7-9A-3. Recording of documents. A register of deeds who implements any of the functions listed in this section shall do so in compliance with standards established by the electronic recording commission. A register of deeds may:

(1) Receive, index, store, archive, and transmit electronic documents;

(2) Provide for access to, and for search and retrieval of, documents and information by electronic means;

(3) Convert paper documents accepted for recording into electronic form;

(4) Convert into electronic form information and documents recorded before the register of deeds began to record electronic documents;

(5) Accept electronically any fee or tax that the register of deeds is authorized to collect; and

(6) Agree with other officials of a state or a political subdivision thereof, or of the United States, on procedures or processes to facilitate the electronic satisfaction of prior approvals and conditions precedent to recording and the electronic payment of fees and taxes.

A register of deeds who accepts electronic documents for recording shall continue to accept paper documents as authorized by state law and shall record both electronic documents and paper documents in the same manner as provided for by law.

This chapter does not invalidate electronic documents recorded under this chapter, chapter 53-12, the federal electronic signatures in global and national commerce act, 15 USC 7001 to 7031, as of January 1, 2014, or any other statute that may apply before the establishment of standards under this chapter by the electronic recording commission.

Each document that a register of deeds accepts for recordation under this section shall be considered recorded despite its failure to conform to one or more requirements of this section or § 43-28-23, unless the document is not sufficiently legible or cannot be reproduced as a readable copy using the register of deeds' current method of reproduction.

Source: SL 2014, ch 47, § 3.