AnalysisEarlier this year, Session Law 2023-57 (Senate Bill 552) added a requirement for Notaries to maintain a journal for all traditional notarial acts. It didn’t last long, because in the conference committee to resolve differences between versions of Senate Bill 615 passed by the House and Senate, Senate Bill 615 struck the journal requirement and made it permissive. Up until the conference committee, amendment Senate Bill 615 was not a Notary bill. It was not on the NNA’s radar until the conference committee amendment was made, but by then it was too late. There was no time to write a letter of opposition. There was no hearing to discuss and debate the merits of the amendment. The bill already had passed both chambers and was sent to the Governor for approval before most people knew about it.
The NNA knows that journal legislation is controversial. Many legislators do not like journal requirements because they believe journals are unnecessary regulation that add costs to businesses. Therefore, the NNA is not surprised at the pushback on journals in North Carolina. But it is concerned with the way Senate Bill 615 was amended in the dark of a conference committee without the public knowing about it.
Read Senate Bill 615.