OH House Bill 315

Legislation

State: Ohio
Signed: January 02, 2025

Effective: April 03, 2025
Chapter: TBD

Summary

House Bill 315 makes several changes to Ohio’s Notary Public statutes, including clarifying that a Notary Public commission is not an occupational or professional license. As a result, it is not subject to the out-of-state licensing reciprocity provisions established by the state’s broad 2023 occupational licensing law.

Affects

Amends sections 147.01, 147.011, 147.03, 147.032, 147.051, 147.07, 147.08, 147.141, 147.371, 147.51, 147.52, 147.53, 147.542, 147.591, 147.60, and 147.99; enacts new sections 147.49, 147.50, and 147.54; and repeals sections 147.13, 147.14, 147.54, and 147.541 of the Ohio Revised Code.

Changes

Administrative Proceedings

Authorizes the Secretary of State to revoke a Notary Public commission upon the judgment of a court.
Prohibits a person whose Notary Public commission is revoked by the Secretary of State from reappointment as a Notary Public.
Repeals the requirement that the Secretary of State hold an administrative hearing prior to revocation or suspension of a Notary’s commission or issuance of a letter of admonition placed in the Notary’s public record.
Requires a Notary to cooperate fully with the Secretary of State during an investigation under ORC 147.032, including by responding in a timely manner to all questions posed by the Secretary of State as part of that investigation.
Requires the Secretary to revoke the commission of a Notary Public who does not cooperate with an investigation or respond to questions.
Allows the Secretary of State to revoke a Notary's commission for any act or omission that demonstrates a lack of honesty, integrity, competence, or reliability to act as a Notary Public, including: (1) failure to administer an oath or affirmation when executing a jurat; (2) performing a notarial act without requiring personal appearance except in the case of an online Notary Public performing an online notarization; and (3) fraudulent, dishonest, or deceitful misstatement or omission on a notarial certificate.

Notary Commission

Clarifies that a Notary Public is not considered an occupation or profession under ORC Title 47, and a Notary commission is not an occupational or professional license.
Repeals the requirement for a Notary to take and subscribe an oath to be endorsed on the Notary Public’s commission and instead requires a Notary to take the oath of office in person before a Notary or an officer authorized by law to administer oaths.
Requires a Notary seeking a duplicate commission or amending an existing commission to submit, respectively, an electronic duplicate request or amendment form.
Requires the Secretary of State to prescribe and make available an electronic duplicate commission request form and an electronic amendment form.

Notary Fees

Increases the maximum fee a Notary Public may charge for an online notarization from $25 to $30.
Authorizes a Notary to charge a technology fee up to $10 for the use of an online notarization system when performing an online notarization as defined in ORC 147.60(I).
Provides that a Notary may charge a technology fee regardless of whether the notarial act is completed, such as when a signer fails to pass the identification process in the online notarization system, provided that the total technology fee may not exceed $10 per online notarization session.
Clarifies that a Notary may charge either a travel fee or technology fee, or both.
Prohibits a Notary from charging or accepting a fee greater than the amount prescribed by law.

Identification

Requires a Notary who takes an acknowledgment of a record, a verification on oath or affirmation, or a jurat to determine, from personal knowledge or satisfactory evidence of identity, that the person appearing before the Notary and making the acknowledgment, verification, or jurat has the identity claimed and that the signature on the record is the signature of the person.
Provides that a Notary has personal knowledge of the identity of the person appearing before them if the person is personally known to the Notary through dealings sufficient to provide reasonable certainty that the person has the identity claimed.
Provides that a Notary has satisfactory evidence of the identity of the person appearing before them if the Notary can identify the person by: (1) A passport, driver's license, government-issued nondriver identification card, or other form of government-issued identification with the signature or photograph of the individual, which is current or expired not more than three years before performance of the notarial act, and is satisfactory to the Notary; or (2) by verification on oath or affirmation of a credible witness personally appearing before the Notary and personally known to the Notary or whom the Notary can identify on the basis of a passport, driver's license, or other government-issued nondriver identification card, which is current or expired not more than three years before performance of the notarial act.
Provides that a witness is not credible if the witness has a conflict of interest regarding the transaction, defined as either (1) having a direct financial or other interest in the transaction in question; or (2) the person is named, individually or as a grantor, grantee, mortgagor, mortgagee, trustor, trustee, beneficiary, vendor, lessor, or lessee, or as a party in some other capacity to the transaction.
Authorizes a Notary to require a person to provide additional information or identification credentials necessary to assure the Notary of the person's identity.

Notarial Acts

Provides that a Notary Public, or any other individual with authority under ORC 147.51 to perform notarial acts, is authorized to perform the following notarial acts: (1) Administer oaths or affirmations required or authorized by law; (2) Take and certify acknowledgments of deeds, mortgages, liens, powers of attorney, and other instruments of writing; and (3) Take and certify depositions.
Requires the person executing a jurat to certify that (1) the signer appeared before the Notary; (2) the Notary administered an oath or affirmation to the signer that the statement in the jurat is true and correct; and (3) the signer signed the document in the Notary's presence.
Requires the oath or affirmation administered by the Notary to the signer of a jurat to include one of the following questions, or substantially similar questions: (1) "Do you solemnly swear that the statements in this document are true, so help you God?"; or (2) "Do you affirm, under penalty of perjury, that the statements in this document are true?"
Provides that in taking depositions a Notary has the power that is by law vested in judges of county courts to compel the attendance of witnesses and punish them for refusing to testify.
Requires sheriffs and constables to serve and return all process issued by Notaries Public in the taking of depositions.

Recognition of Notarial Acts

Provides that the form of a notarial certificate used by a person whose authority is recognized under ORC 147.51 shall be accepted in Ohio if any of the following apply: (1) the notarial certificate is in a form prescribed by Ohio laws and regulations; (2) the notarial certificate is in a form prescribed by the laws or regulations applicable in the place in which the notarial act is performed; and (3) the certificate contains the words: (a) "Acknowledged before me," or their substantial equivalent, when taking an acknowledgment; or (b) "Sworn to and subscribed before me," "affirmed to and subscribed before me," or their substantial equivalent, when executing a jurat.

Other Changes

Defines “Notary Public” to mean an officer of the state, commissioned to perform notarial acts by the Secretary of State, or prior to June 6, 2001, by the Governor.
Revises the information the Secretary of State is required to maintain in the database of Notaries Public.
Makes other conforming changes.

Analysis

In 2023, we reported on the enactment of a sweeping occupational licensing law that required the Secretary of State to appoint and commission as a Notary any individual holding a Notary commission in any other state, provided the applicant met certain requirements (see Senate Bill 131). While Ohio’s occupational licensing reciprocity law works for certain license holders like insurance agent/brokers who can transact insurance while sitting in another state, it is ill-suited for Notaries because the law requires Ohio Notaries to be located within the state when performing notarial acts. At the Ohio Secretary of State’s request, House Bill 315 clarifies that an Ohio Notary Public commission is not an occupational or professional license for the purposes of the state’s occupational regulation laws and therefore not subject to the controversial out-of-state reciprocity requirements of Ohio’s occupations and professions statute.

Read House Bill 315.