About the Sierra County Clerk
Sierra County was created in 1884 and takes its name from the rugged Black Range, referred to in Spanish as the Sierra Diablo, which forms a dramatic backdrop along the county's western edge. Its county seat has an unusual history of its own: the town was called Hot Springs, after its mineral hot springs, until residents voted in 1950 to rename it Truth or Consequences after the popular radio quiz show, a name that stuck. Nineteenth-century silver and mining booms left behind now-quiet communities such as Hillsboro, Kingston, and Lake Valley, while Elephant Butte Lake and Caballo Lake later turned the county into a recreation and retirement destination along the Rio Grande. More recently, Sierra County became the home of Spaceport America, from which Virgin Galactic flew its first fully crewed spaceflight in May 2021. The county's population skews older than the state average and has held roughly steady in size over the past decade.
Cities and Communities Served
Recording jurisdiction runs countywide, not by city limits — if the property sits anywhere within Sierra County, this is the Sierra County Clerk that will accept the deed. That includes:
Incorporated cities: Truth or Consequences (county seat), Elephant Butte, Williamsburg.
Unincorporated communities: Arrey, Caballo, Hillsboro, Kingston, Winston, Las Palomas.
Office Details
Address: 1712 N. Date St., Suite A, Truth or Consequences, NM 87901
Phone: (575) 894-2840
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: Sierra County has accepted electronically signed documents for e-recording since February 2024, provided the notary's certificate states that the notary witnessed the signature live, by audio or video, at the time it was made.
Good to know before you go: Sierra County's clerk's office makes copies of newly recorded real estate documents for local title companies and redacts sensitive personal information, such as Social Security numbers, before the document goes into the public record.
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 Sierra 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 Sierra 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 Sierra 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 Sierra 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 Sierra 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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