Important changes to state's Public Notary Act

In Alabama and across the country, a notary public’s seal of approval is more than a formality.

A recent overhaul of the process to become and maintain status as a notary in Alabama goes into effect in September with changes to safeguard against fraud, boost training and formalize civil and criminal penalties against negligent notaries.

“Notaries are very important. I don’t think a lot of people realize how important they are,” Mobile County Probate Judge Don Davis said. “The notarization of important legal documents have a significant impact on individuals’ lives as well as the commerce and businesses in our community.”

Among their wide range of responsibilities, probate judges appoint notaries. This year, the Alabama Probate Judges Association found the right time to bring the code up to par. Davis and the APJA were instrumental proponents in that reform effort passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Kay Ivey.

“After we appointed them, there was no training, all you had to do was make an application and pay a fee, and it was the judge’s discretion whether to appoint them or not,” Davis said. “That’s really all there was under the current statute.”

That will change dramatically when the revised law goes into effect. And notaries are encouraged to understand the hefty changes.

All applicants, excluding lawyers, will be required to complete a training program developed by the Alabama Law Institute and the APJA. The notary bond amount will be increased from $25,000 to $50,000. And a uniform application will become standard. Specific grounds for application denial, such as providing false information or not completing training, will also be spelled out.

The extensive revision, sponsored by Sen. Sam Givhan (R-Huntsville) and Rep. David Faulkner (R-Mountain Brook), has brought Alabama in line with the majority of states that require training and enforce civil and criminal penalties for negligent or criminal conduct. The last time the code governing notaries received a major overhaul was 1999.

The revised law maintains the process for electronic notarization established in 2021, but stipulates that any signature acknowledged by a notary public must be physically executed in the notary public’s presence.

It increases the authorized notarization fee from $5 to $10 per notarization and prohibits notaries from performing acknowledgment in transactions where they have a pecuniary interest.

The law also forbids remote notarizing absentee ballot applications or affidavits, or any voting-related purpose.

In terms of enforcement, new criminal penalties and a procedure for the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency to investigate allegations of violations will go into effect.

Class C misdemeanors for actions such as performing a notary duty with an expired license or charging a fee exceeding the maximum will target inattentive notaries. While more serious violations, including committing fraud, could lead to a Class D felony.

Civil liabilities have also been clarified to acknowledge that a notary public is not an insurer, but is duty-bound to act honestly and with diligence.

Some core aspects of the law remain intact:

Notaries’ terms of office remain at 4 years,
Alabama’s judges of probate continue to appoint them,
Judges will continue to communicate appointments to the Alabama Secretary of State.

Grayson Everett is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @Grayson270