Opn. No.

DAVID G. RETCHLESS, ESQ. County Attorney, Ontario County

This is in response to your recent letter in which you ask whether or not a County Clerk has an obligation to examine the "sufficiency of various documents" when such documents are presented to him for recording or filing.

With very few exceptions, the County Clerk is not under a duty, nor is he in fact authorized by law to render an opinion as to the substance of those documents presented to him for recording. The Court of Appeals has stated concerning the duty of the County Clerk as follows:

"The official duty, imposed upon the clerk to…