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![handle is hein.sag/sagfl0037 and id is 1 raw text is: Florida Attorney General
Advisory Legal Opinion
Number: AGO 2010-01
Date: January 4, 2010
Subject: Clerk of Court, index of notice of federal tax lien
Mr. Scott Ellis
Clerk of the Circuit Court
Brevard County
Post Office Box 219
Titusville, Florida 32781-0219
RE: CLERK OF COURT - INDEXING - TAXATION - LIENS - TAX LIENS - RECORDING -
authority of clerk of court to index notice of federal tax lien as lien.
ss. 28.222 and 713.901, Fla. Stat.; Ch. 695, Fla. Stat.
Dear Mr. Ellis:
As the Clerk of the Circuit Court, Brevard County, Florida, you have asked
for my opinion on substantially the following question:
Is the Clerk of Court, acting as the County Recorder, authorized by section
713.901, Florida Statutes, to index a document as a lien when that document
is styled Notice of Federal Tax Lien? [1]
In sum:
A determination by the clerk of court that a notice of federal tax lien
should be indexed as a lien appears to come within the scope of authority of
the clerk acting in his or her official capacity and to satisfy the
requirements placed upon him or her by the statutes.
According to your letter, a resident of Brevard County asserts that the
notice of federal tax lien submitted by the United State Department of
Treasury should be indexed in the official records of the county recorder as
a notice and not a lien as has been the historical practice of your
office.[2] You request direction on this matter.
Section 28.222, Florida Statutes, provides that the clerk of court shall be
the recorder of all instruments that he or she may be required or authorized
by law to record in the county where he or she is clerk.[3] The statute
enumerates certain instruments that must be recorded and recognizes the
clerk's responsibility to record, upon payment of the service charges
prescribed by law, [a]ny other instruments required or authorized by law to
be recorded.[4] As mandated by section 28.222(2), Florida Statutes:
The clerk of the circuit court shall record all instruments in one general
series called 'Official Records.' He or she shall keep a register in which he
or she shall enter at the time of filing the filing number of each instrument
filed for record, the date and hour of filing, the kind of instrument, and
the names of the parties to the instrument. The clerk shall maintain a
general alphabetical index, direct and inverse, of all instruments filed for
record. The register of Official Records must be available at each office
where official records may be filed. (e.s.)
The clerk is required to record designated kinds of instruments that may be
presented to him or her upon the payment of the service charges prescribed in
the statutes. Included among these instruments are those relating to the
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