appropriate. When such deeds, mortgages, instruments, and writings are so recorded, it shall be the duty of the register of deeds to proofread or cause to be proofread such records. If an error should occur in recording any of the writings mentioned in this section thereby necessitating the rerecording of same, the expense thus incurred shall be paid out of the general fund of the county in the same way as any other claim, and the amount so paid shall be collected from the official responsible for the error or from his or her official bond. The register of deeds shall prepare and file the required annual inventory statement of county personal property in his or her custody or possession as provided in sections 23-346 to 23-350.
Any register of deeds who shall neglect to perform any of the duties described in section 23-1506 shall be guilty of a Class IV misdemeanor.
The register of deeds shall keep a grantor and a grantee index of deeds in his or her office. If such index is in book form, the pages shall be divided into eight columns as follows:
| GRANTOR INDEX | GRANTEE INDEX |
| Grantors | Grantees |
| Grantees | Grantors |
| Date of Filing | Date of Filing |
| Date of Instrument | Date of Instrument |
| Character of Instrument | Character of Instrument |
| Book | Book |
| Page | Page |
| Description of Tract | Description of Tract |
The entries in such index shall be double, the one showing the names of the respective grantors arranged in alphabetical order, and the other those of the grantees in like order. When there are two or more grantors having different surnames there must be as many distinct entries among the grantors as there are names, being alphabetically arranged in regard to each of such names. The same rule shall be followed in case of several grantees.
(1) The register of deeds shall endorse upon every instrument properly filed in his or her office for recording the minute, hour, day, month, and year when it was so filed and shall forthwith enter the same in the proper indices provided for in sections 23-1508 to 23-1517.02.
(2) Every instrument presented for recording shall have, on the first page below the three-inch margin prescribed in section 23-1503.01, the following information:
(a) A return address; and
(b) The title of the instrument.
(3) After the instrument has been recorded, the book and page or computer system reference where it may be found shall be endorsed thereon.
In counties where the book form of recording instruments is used, different sets of books shall be provided for the recording of deeds and mortgages. In one of the sets all conveyances absolute in their terms and not intended as mortgages or as securities in the nature of mortgages shall be recorded, and in the other set such mortgages and securities shall be recorded.
In counties where the book form of recording instruments is used, the register of deeds shall also keep a separate book to be called the Construction Lien Record in which all instruments provided by law for securing construction liens shall be recorded.
The register of deeds shall keep a numerical index. If the book form of recording is used, such index shall be as nearly as practicable in the following form:
| Numerical Index | |
| Section | Township |
| N.E. | 1/4 | N.W. | 1/4 | ||||||
| Grantee | |||||||||
| Grantor | |||||||||
| Kind of Instrument | |||||||||
| County, Nebraska | |
| Range |
| S.W. | 1/4 | S.E. | 1/4 | |||||
| Acres | ||||||||
| Book | ||||||||
| Page | ||||||||
| Remarks | ||||||||
It shall be the duty of the register of deeds on receiving any conveyance or instrument affecting realty, including construction liens, to cause such conveyance or instrument to be entered upon the numerical index immediately after filing if such conveyance or instrument contains or has an exhibit attached containing the full legal description of the realty affected. Instruments purporting to release, assign, or amend a conveyance or instrument previously recorded shall contain the book and page number or microfilm or computer reference of the previously recorded instrument and a full legal description of the realty affected.
After such instrument has been so indexed the register of deeds shall endorse on said instrument a certificate showing that the same has been indexed as herein required, and shall thereafter record said instrument as provided by law.
The register of deeds, if using the book form of recording, shall keep a separate book to be called the Miscellaneous Record in which all instruments and writings not entitled to be recorded in any of the books herein provided for shall be recorded.
The register of deeds shall keep indices showing all mortgages, including documents provided for in subdivision (a)(1) of section 9-501, Uniform Commercial Code, and discharges thereof left for record, and entitled to be recorded, in the same form as is required for deeds. He or she shall also keep a separate index to the volumes of construction lien records and to the volumes of miscellaneous records.
The recording of all instruments by the roll form of microfilm may be substituted for the method of recording instruments in books, and the filing of all documents by the roll form of microfilm may be substituted for the method of filing original documents. If this method of recording instruments on microfilm or filing documents on microfilm is used, the original instruments so recorded and the original documents so filed need not be retained after the microfilm has been verified for accuracy and quality, and a security copy on silver negative microfilm in roll form must be maintained and filed off premises under safe conditions to insure the protection of the records and shall meet the microfilm standards as prescribed by the State Records Administrator as provided in sections 84-1201 to 84-1220. The fee books shall provide the proper index information as to the microfilm roll and numerical sequence of all such recorded instruments and of all such filed documents. The internal reference copies or work copies of the instruments recorded on microfilm and of documents filed on microfilm may be in any photographic form to provide the necessary information as may be determined by the official in charge.
(1) The register of deeds may use a computerized system of indexing for deeds and conveyances, mortgages, the Construction Lien Record index, the Miscellaneous Record index, the federal lien index, the fee book, and all other supplemental indices that may be contained in such office and may combine such indices into one Land Record index. If a computerized system of indexing is used, the register of deeds may maintain a printout of all records stored in the computer system and shall have a security backup system for data and other programs in an electronic medium which shall be stored in a secure location. If maintained, the printout shall consist of a record of fees, a numerical tract index, and an alphabetical general index.
(2) In counties which do not use the computerized system provided in subsection (1) of this section, the register of deeds shall use the separate book or microfilm form of recording instruments as required prior to July 10, 1984.
A certified copy of a petition, with schedules omitted, commencing a proceeding under the laws of the United States relating to bankruptcy or a certified copy of the decree of adjudication or a certified copy of an order approving the bond of the trustee appointed in such proceedings shall be filed, indexed, and recorded in the office of the register of deeds of the county in which is located real property in which the bankrupt has an interest in the same manner as federal liens are filed, indexed, and recorded pursuant to the Uniform Federal Lien Registration Act. The filing fee for such recording shall be the same as the fee for filing and recording as set forth in section 9-525, Uniform Commercial Code. The register of deeds shall file the notices in a file kept for such purpose and designated Notice of Bankruptcy Proceedings, except that in offices filing by the roll form of microfilm pursuant to section 23-1517.01, the original notices need not be retained.
Any printed form accepted for recordation that does not comply with sections 23-1503 to 23-1527 shall not affect the validity of or the notice otherwise given by the recording.