LegislationAug 01, 2011 - North Dakota
ND House Bill 1136 - North Dakota becomes the first state to enact the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (RULONA) published by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL). HB 1136 repeals prior Chapter 44-06 and several other sections containing rules pertaining to Notaries and replaces them with many of RULONA’s provisions. While the NNA is supportive of the many provisions of the RULONA adopted in this legislation, unfortunately, the journal, education and examination requirements contained in the introduced version of the bill were removed by the House of Representatives.
LegislationJul 20, 2011 - Arizona
AZ Senate Bill 1230 - Senate Bill 1230 implements a number of ethical standards which generally strengthen the integrity of both paper-based and electronic notarial acts and protect the public. The most interesting – and novel – change is that any attached “loose” certificate used by a Notary must contain additional information besides the wording for the acknowledgment or jurat designed to protect the certificate from being used with another document.
LegislationJul 13, 2011 - Washington
WA House Bill 1345 - Washington enacts the Uniform Unsworn Foreign Declarations Act (UUFDA) published by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. Subject to the limitations prescribed in the Act, the UUFDA permits a person living or traveling outside of the U.S. who must sign a sworn statement to make the statement under penalty of perjury without having to appear before a Notary or U.S. consular officer to take an oath or affirmation.
LegislationJul 08, 2011 - Arkansas
AR Senate Bill 887 - Arkansas enacts the Uniform Power of Attorney Act (UPOAA). If a power of attorney is presented for notarization, a Notary will need to know that a signer may sign the power of attorney or may direct another person to sign it for him or her. The Act doesn’t require a power of attorney to be notarized, but a court will presume the signature to be genuine if it is acknowledged before a Notary or an officer authorized to take acknowledgments.
LegislationJul 01, 2011 - Wyoming
WY Senate File 150 - Senate Bill 150 adopts many of the NNA‟s most esteemed best Notary practices and ethical standards taken from the Model Notary Act of 2010. It including a solid definition of the “satisfactory evidence of identity” a notarial officer must obtain to perform a notarial act. For the first time, a state has adopted the Model Notary Act’s “verification of fact” notarial act. However, the bill also contains a vaguely-worded definition of the terms “personally appear,” “in the presence of,” and “appear before” which could erode the integrity of notarial acts in Wyoming.
LegislationJul 01, 2011 - Virginia
VA House Bill 2205/SB 1247 - House Bill 2205 and Senate Bill 1247 are companion bills which allow the Secretary of the Commonwealth to accept applications for recommission as a Notary containing the electronic signature of the Notary.
LegislationJul 01, 2011 - Georgia
GA House Bill 41 - House Bill 41 reverses an Attorney General ruling last year that the “judicial operations fund fee” of $125 assessed for court filings applies to the issuance of certificates of appointment and reappointment of Notaries, reducing the fee for a Notary commission from $162 to $37.
LegislationJul 01, 2011 - Mississippi
MS House Bill 599 - Mississippi becomes the twenty-sixth state to enact the Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act, enabling county chancery clerks to accept electronic real property documents for recording in conformance with technical standards set by an 11-member Electronic Recording Commission.
LegislationJul 01, 2011 - Virginia
VA House Bill 1670 - House Bill 1670 prohibits a Notary from notarizing any paper or electronic document in which the Notary is a signatory or is named, thereby adding specificity to the current law prohibiting notarization of documents in which the Notary or the Notary’s spouse has a direct financial interest.
LegislationJul 01, 2011 - Virginia
VA Senate Bill 1369 - Senate Bill 1369 authorizes any clerk of circuit court to perform any notarial act a Virginia Notary Public may perform.