Title 20, Counties and County officers

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, the term of office of each officer mentioned in ORS 204.005 is four years. (2) When two or more county commissioners are elected for one county at a general election and one of them is elected to fill a vacancy, as provide…

(1) In each county that has a board of county commissioners, each office of county commissioner shall be designated by number as Position No. 1, Position No. 2 or Position No. 3. (2) After September 2, 1963, in every county having a board of county commissioners, or when a board …

(1) A person is not eligible to serve in any office listed in ORS 204.005 unless the person is a citizen of the United States and an elector under the Oregon Constitution. (2) A person is not eligible to serve in any elective office listed in ORS 204.005 unless the person meets t…

(1) In all proceedings for the nomination or election of candidates for or to the office of county commissioner in each county having a board of county commissioners, every petition for nomination, declaration of candidacy, certificate of nomination or election, ballot or other d…

(1) The term of office of each officer elected pursuant to ORS 204.005 commences on the first Monday of January next following election to office. (2) Before entering upon any elective office listed in ORS 204.005, the person who has received a certificate of election must qualif…

Whenever because of illness or injury an elected county judge is incapacitated and unable to perform the duties of office, and such facts are made to appear by the affidavit of one or more physicians, licensed to practice in this state, filed in the office of the Secretary of Sta…

Before entering upon the performance of the duties of county judge pro tem, the appointee shall subscribe and file in the office of the county clerk the same oath of office required of an elected county judge.

A county judge pro tem shall receive from the county compensation for services at the same rate and in the same manner as the elected county judge.

(1) Each county governing body shall appoint a county compensation board. A county compensation board shall consist of from three to five members, who are knowledgeable in personnel and compensation management. (2) The county compensation board shall annually recommend a compensa…

(1) Except as otherwise provided by law, the governing body of each county shall fix the compensation of its own members and of every other county officer, deputy and employee when the compensation of such individuals is paid from county funds. (2) Any commission, fees or other m…

It is the intent of the Legislative Assembly that no provision of ORS 204.112, 204.116, 204.126 or 204.601 shall supersede any provision of the county civil service law, and when any conflict arises between any provision of ORS 204.112, 204.116, 204.126 or 204.601 and any provisi…

(1) The compensation of any elective county officer shall remain in effect unless changed with the approval of the county budget committee or tax supervising and conservation commission. (2) Before any change in the compensation of an elective county officer is effective, it must…

(1) The county court or board of county commissioners of each county shall fix the number of deputies and employees of county officers whose compensation is to be paid from county funds. (2) All such deputies and employees shall be appointed by such county officer, and shall hold…

(1) A sheriff’s deputies shall be appointed by the sheriff in writing and continue during the pleasure of the sheriff. The sheriff of any county may appoint deputies in the county for the purpose only, and with authority only, to receive and serve summons and civil process in any…

(1) As used in the statutes of this state in reference to a chattel mortgage and action by the appropriate recording officer, “record,” “recorded” and “recording” mean “record or file,” “recorded or filed” or “recording or filing,” as the context requires. (2) As used in this cha…

(1) The county clerk in each county shall keep and maintain the records of the county governing body. (2) The county clerk of any county in which the county court has judicial functions shall, for the county court: (a) Keep the seal of the court, and affix it in all cases require…

(1) The County Clerk Lien Record maintained under ORS 205.130 shall contain the following information for each order or warrant recorded: (a) The name of any person subject to the order or warrant. (b) The name of the officer and the agency that issued the order or warrant or the…

(1) At any time after recording an order or warrant in the County Clerk Lien Record, a complainant or claimant or an attorney for an agency, complainant or claimant may file in the circuit court for the county where the order or warrant is recorded, a copy of the original order o…

The County Clerk Lien Record in each county where the real property is located is the place of recording a lien filed pursuant to CERCLA, 100 U.S. Stat 1630. [1987 c.586 §48]

The county clerk shall: (1) Have the custody of, and safely keep and preserve, all files and records of deeds and mortgages of real property and a record of all maps, plats, contracts, powers of attorney and other interests affecting the title to real property required or permitt…

Whenever the text of a document presented for recording may be made out but is not sufficiently legible to reproduce a readable photographic record, the county clerk shall require the person presenting it for recording to substitute a legible original document or prepare a true c…

A transcript of the record of any instruments duly recorded by the county clerk in any county under the authority of ORS 205.130 and 205.160 to 205.190, or a photographic or photostatic copy thereof, duly certified by the county clerk, under the seal of office, may be recorded in…

The county court shall provide a suitable seal for the use of the county clerk.

(1) The county clerk shall keep a direct general index and an indirect general index in the office of the clerk. (2) The direct general index shall contain, but need not be limited to, the following: (a) Date and time of reception. (b) Names of grantors. (c) Names of grantees. (d…

(1) The county clerk shall make in the appropriate record correct entries of every instrument required by law to be recorded. (2) Whenever any instrument has been received for record, the county clerk shall immediately place upon such instrument a certificate, noting the day, hou…

Each county clerk shall maintain a record of all maps of towns, villages, or additions to the same, or cemeteries, within the county, together with any description, acknowledgment or other writing therein. The county clerk shall create and store the maps in accordance with archiv…

Any copies of records of any estate administered in this state, certified to as true and correct by the clerk of the court in which the estate was or is being administered, shall be received and recorded by the officer having charge of the deed records of any county upon the paym…

(1) As used in this section, “association” means an association formed under ORS 94.625, 94.846 or 100.405, or any other association in which a person holds membership by virtue of owning or possessing a real estate interest subject to assessment and lien authority pursuant to a …

Except as provided in ORS 205.327, a county clerk shall not accept any instrument for recording unless the text of the instrument is typed, written or printed in 10-point type or larger on paper that is not larger than 14 inches long and 8-1/2 inches wide and which paper is of su…

(1) When an instrument is presented to a county clerk for recording, the first page of the instrument must contain at least: (a) The names of the transactions as required in ORS 205.236; (b) The names of the persons described in ORS 205.125 (1)(a) and (b) and 205.160; (c) The per…

(1) An instrument required or permitted by law to be recorded shall be clearly labeled in sufficient detail to enable the clerk to record the instrument in the appropriate record. (2) An instrument describing two or more transactions required or permitted by law to be recorded as…

In every county, the county clerk shall return any instrument presented for recording to the person authorized to receive the instrument. The county clerk shall return the instrument by personally delivering or mailing the instrument not later than the 10th business day, not coun…

(1) The office of the county clerk in every county shall establish regular business hours to receive and certify, as required under ORS 93.620, instruments presented for recording, for a minimum of four hours per day, and 30 hours per week, from Monday through Friday. (2) Notwith…

(1) An instrument that has been previously recorded may be rerecorded to make corrections in the original instrument. (2) The county clerk shall record an instrument presented for rerecording as provided in subsection (1) of this section. The corrected instrument need not be ackn…

(1) The county clerk shall record the following instruments required or permitted by law to be recorded and entered in the office of the county clerk: (a) Financing statements recorded in the office of the county clerk under ORS 79A.5010 (1)(a); (b) Hospital and physician liens r…

Any requirement by the laws of this state that an instrument described in ORS 205.246 be filed in the office of the county clerk or that an instrument be filed in deed or mortgage records shall be considered to be a requirement that such instruments be recorded instead of being f…

(1) In every county there shall be charged and collected in advance by the county clerk, for the benefit of the county, the following fees, and no more, for the following purposes and services: (a) For filing and making entry when required by law of any instrument required or per…

(1) In addition to and not in lieu of the fees charged and collected under ORS 205.320 and other fees, the county clerk shall charge and collect the following fees for the recording or filing of any instrument described in ORS 205.130: (a) A fee of $1, to be credited as provided …

When an instrument required or permitted by law to be recorded is presented to a county clerk for recording, if the instrument does not comply with the requirements of ORS 205.232 or 205.234, the county clerk shall record the instrument, but shall charge and collect in advance a …

The fee for performing the services set forth in ORS 92.090, 92.100 and 271.230, shall be set by ordinance of the county governing body. [Amended by 1971 c.621 §29; 1975 c.607 §28; 1979 c.833 §29]

The clerk of the county court shall receive and receipt for fees prescribed in ORS 21.170 that are collected by the clerk, stating in the receipt the amount so received, from whom received and on what account the amount was received, specifying the cause or proceeding. If it is a…

Within the first 10 days of the month following the month in which collected, all fees collected by a county clerk for recording and making entry of any instrument in the County Clerk Lien Record shall be paid to the county treasurer for deposit in a separate account in the count…

Trial fees in the county court exercising judicial functions shall be paid to the clerk of the court, who shall keep a regular account of them, and by whom paid, in the fee book. The clerk shall pay the amount of such fees received to the treasurer of the county, as often as once…

Notwithstanding the provisions of ORS 182.040 to 182.060 and 205.320 relating to the time and manner of payment of fees to the county clerk, a state officer or state agency that records a warrant, order, a certified copy of the judgment or lien record abstract or other document w…

As used in ORS 205.450 to 205.470: (1) “Encumbrance” means a claim, lien, charge or liability attached to and binding property. (2) “Encumbrance claimant” means a person who purportedly benefits from the filing of an encumbrance. (3) “Federal official or employee” has the meaning…

(1) No person or county shall accept for filing an invalid claim of encumbrance. (2) No person or county shall accept for filing a claim of encumbrance against the property of a federal official or employee or a state or local official or employee based on the performance or nonp…

(1) A person whose property is subject to an invalid claim of encumbrance may petition the circuit court of the county in which the person resides or in which the property is located for an order, which may be granted ex parte, directing the encumbrance claimant to appear at a he…

A claim of encumbrance against the property of a federal official or employee or against the property of a state or local official or employee based on the performance or nonperformance of official duties of the official, employee or agent shall be invalid unless an order from a …

Any person who knowingly files, or directs another to file, an invalid claim of encumbrance shall be liable to the owner of the property bound by the claim of encumbrance for a sum of not less than $5,000 or for actual damages caused by the filing of the claim of encumbrance, whi…

(1) No county clerk shall during the term of office of that clerk institute or assist in instituting any suit, action or probate proceeding in any court of which the clerk is an officer, act as an attorney or counselor with or without hire in any such suit, action or proceeding, …