AnalysisIn 2003, then-Governor Mitt Romney signed an Executive Order based upon the NNA's Model Notary Act of 2002 that regulated the conduct of Notaries Public. At that time, the Massachusetts General Court had not updated the Commonwealth's Notary statutes in a century. These laws dated back to the late 1800s. Governor Romney himself decided to take direct, executive action to change the laws governing Notaries. The original Order was amended in 2004. In virtually every legislative session since, the General Court has had a bill before it to put the Executive Order into statute. These bills failed, but late in 2016, Senate Bill 2064 was enacted to finally close the chapter on one of the most fascinating legal developments in the Notary world in recent history. Romney's Executive Order may have been the first order of its kind. After it was issued, the Governor of Rhode Island issued a similar order to provide best practices to its Notaries.
Read Executive Order 571.