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OR House Bill 4020

Legislation

State: Oregon
Signed: March 27, 2024

Effective: January 01, 2025
Chapter: 27

Summary

House Bill 4020 requires all applicants for a Notary Public commission to complete a course of study before taking the exam.

Affects

Amends Section 194.325 of the Oregon Revised Statutes.

Changes
  1. Clarifies that any applicant for a Notary Public commission, and not only an applicant who does not already hold a commission, must complete a course of study offered by the Secretary of an entity approved by the Secretary before taking the examination required by ORS 194.325(1).
  2. Provides that the course requirement applies to all applicants who take the Notary examination on or after January 1, 2025.
Analysis

Oregon enacted legislation requiring an education course in 2006, but the requirement only applied to first-time applicants or applicants whose commission had expired. Testimony provided by the Office of the Secretary of State in support of House Bill 4020 addressed the challenges of not requiring Notaries to take regular continuing education: “The problem we are seeing is notaries can go several years without any re-training if they continue to re-apply prior to their commission expiring. This has resulted in errors in notarizations, posing risk to their customers if they are not up to date on current laws, rules or regulations related to notary services.” House Bill 4020 addresses this concern by ensuring that all Notaries take a course every 4 years.

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