Okla. Stat. tit. 16 § 87

Current through Laws 2024, c. 453.

Section 87 - Recordation of electronic documents in tangible form

A. As used in this section:

1. "Document" means information that is:

a. inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form, and

b. eligible to be recorded in the office of the county clerk;

2. "Electronic" means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic or similar capabilities;

3. "Electronic document" means a document created, generated, sent, communicated, received or stored by electronic means; and

4. "Electronic signature" means an electronic sound, symbol or process attached to or logically associated with an electronic document and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the electronic document.

B. A paper or tangible copy of an electronic document that a notary public has certified to be a true and correct copy under subsection C of this section satisfies any requirement of law that, as a condition for recording, the document:

1. Be an original or be in writing;

2. Be signed or contain an original signature, if the document contains an electronic signature of the person required to sign the document; and

3. Be notarized, acknowledged, verified, witnessed or made under oath, if the document contains an electronic signature of the person authorized to perform that act, and all other information required to be included.

C. A notary public commissioned under Section 1 of Title 49 of the Oklahoma Statutes may certify that a paper or tangible copy of an electronic document is a true and correct copy of the electronic document if the notary public has:

1. Reasonably confirmed that the electronic document is in a tamper-evident format;

2. Detected no changes or errors in any electronic signature or other information in the electronic document;

3. Personally printed or supervised the printing of the electronic document onto paper or other tangible medium; and

4. Not made any changes or modifications to the electronic document or to the paper or tangible copy thereof other than the certification described in this subsection.

D. A county clerk shall record a paper or tangible copy of a document that is otherwise entitled to be recorded under the laws of this state, provided that the paper or tangible copy has been certified by a notary public to be a true and correct copy of an electronic document under subsection C of this section as evidenced by a certificate. The certificate shall be completed in the manner required in subsection A of Section 118 of Title 49 of the Oklahoma Statutes.

E. The following form of certificate is sufficient for the purposes of this section if completed in the manner required by subsection D of this section:

State of

County of

I certify that the preceding or attached document (entitled (document title)), (dated (document date)), containing (number) pages is a true and correct copy of an electronic document printed by me or under my supervision, and that, at the time of printing, no security features present on the electronic document indicated any changes or errors in an electronic signature or other information in the electronic document since its creation or execution.

Dated

(Signature of notary public)

(Notary seal)

Notary Public

(My commission expires:)

F. If a certificate is completed in the manner required by subsection D of this section and is attached to or made a part of a paper or tangible document, the certificate is prima facie evidence that the requirements of subsection C of this section have been satisfied with respect to the document.

G. When any paper or tangible copy of an electronic document shall have been recorded in the office of the county clerk in the proper county, and the document was not certified in accordance with this section, such document shall, from and after the time of the filing thereof for record, be valid as though such document had, in the first instance, been in all respects duly certified in accordance with this section. Such document or the record thereof or a duly authenticated copy thereof shall be competent evidence without requiring the original to be produced or accounted for to the same extent that written documents, duly executed and acknowledged, or the record thereof are competent. This subsection shall apply to documents recorded before or after January 1, 2020.

H. This section does not apply to a plat, plan, map or survey of real property if under another law of this state or a rule, regulation or ordinance applicable to a county clerk:

1. There are requirements of format or medium for the execution, creation or recordation of such plat, plan, map or survey beyond the requirements applicable to a deed to real property; or

2. Such plat, plan, map or survey shall be recorded in a different location than a deed to real property.

Okla. Stat. tit. 16, § 87

Added by Laws 2019 , c. 338, s. 1, eff. 1/1/2020.