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KS Administrative Regulations (2023)

Rule/Regulation

State: Kansas

Effective: December 29, 2023

Summary
Amendments to the state of Kansas’s Notary regulations make several miscellaneous changes related to the performance of notarial and remote notarial acts.
Affects
Amends Sections 7-43-7, 7-43-8, 7-43-12, 7-43-14, 7-43-15, 7-43-18, 7-43-19, 7-43-20, and 7-43-22 of the Kansas Administrative Regulations.
Changes
  1. Defines “sole control” to mean being in the direct physical custody of the Notary Public or safeguarded by the Notary Public with a password or other secure means of authentication.
  2. Clarifies that after the Secretary of State approves a Notary’s commission renewal, if the Notary intends to continue performing notarial acts on electronic records or for remotely located individuals, the Notary must submit a notification and the fee required by KAR 7-43-11.
  3. Clarifies that nothing in KAR 7-43-13(a) may be construed to prohibit a Notary from using multiple stamping devices.
  4. Clarifies that a Notary must retain the Notary’s records of notarial acts in a journal under the Notary’s sole control.
  5. Clarifies that in identifying a remotely located individual for a remote notarial act, a Notary must visually compare for consistency the information and photo on the identification credential presented by the remotely located individual when viewed by the Notary in real time through communication technology.
  6. Provides that if a notarial certificate cannot be affixed to a record to be notarized because the record lacks adequate space for a notarial certificate, the Notary must (a) provide a notarial certificate on a separate page and attach the notarial certificate to the record by staple or other secure method so that the removal of the record or notarial certificate is discernible and (b) include in the notarial certificate a description of the record to which the notarial certificate is attached.
  7. No longer requires a Notary’s digital certificate to include the Notary’s name on the electronic official stamp matching the name, as stated on the application, under which the Notary is commissioned and performs remote notarial acts.
  8. Clarifies that the Notary’s digital certificate must (a) be attributed or uniquely linked to the Notary; (b) be capable of independent verification; (c) be retained under the Notary’s sole control by use of passphrase protection; and (d) be attached to or logically associated with the electronic record to which it relates in such a manner that any subsequent change of the electronic record is detectable.
  9. Strikes the previous regulation permitting a Notary to attach an official stamp to a notarial certificate that is affixed to or logically associated with the electronic record.
  10. Clarifies that an approved provider of technology to a Notary must allow the Notary sole control of the journal entry and audiovisual recording of a remote notarial act.
  11. Clarifies that an approved provider of technology to a Notary must provide the Notary with access to the journal entry and audiovisual recording of a remote notarial act.
  12. Requires an approved provider of technology to a Notary to make and retain a secure backup of any audiovisual recording that is related to a notarial act for a remotely located individual.
  13. Makes technical changes.
Analysis

These amended regulations from the Kansas Secretary of State follow last year’s adoption of temporary and permanent rules to implement Kansas’s Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts, including provisions for remote notarial acts. There are several amendments that are noteworthy. The NNA likes the inclusion of the new definition of “sole control” and the provisions which require a remote notarization technology provider to give the Notary access to and sole control over the Notary’s journal entry and recordings of remote notarial acts performed by the Notary. Currently, this is an issue being discussed and debated within the Notary community, with voices including the NNA asserting the Notary’s journal and audiovisual recordings are the Notary’s, while others say that once a Notary commits their notarial records to a repository or depository to store the records, the Notary cedes control over the notarial records. Another important change is the allowance for the Notary to use multiple stamping devices. Notarial services are “mission critical” to many businesses and Notaries that cannot afford being without the tools needed to perform notarial acts.

Read the adopted permanent administrative regulations.

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