(a) Each town clerk who is charged with the custody of any public record shall provide suitable books, files or systems, acceptable to the Public Records Administrator, for the keeping of such records and may purchase such stationery and other office supplies as are necessary for the proper maintenance of the town clerk’s office. Such books, files or systems, and such stationery and supplies shall be paid for by the town, and the selectmen of the town, on presentation of the bill for such books, files, systems, stationery and supplies properly certified to by the town clerk, shall draw their order on the treasurer in payment for the same. Each person who has the custody of any public record books of any town, city or borough shall, at the expense of such town, city or borough, cause them to be properly and substantially bound. Such person shall have any such records which have been left incomplete made up and completed from the usual files and memoranda, so far as practicable. Such person shall cause fair and legible copies to be seasonably made of any records which are worn, mutilated or becoming illegible, and shall cause the originals to be repaired, rebound or renovated, or such person may cause any such records to be placed in the custody of the Public Records Administrator, who may have them repaired, renovated or rebound at the expense of the town, city or borough to which they belong. Any custodian of public records who so causes such records to be completed or copied shall attest such records and shall certify, under the seal of such custodian’s office, that such records have been made from such files and memoranda or are copies of the original records. Such records and all copies of records made and certified to as provided in this section and on file in the office of the legal custodian of such records shall have the force of the original records. All work done under the authority of this section shall be paid for by the town, city or borough responsible for the safekeeping of such records, but in no case shall expenditures exceeding three hundred dollars be made for repairs or copying records in any one year in any town, city or borough.

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

(b) There shall be kept in each town proper books, or in lieu thereof a recording system approved by the Public Records Administrator, in which all instruments required by law to be recorded shall be recorded at length by the town clerk within thirty days from the time they are left for record.

(c) The town clerk shall, on receipt of any instrument for record, write thereon the day, month, year and time of day when the town clerk received it, and the record shall bear the same date and time of day; but the town clerk shall not be required to receive any instrument for record unless the fee for recording it is paid to the town clerk in advance, except instruments received from the state or any political subdivision thereof. When the town clerk has received any instrument for record, the town clerk shall not deliver it up to the parties or either of them until it has been recorded. When any town clerk has, upon receiving any instrument for record, written thereon the time of day when the town clerk received it and the day and year of such receipt, and when any town clerk has noted with the record of any instrument the time of day when the town clerk received the record, such entries of the time of day shall have the same effect as other entries that are required by law to be made.

(d) Each town clerk shall also, within twenty-four hours of the receipt for record of any such instrument, enter in chronological order according to the time of its receipt as endorsed thereon, (1) the names of sufficient parties thereto to enable reasonable identification of the instrument, (2) the nature of the instrument, and (3) the time of its receipt.

(e) If the town clerk receives an instrument for record which the town clerk deems to be illegible, the town clerk shall record such instrument, write thereon that it is being recorded as an illegible instrument and, if there is a return address appearing on such illegible instrument, give notice to the return addressee that a legible instrument should be submitted for rerecording forthwith. The fact that the town clerk records the instrument as an illegible instrument shall not affect its priority or validity.

(f) Each instrument for record shall have a blank margin, that shall be not less than three-fourths of an inch in width, surrounding each page of the instrument. Each such instrument that is to be recorded in the land records shall have a return address and addressee appearing at the top of the front side of the first page of the instrument. The town clerk shall not refuse to receive an instrument for record that does not conform to any requirement set forth in this subsection, and the fact that the town clerk records an instrument that does not conform to any requirement set forth in this subsection shall not affect its priority or validity.