About the Cibola County Clerk
Cibola County is New Mexico's youngest county, split off from a much larger Valencia County in 1981 and named for the legendary "Seven Cities of Cibola" that Spanish explorers searched for across this stretch of the Southwest in the 1500s. Its economy and population swelled dramatically in the mid-20th century after uranium was discovered nearby in 1950, turning Grants into a boomtown once billed as the uranium capital of the world before the market collapsed in the 1980s. The county's landscape spans the volcanic malpais lava fields of what is now El Malpais National Monument, forested slopes of Mount Taylor, and portions of both the Acoma and Laguna Pueblo homelands, giving Cibola one of the more culturally layered populations in the state. Ranching, timber, and a slow rebound in tourism tied to Route 66 and the surrounding public lands have filled much of the economic gap left by the uranium industry's decline.
Cities and Communities Served
Recording jurisdiction runs countywide, not by city limits — if the property sits anywhere within Cibola County, this is the Cibola County Clerk that will accept the deed. That includes:
Incorporated cities: Grants (county seat), Milan, Bluewater Village.
Unincorporated communities: San Rafael, Cubero, San Fidel, Seboyeta.
Office Details
Address: 700 East Roosevelt Avenue, Suite 50, Grants, NM 87020
Phone: (505) 285-2535
Hours: Monday - Friday, 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Recording Fee: New Mexico charges a flat, statute-set recording fee per document, with an added fee once a document runs past a set number of index entries -- not a percentage of the property's value. Contact the county clerk's office for current amounts.
E-recording: Cibola County accepts electronic recording of deeds and other real property documents through CSC eRecording Solutions.
Good to know before you go: The Cibola County Clerk's office has not yet moved its recorded real property documents onto a searchable online index, so title searches and copy requests for older deeds typically require an in-person visit or a mailed request rather than a self-service website lookup.
How to File a Document
- Sign in Front of a Notary -- In Person or Remotely: New Mexico requires the grantor's signature to be acknowledged before a notary public before the Cibola County Clerk will accept a deed for recording. New Mexico has permitted remote online notarization on a permanent basis since January 1, 2022, under the state's Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (NMSA 1978, Sections 14-14A-1 to 14-14A-32) -- the notary handling it must be commissioned and physically located in New Mexico at the time, even if you're signing from somewhere else.
- Attach a Full Legal Description, Not Just an Address: A street address alone won't satisfy New Mexico's requirements -- the deed needs the property's actual legal description (a metes-and-bounds description, a government survey reference, or a platted lot and block, depending on how the parcel was originally surveyed and subdivided), plus a reference to the prior deed that brought the property into the grantor's name, to keep the chain of title intact. You can usually copy the legal description directly from the deed that transferred the property to you.
- Get Both Spouses to Sign if It's Community Property: New Mexico is a community property state, and state law (NMSA 1978, Section 40-3-13) generally requires both spouses to join in a deed transferring community real property -- even when only one spouse's name appears on the title. Skipping the second signature doesn't necessarily void the transfer outright, but it leaves the deed open to being challenged, so it's worth confirming with the Cibola County Clerk or an attorney whether your specific situation calls for both signatures before you file.
- File a Real Property Transfer Declaration Affidavit With the Assessor: For most residential property transfers, New Mexico law (NMSA 1978, Section 7-38-12.1) also requires a separate Real Property Transfer Declaration Affidavit to be filed with the county assessor's office -- not the Cibola County Clerk -- within thirty days of recording the deed. It's a distinct step from recording itself, used to keep the assessor's records current for property tax purposes, and the assessor's office can supply the current form.
- Record With the County Clerk: Bring, mail, or (where the county supports it) e-file the signed, notarized deed with the Cibola County Clerk for the county where the property sits. New Mexico charges a flat, statute-set recording fee per document, with an added fee once a document runs past a set number of index entries -- never a percentage of the property's value -- and the state has no separate real estate transfer tax on top of it. The first page needs roughly an inch and a half of blank space at the top for the clerk's recording stamp, with the document's title placed just below it.
Still Have Questions About Filing With the Cibola County Clerk?
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Other Counties in New Mexico
Filing somewhere else in the state? Here are a few other county pages:
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