1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to counties; providing for alternative 
  1.3             numbering of certain recorded and filed documents; 
  1.4             amending Minnesota Statutes 1998, sections 386.31; and 
  1.5             508.38. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 386.31, is 
  1.8   amended to read: 
  1.9      386.31 [CONSECUTIVE NUMBERING.] 
  1.10     (a) Each county recorder shall endorse plainly upon each 
  1.11  instrument received for record or filing as soon as received a 
  1.12  number consecutive to the number affixed to the instrument next 
  1.13  previously received and enter such number as a part of the entry 
  1.14  relating to such instrument in all the indexes kept in the 
  1.15  office and on the margin of the record of the instrument, and 
  1.16  such number shall be prima facie evidence of priority of 
  1.17  registration.  
  1.18     (b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), a county using an 
  1.19  electronic method of assigning numbers may use an alternative 
  1.20  numbering sequence that preserves the priority of registration.  
  1.21     (c) If more than one instrument shall be received at the 
  1.22  same time, by mail or other like enclosure, the recorder shall 
  1.23  affix such number in the order directed by the sender; if no 
  1.24  direction be given, then in the order in which the instruments 
  1.25  actually come to the recorder's hand in opening the enclosures. 
  2.1      Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 508.38, is 
  2.2   amended to read: 
  2.3      508.38 [FORMS OF RECORDS ADOPTED.] 
  2.4      (a) Every instrument affecting the title to land, filed 
  2.5   with the registrar, shall be numbered by the registrar 
  2.6   consecutively, and the registrar shall endorse upon the same 
  2.7   over the registrar's official signature, OFFICE OF THE REGISTRAR 
  2.8   OF TITLES, ... COUNTY, MINNESOTA, CERTIFIED FILED ON, together 
  2.9   with the date, hour, and minute when the same is filed, the 
  2.10  document number thereof, and a reference to its proper 
  2.11  certificate of title. 
  2.12     (b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), a county using an 
  2.13  electronic method of assigning numbers may use an alternative 
  2.14  numbering sequence that preserves the priority of registration. 
  2.15     (c) Every such instrument shall be retained by the 
  2.16  registrar and regarded as registered from the time of filing 
  2.17  except that such instruments may be copied or reproduced as 
  2.18  provided by section 15.17, as amended, and the copies or 
  2.19  reproductions thereof substituted for the originals with the 
  2.20  equal force and effect of the same, which originals may be then 
  2.21  destroyed as provided by said section 15.17.  When the memorial 
  2.22  of any instrument is made upon any certificate, the date, 
  2.23  number, and time of filing thereof shall likewise be endorsed 
  2.24  upon such certificate.  All records and papers relating to 
  2.25  registered land in the office of the registrar, shall be open to 
  2.26  the inspection of the public at such times and under such 
  2.27  conditions as the court may prescribe. Duplicates of all 
  2.28  instruments, voluntary or involuntary, filed and registered with 
  2.29  the registrar, may be presented with the originals, and shall 
  2.30  thereupon be endorsed with the file number, and other memoranda 
  2.31  on the originals, and may be attested and sealed by the 
  2.32  registrar, and returned to the person presenting the same.  The 
  2.33  registrar shall furnish certified copies of the instruments 
  2.34  filed and registered in the registrar's office, upon payment of 
  2.35  a fee as provided in section 357.18.  The court shall adopt 
  2.36  general forms of memorials and notations to be used by the 
  3.1   registrars in registering the common forms of conveyance and 
  3.2   other instruments.