(a) The commissioner shall prepare and issue a land award for each tract of sovereign land sold.
(b) Each land award shall be appropriately numbered and shall be worded in a manner that will constitute a receipt for the first or full payment after it is signed by the commissioner.
(c) One copy of the land award shall be retained in the land office, one copy shall be sent to the purchaser, and one copy shall be sent to the county clerk of the proper county to be recorded at no charge in the official public records of the county.