S.B. 114

1

JOURNAL OF NOTARY PUBLIC ACTS
2 2003 GENERAL SESSION
3 STATE OF UTAH
4 Sponsor: Peter C. Knudson
5 This act modifies the Notaries Public Reform Act to require notaries public to maintain a
6 journal of notarial acts.
7 This act affects sections of Utah Code Annotated 1953 as follows:
8 AMENDS:
9 46-1-13, as repealed and reenacted by Chapter 287, Laws of Utah 1998
10 46-1-14, as last amended by Chapter 312, Laws of Utah 2000
11 46-1-15, as repealed and reenacted by Chapter 287, Laws of Utah 1998
12 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
13 Section 1. Section 46-1-13 is amended to read:
14 46-1-13. Journal shall be kept.
15 A notary [may] shall keep, maintain, and protect as a public record, and provide for
16 lawful inspection a chronological, permanently bound official journal of notarial acts,
17 containing numbered pages.
18 Section 2. Section 46-1-14 is amended to read:
19 46-1-14. Entries in journal.
20 (1) For every notarial act, the notary [may] shall record in the journal at the time of
21 notarization the following information including:
22 (a) the date and time of day of the notarial act;
23 (b) the type of notarial act;
24 (c) a description of the document or proceeding;
25 (d) the signature and printed name and address of each person for whom a notarial act
26 is performed;
27 (e) the evidence of identity of each person for whom a notarial act is performed, in the

28 form of either:
29 (i) a statement that the person is "personally known" to the notary; or
30 (ii) a description of the identification document, its issuing agency, its serial or
31 identification number, and its date of issuance or expiration; and
32 (iii) the signature and printed name and address of a credible witness swearing or
33 affirming to the person's identity; and
34 (f) the fee, if any, charged for the notarial act.
35 (2) A notary [may] shall record in the journal the circumstances in refusing to perform
36 or complete a notarial act.
37 (3) If a notarization is performed electronically, the notary may keep an electronic
38 journal in which to record the information described in Subsections (1) and (2). All electronic
39 notarizations shall be evidenced by a digital signature.
40 Section 3. Section 46-1-15 is amended to read:
41 46-1-15. Inspection of journal -- Safekeeping and custody of journal.
42 [If a notary maintains a journal, the] A notary shall:
43 (1) safeguard the journal maintained under Sections 46-1-13 and 46-1-14 and all other
44 notarial records as valuable public documents and may not destroy the documents; and
45 (2) keep the journal maintained under Sections 46-1-13 and 46-1-14 in the exclusive
46 custody of the notary, not to be used by any other notary or surrendered to an employer upon
47 termination of employment.




Legislative Review Note
as of 1-20-03 7:23 AM

A limited legal review of this legislation raises no obvious constitutional or statutory concerns.

Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel