Vicinta was elected as the Burnet County Clerk in November 2022 and took office on January 1, 2023.  She began her work in the office in 2014 serving as Deputy County Clerk and then Chief Deputy before taking office.  

Functions of the County Clerk:

The County Clerk - Your Records Keeper:
The office of County Clerk has been in existence in Texas since 1836, superseding the “escribano” (secretary) of Spanish-Mexican rule. The Texas Constitution, Section 20 Article 5,  provides:

Sec. 20. There shall be elected for each county, by qualified voters, a County Clerk who shall hold his office for four years, who shall be clerk of the County and Commissioners Courts and recorder of the county, whose duties, perquisites and fees of office shall be prescribed by Legislature, and a vacancy in whose office shall be filled by the Commissioners Court, until the next general election: provided, that in counties having a population of less than 8,000 persons there may be an election of a single Clerk, who shall perform the duties of District and County Clerks.

The County Clerk is elected to a four year term. He/She is elected in the same year that voters select the Governor of the State.

Responsibilities:

The County Clerk’s offices contain a library of records, such as deeds, maps, plats and other records pertaining to property located within the county. These records are open to the public and provide valuable data regarding the size, shape and location, legal description and property owner of all property situated in the County. The County Clerk is the clerk of the Commissioners Court, County Court at Law, Probate Court and is the local registrar for Burnet County.

Recording and Filing of Instruments:

Of all the various responsibilities assigned to the County Clerk, the recording of legal instruments is perhaps the most traditional and basic duty. In terms of sheer volume legal instruments constitute the major portion of paperwork flowing through the office require the greatest amount of storage space, and usually take up a larger portion of the clerk’s time than any other single duty. These legal instruments will be:

1. Instruments that prove ownership or interest in real or personal property,
2. Instruments concerning the identity of persons and businesses (also known as Assumed Name Certificates, and DBA).

The instruments are filed and recorded in a safe and permanent manner and a computerized index is provided so records may be easily and completely retrieved.