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AB-2062 Notaries public.(2003-2004)

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Assembly Bill No. 2062
CHAPTER 539

An act to amend Sections 8201 and 8206 of, and to add Section 8202 to, the Government Code, relating to notaries public.

[ Filed with Secretary of State  September 15, 2004. Approved by Governor  September 15, 2004. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 2062, Nakano. Notaries public.
(1) Existing law generally sets forth the procedures for proof and acknowledgment of instruments executed by notaries public.
This bill would additionally set forth the procedures for execution, and the form, of a jurat by a notary public.
(2) Existing law requires notaries public that are appointed on or after January 1, 2005, to have satisfactorily completed a 6-hour course of study approved by the Secretary of State concerning the functions and duties of a notary public.
This bill instead would apply this requirement to appointments made on or after July 1, 2005.
(3) Existing law requires a notary public to keep an active journal of all official acts performed as a notary public, and to include in this journal, among other things, information as to every instrument acknowledged or proved before the notary.
This bill would additionally specify that this requirement applies to information as to every instrument sworn to or affirmed before the notary.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 8201 of the Government Code is amended to read:

8201.
 (a) Every person appointed as notary public shall meet all of the following requirements:
(1) Be at the time of appointment a legal resident of this state, except as otherwise provided in Section 8203.1.
(2) Be not less than 18 years of age.
(3) For appointments made on or after July 1, 2005, have satisfactorily completed a six-hour course of study approved by the Secretary of State pursuant to Section 8201.2 concerning the functions and duties of a notary public.
(4) Have satisfactorily completed a written examination prescribed by the Secretary of State to determine the fitness of the person to exercise the functions and duties of the office of notary public. All questions shall be based on the law of this state as set forth in the booklet of the laws of California relating to notaries public distributed by the Secretary of State.
(b) (1) Commencing July 1, 2005, each applicant for notary public shall provide satisfactory proof that he or she has completed the course of study required pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) prior to approval of his or her appointment as a notary public by the Secretary of State.
(2) Commencing July 1, 2005, an applicant for notary public who holds a California notary public commission, and who has satisfactorily completed the six-hour course of study required pursuant to paragraph (1) at least one time, shall provide satisfactory proof when applying for reappointment as a notary public that he or she has satisfactorily completed a three-hour refresher course of study prior to reappointment as a notary public by the Secretary of State.

SEC. 2.

 Section 8202 is added to the Government Code, to read:

8202.
 (a) When executing a jurat, a notary shall administer an oath or affirmation to the affiant and shall determine, from personal knowledge or satisfactory evidence as described in Section 1185 of the Civil Code, that the affiant is the person executing the document. The affiant shall sign the document in the presence of the notary.
(b) To any affidavit subscribed and sworn to before a notary, there shall be attached a jurat in the following form:
State of California
County of _______________
Subscribed and sworn to (or affirmed) before me on this _____ day of _______, 20__, by _________________________, personally known to me or proved to me on the basis of satisfactory evidence to be the person(s) who appeared before me.
Seal
Signature

SEC. 3.

 Section 8206 of the Government Code is amended to read:

8206.
 (a) (1) A notary public shall keep one active sequential journal at a time, of all official acts performed as a notary public. The journal shall be kept in a locked and secured area, under the direct and exclusive control of the notary. Failure to secure the journal shall be cause for the Secretary of State to take administrative action against the commission held by the notary public pursuant to Section 8214.1.
(2) The journal shall be in addition to and apart from any copies of notarized documents that may be in the possession of the notary public and shall include all of the following:
(A) Date, time, and type of each official act.
(B) Character of every instrument sworn to, affirmed, acknowledged, or proved before the notary.
(C) The signature of each person whose signature is being notarized.
(D) A statement as to whether the identity of a person making an acknowledgment or taking an oath or affirmation was based on personal knowledge or satisfactory evidence. If identity was established by satisfactory evidence pursuant to Section 1185 of the Civil Code, then the journal shall contain the signature of the credible witness swearing or affirming to the identity of the individual or the type of identifying document, the governmental agency issuing the document, the serial or identifying number of the document, and the date of issue or expiration of the document.
(E) If the identity of the person making the acknowledgment or taking the oath or affirmation was established by the oaths or affirmations of two credible witnesses whose identities are proven upon the presentation of satisfactory evidence, the type of identifying documents, the identifying numbers of the documents and the dates of issuance or expiration of the documents presented by the witnesses to establish their identity.
(F) The fee charged for the notarial service.
(G) If the document to be notarized is a deed, quitclaim deed, or deed of trust affecting real property, the notary public shall require the party signing the document to place his or her right thumbprint in the journal. If the right thumbprint is not available, then the notary shall have the party use his or her left thumb, or any available finger and shall so indicate in the journal. If the party signing the document is physically unable to provide a thumbprint or fingerprint, the notary shall so indicate in the journal and shall also provide an explanation of that physical condition. This paragraph shall not apply to a trustee’s deed resulting from a decree of foreclosure or a nonjudicial foreclosure pursuant to Section 2924 of the Civil Code, nor to a deed of reconveyance.
(b) If a sequential journal of official acts performed by a notary public is stolen, lost, misplaced, destroyed, damaged, or otherwise rendered unusable as a record of notarial acts and information, the notary public shall immediately notify the Secretary of State by certified or registered mail. The notification shall include the period of the journal entries, the notary public commission number, and the expiration date of the commission, and when applicable, a photocopy of any police report that specifies the theft of the sequential journal of official acts.
(c) Upon written request of any member of the public, which request shall include the name of the parties, the type of document, and the month and year in which notarized, the notary shall supply a photostatic copy of the line item representing the requested transaction at a cost of not more than thirty cents ($0.30) per page.
(d) The journal of notarial acts of a notary public is the exclusive property of that notary public, and shall not be surrendered to an employer upon termination of employment, whether or not the employer paid for the journal, or at any other time. The notary public shall not surrender the journal to any other person, except the county clerk, pursuant to Section 8209, or to a peace officer, as defined in Sections 830.1, 830.2, and 830.3 of the Penal Code, acting in his or her official capacity and within his or her authority, in response to a criminal search warrant signed by a magistrate and served upon the notary public by the peace officer. The notary public shall obtain a receipt for the journal, and shall notify the Secretary of State by certified mail within 10 days that the journal was relinquished to a peace officer. The notification shall include the period of the journal entries, the commission number of the notary public, the expiration date of the commission, and a photocopy of the receipt. The notary public shall obtain a new sequential journal. If the journal relinquished to a peace officer is returned to the notary public and a new journal has been obtained, the notary public shall make no new entries in the returned journal. A notary public who is an employee shall permit inspection and copying of journal transactions by a duly designated auditor or agent of the notary public’s employer, provided that the inspection and copying is done in the presence of the notary public and the transactions are directly associated with the business purposes of the employer. The notary public, upon the request of the employer, shall regularly provide copies of all transactions that are directly associated with the business purposes of the employer, but shall not be required to provide copies of any transaction that is unrelated to the employer’s business. Confidentiality and safekeeping of any copies of the journal provided to the employer shall be the responsibility of that employer.
(e) The notary public shall provide the journal for examination and copying in the presence of the notary public upon receipt of a subpoena duces tecum or a court order, and shall certify those copies if requested.