Ward County Recorder Information

Land records in Ward County are recorded by the County Recorder. The office is held by Kristin Kowalczyk.

Checked October 2026 against official publications. Sources: N.D.C.C. Chapter 11-18 Recorder · Staff Directory • Recorder

These government fees are separate from any Deeds.com service fees. Confirm current charges with the recorder's office.

Other charges

StatewideDocuments listing more than ten sections of land: $1 for each additional section listed to be recorded in the tract index. Three dollars of the fee collected for each instrument must be placed in the document preservation fund. Instruments satisfying, releasing, assigning, subordinating, continuing, amending, or extending more than ten previously recorded instruments: same page fees plus $3 for each additional document number or book and page after the first ten. Plats: $20 for twenty lots or fewer and $50 for more than twenty lots. Filing any instrument: $10. Certified copies: $5 for the first page and $2 for each additional page. Noncertified copies: not more than $1 per instrument page. Electronic data extracted from a recorded instrument: not more than 50 cents per instrument. If a 3-inch space is not provided across the top of the first page, the recorder adds a page and an additional page charge is levied.

If the same section is listed more than once it will be counted every time it is listed.

Transfer tax

No transfer tax. None is collected when a document is recorded. (statewide, N.D. Const. art. X, § 27)

StatewideThe constitution bars the state and any county, township, city, or other political subdivision from imposing mortgage taxes or sales or transfer taxes on the mortgage or transfer of real property. A grantee or agent presenting a deed must certify on its face a statement of the full consideration paid or a statement designating a statutory exemption; the recorder may not record a deed that does not comply.

Checked September 2026 against official publications. Sources: N.D.C.C. Chapter 11-18 Recorder · Constitution of North Dakota, Article X · Real Estate Recording Fees

Confirm current requirements with the recorder's office before submitting documents.

StatewideEach page must contain a one-inch top, bottom, or side margin for the placement of computerized recording labels. If a 3-inch space is not provided across the top of the first page, the recorder adds a page and charges an additional page fee.

StatewideWords must be considered legible by the recorder before a page will be accepted. Each real estate instrument must have a legal description considered adequate by the recorder. Deeds and contracts for deed with a metes and bounds legal description must show the name and address of the individual who drafted the legal description (instruments executed on or after January 1, 2000, within the state). The document and any acknowledgment must be executed with an original signature, except as otherwise provided by law. A document including a social security number may not be recorded unless a law requires it. Deeds and other instruments that change the property description require the county auditor's certificate of transfer showing taxes and special assessments paid, except instruments listed in section 11-18-03.

Every document must be an original or a certified copy. All dates must be filled in. All original documents presented for recording must be notarized. Mortgages require the post office address of the mortgagee(s) and of the assignee(s). For deeds, all previous years taxes must be paid in full up to January of the current year.

Forms filed along with a transfer

• Statement of full consideration (certified on the face of the deed) Statewide State Board of Equalization (prescribes the forms)
  Any grantee or grantee's authorized agent who presents a deed; also affidavits of affixation of a manufactured home acquired before affixation

Submitting documents

Checked September 2026 against the sources below. Some of them are not official publications, so confirm with the recorder's office. Sources: N.D.C.C. Chapter 11-18 Recorder · N.D.C.C. Chapter 47-19 Recording · Recording Requirements · Simplifile - eRecording in Ward County