About the County Clerk’s Office

The County Clerk, an Elected Position, plays a unique role in County Government and in the Kansas Constitution. This is the Office of Record for the Board of County Commissioners and acts as the official secretary to the Board of Commissioners; keeps the seal, records the papers of the board, signs the records of proceedings, and attests the same with the official seal of the county, and is the official repository for all board records and county documents.

Tax Administration – The County Clerk must finalize the assessed values on all real estate and personal property in the county and maintains tax accounts.  The County Clerk sets the county wide mill levy and after the tax levies are set, special assessments are applied, the County Clerk prepares the tax roll and tax statements for the Treasurer to print.

Financial Administration – The County Clerk, by law shall observe all claims against the county, certify that the budget is available to cover all claims, and then charges the County Treasurer with those claim payments.  The Clerk has a good working knowledge of all County Department Budgets and expenditures in order to present the claims to the County Commissioners.  The Clerk keeps a clear audit trail for the accounting of all receipts and disbursements.  The Clerk must Balance, Distribute and Certify the Motor Vehicle Tax. 

Public Information Officer – The County Clerk is the “Freedom of Information Officer. ”  Provides educational materials and information concerning the “Open Records Act,” assists any public agency and members of the general public to resolve disputes and responds to inquires relating to it.

Duties of Office

The Register of Deeds is an elected official who is required by the Laws of the State of Kansas to record all documents submitted by the public which meet recording qualifications; maintain an up-to-date and accurate set of indexes which show the correct ownership of land in the entire county; and perform all functions of a clerical and technical nature to accomplish that objective.

This office records many different kinds of documents.  Examples of some documents include but are not limited to:  deeds, mortgages and liens, oil and gas leases, plats of additions to cities, military discharge records, powers of attorney, corporation records, cemetery records, and county school records.

Attorneys, financial institutions, buyers, sellers, real estate developers, surveyors, landlords, tenants, and abstract and title insurance companies, to name just a few, all rely upon the correct recording of instruments relating to real estate.

Taxation of real property is the cornerstone for financing local governmental operations.  Determining the ownership of real property is thus essential to the tax assessment function.  The County Appraiser and County Clerk depend on the records in the Register of Deeds office to accurately reflect the tax roll process.  Other organizations, local government departments, and individuals depend upon the accuracy of the information provided to them by the Register of Deeds office.  The earliest records in the Recorders office, written in elaborate manuscript, date back to the 1800’s.  Among the early records are the Patent Deeds recorded when land was privately purchased from the United States government and signed by the President of the United States.

It is essential that the records in the Register of Deeds office, as well as other county records from the early years to present, are preserved for future generations to come.

* * A minimum 3-inch top margin is required for the first page of all documents submitted for recording.  Documents not having this 3-inch top margin will require a cover sheet and will be charged for the additional page or the document will be rejected.

* * The Register of Deeds office will only record documents using LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS, not mapping descriptions taken from the Property Search web page or from tax statements.

* * Rejected Documents  Republic County promptly reviews documents for statutory compliance and returns any non-compliant documents for correction, ensuring a quick turnaround time.

Top 5 Reasons for Rejected Documents:

1. Omitted or incorrect legal description.
2. Incorrect or missing information in the notary acknowledgment.
3. Deed must be accompanied by a Sales Validation Questionnaire or Exemption Number.
4. Names under signature must be typed or printed (KS Statue, Sec 28-115 as amended).
5. Insufficient space provided for the recording stamp or eRecording label.

 Register of Deeds Office

  Register of Deeds Records Room

 Deputy Olynna Pierson and Register of Deeds Sandee Swanson