Arkansas Code Annotated

Ark. Code Ann. § 14-15-402 (2026)

Instruments to be recorded

✓ current as of May 2026

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It shall be the duty of each recorder to record in the books provided for his or her office all deeds, mortgages, conveyances, deeds of trust, bonds, covenants, defeasances, affidavits, powers of attorney, assignments, contracts, agreements, leases, or other instruments of writing of or writing concerning any lands and tenements or goods and chattels, which shall be proved or acknowledged according to law, that are authorized to be recorded in his or her office.
1. To be accepted by the county recorder for recording purposes, all documents shall:
  1. Be on eight and one-half by eleven inch (8½"x11") paper;
  2. Have a two and one-half inch (2.5") margin at the right top of the first page, one-half inch (0.5") margin on the sides and bottoms of all pages, and a two and one-half inch (2.5") margin at the bottom of the last page;
  3. Have an area reserved on the top right of the first page for the file mark of the recorder;
  4. Contain the following information:
    1. The title of the document; and
    2. The name of the grantor and grantee, when applicable;
  5. Be acknowledged or otherwise executed as permitted by § 16-47-107 or § 18-12-208; and
  6. Be legible.
2. 1. The county recorder shall have the discretion to waive the requirements of subdivision (b)(1) of this section for:
    1. Good cause; and
    2. Any document that complies with the Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act, § 14-2-301 et seq.
  2. All documents and instruments executed before January 1, 2004, shall be exempt from the requirements of subdivision (b)(1) of this section.
  3. All surveys and plats shall be exempt from the requirements of subdivision (b)(1) of this section.
3. A county recorder shall not refuse to record a document that has been executed in a manner permitted by § 16-47-107 or § 18-12-208.

History. Rev. Stat., ch. 124, §§ 8, 9; C. & M. Dig., §§ 8624, 8625; Pope's Dig., §§ 11216, 11217; A.S.A. 1947, §§ 16-101, 16-102; Acts 2003, No. 757, § 1; 2005, No. 1428, § 1; 2007, No. 734, § 3; 2013, No. 999, § 5.

Amendments. The 2013 amendment substituted “or otherwise executed as permitted by § 16-47-107 or § 18-12-208” for “in accordance with § 16-47-207” in (b)(1)(E); added (b)(3), and made stylistic changes.

Case Notes

Complaint Not Reduced to Judgment.

As a matter of law, a complaint for money damages not yet reduced to judgment was not a matter of record required to be included in an abstract of title to real property. Bank of Cave City v. Abstract & Title Co., 38 Ark. App. 65, 828 S.W.2d 852 (1992).

Only the filing of a lis pendens against the property can render the complaint a matter of record before it is reduced to judgment, but lis pendens cannot be filed for a complaint merely for a money judgment and not directly affecting the title to the real estate. Bank of Cave City v. Abstract & Title Co., 38 Ark. App. 65, 828 S.W.2d 852 (1992).

Cited: Wasp Oil, Inc. v. Arkansas Oil & Gas, Inc., 280 Ark. 420, 658 S.W.2d 397 (1983).

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 1 case, 1992–1992 · leading case: Bank of Cave City v. Abstract & Title Co., 828 S.W.2d 852 (Ark. Ct. App. 1992).

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Bank of Cave City v. Abstract & Title Co., 828 S.W.2d 852 (Ark. Ct. App. 1992). · cites it 2× “” The types of instruments required to be recorded in Arkansas are set forth in Ark. Code Ann. § 14-15-402 (a) (1987): It shall be the duty of each recorder to record, in the books provided for his office, all deeds, mortgages, conveyances, deeds of trust, bonds, covenants,…”

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