Mike Shea, Director of the Licensing and Enforcement Division for the Colorado Secretary of State, has been named the recipient of the National Notary Association’s 2010 March Fong Eu Achievement Award for his decades-long effort to establish professional standards for Colorado’s 110,000 Notaries Public — most recently reflected in a much needed 2009 Notary recordkeeping law.
Notaries from across the state and around the nation, fellow state officials, legal experts and industry leaders gathered to honor Shea during the NNA’s 2010 Conference this June in Chicago.
While Notaries in many states operate under archaic and incomplete statutes, Shea’s accomplishments — particularly in mandating Notary education and recordkeeping — are widely celebrated due to his innovative and effective leadership, which has vaulted Colorado to national prominence in ensuring that its Notaries protect the public through sound practices and procedures.
“I am proud to tell Notary Public Administrators and Secretaries of State everywhere that the reforms Mike spent all these years spearheading really work to protect the public, they save money and, most importantly, they greatly increase the integrity and security of the Notary Public system,” said Secretary of State Bernie Buescher. “It’s very appropriate that Mike be given the March Fong Eu Achievement Award.”
Since 1979, the March Fong Eu Achievement Award has been bestowed upon an individual who has done the most to improve the standards, image and effectiveness of the office of Notary Public in the United States. Shea’s efforts, most recently reflected in the passage of Senate Bill 111, included the expansion of a limited Notary recordkeeping requirement to apply to all notarial acts, and the authorization for the Secretary of State to issue rules requiring Notaries to take a training program, among many others.