§ 121.012.Record of Acknowledgment

The record-keeping duty, and it produces a public record independent of the instrument itself.

The officer must enter in a well-bound book and officially sign a short statement of each acknowledgment or proof, containing the date it was taken, the date of the instrument, and the names of the grantor and grantee.

Three further sets of detail depend on the circumstances.

Where the grantor acknowledged, the statement adds the grantor’s mailing address, whether the grantor is personally known to the officer, and if not, the name and mailing address of the person who introduced them.

That last item is the register’s distinctive feature. Where a stranger is vouched for, the register names who vouched — creating a trail back through the introduction that no certificate records.

Where a witness proved the instrument, the same four items are recorded about the witness.

Where land is charged or conveyed, the statement adds the name of the original grantee and the county in which the land is located.

The register is public. The statements are original public records, open for public inspection and examination at all reasonable times, and the officer must deliver the book to his successor in office.

Continuity is the point of that last duty. The register outlives the officer’s term, so a question about an acknowledgment taken decades ago can still be answered.

The register matters most where the certificate is thin. A short form records no identification method; the register records it either way.