CHAPTER 12

An Act concerning the office of register of deeds and mortgages in certain counties and amending N.J.S.40A:9-80.

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

    1. N.J.S.40A:9-80 is amended to read as follows:

Existing offices of register of deeds and mortgages, confirmed, continued; exceptions.

    40A:9-80. The office of register of deeds and mortgages heretofore established and now in existence in any county is confirmed and shall be continued until altered or abolished as provided by law, except that:

    a. in a county in which the office of register of deeds and mortgages initially was established pursuant to P.L.1875, c.CXXXV (c.135), the office of register of deeds and mortgages shall be consolidated with the office of county clerk, and

    b. in a county of the second class with a population density greater than 4,500 persons per square mile and a population between 490,000 and 505,000 according to the most recent federal decennial census, the office of register of deeds and mortgages shall be consolidated with the office of county clerk upon the expiration of the term of office of the current register of deeds and mortgages or the occurrence of a vacancy prior to the expiration of the term of the current register of deeds and mortgages, whichever occurs first.

    Upon the consolidation of the office of register of deeds and mortgages as provided herein, the office of register of deeds and mortgages in those counties shall be abolished, and the powers, functions, and duties of the register of deeds and mortgages shall pertain to the county clerk.

    2. This act shall take effect immediately.

     Approved April 2, 1996.