Notaries and the FBI

waa 05/11/04

National Notary Association

The National Notary Association1 is the preeminent association for Notaries
Public in the United States. We educate, inspire and support our over 230,000 members
with a full range of educational resources and services. Established in 1957, the NNA is
recognized as the leading authority on the American Notary office and the clearinghouse
for information about the customs, laws and ethical practices of Notaries. Legislators,
state regulating officials, the courts, and the broader business community contact us on a
daily basis for help in drafting legislation, developing policy, providing expert testimony,
and providing other information services. We also promote understanding in the general
public about the exact nature of the Notary’s important role.

What Is a Notary Public?

A Notary Public is a state-commissioned public official who performs witnessing
acts as authorized by law.2 Each state commissions its Notaries, prescribes their duties
and regulates their activities. Generally, Notaries must be at least 18 years of age, be
persons of good moral character and reside in the state in which they are appointed.3 A
growing number of states require Notaries to take an examination or satisfy a mandatory
educational course.4 To protect the public against the negligence or misconduct of
Notaries, thirty-five states require Notary commission applicants to post a bond ranging
from $500 to $15,000.
The United States notarial system5 is largely ministerial in nature. Over time, the
U.S. Notary’s role has become limited to the witnessing of signatures and identification
of signers. Unless the Notary is also an attorney, he or she is prohibited from practicing

1
The National Notary Association is headquartered in Chatsworth, CA, 30 miles northwest of Los Angeles.
2
For example, “‘notary public’ means any person commissioned by the governor to perform official acts
pursuant to the Notary Public Act…” (N.M. STAT. ANN. 14-12-2[I]).
3
28 states allow commuting nonresidents or residents of adjoining states to become Notaries.
4
California, Connecticut, District of Columbia., Guam, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Nebraska, New York,
Ohio, Oregon, Puerto Rico, and Utah require an examination and California, Florida, Missouri (pending),
North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Puerto Rico (attorneys) require mandatory education.
5
In Louisiana as in much of the world, Notaries are attorney-like professionals who act as impartial
advisors, prepare documents on behalf of parties to a transaction, and ensure that these documents meet the
legal requirements of the appropriate jurisdiction.

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law, including preparing and completing documents, giving legal advice and determining
the type of notarization a document requires.
This is not to say the Notary’s present role is unimportant. In today’s mobile
society, where business transactions between strangers are common, Notaries ensure that
the signers of important documents are who they claim to be. To guard against real estate
fraud, county recorders and lenders universally require deeds and loan documents to bear
the certification of a Notary Public verifying the identity of the signing property owner.
This act of identification provides assurance that a signer is not an impostor trying to
cheat an innocent victim out of valuable property through a phony document.
The Notary’s duties are statutorily based. While Notaries in virtually every
jurisdiction can take acknowledgments,6 administer oaths and affirmations, and execute
jurats,7 state law may specify additional powers, such as certify copies of original
documents, witness signatures, and take and transcribe depositions.
Notaries have statewide jurisdiction; they may perform notarial acts in any county
or city of the state of appointment. A handful of states extend reciprocal jurisdiction to
Notaries of adjoining states. Idaho, Kentucky and Virginia permit its Notaries to perform
notarizations outside state boundaries provided the notarized documents will be recorded
in the Notary’s home state. Notaries in Virginia may notarize Virginia-bound documents
anywhere in the world. Through state law and the Full Faith and Credit clause of the U.S.
Constitution, notarial acts performed by a Notary in one state have the same force and
effect as if performed by a Notary in the respective state.
If a relying party desires proof that a particular Notary was duly commissioned at
the time the notarization was performed, typically the local county clerk or state

6
An acknowledgment is “… a notarial act in which a person at a single time and place: (1) appears in
person before the notary public and presents a document; (2) is personally known to the notary public or
identified by the notary public through satisfactory evidence; and (3) indicates to the notary public that the
signature on the document was voluntarily affixed by the person for the purposes stated within the
document and, if applicable, that the person had due authority to sign in a particular representative
capacity” (N.M. STAT. ANN. 14-12A-2[A]).
7
A jurat is “… a notarial act in which a person at a single time and place: (1) appears in person before the
notary public and presents a document; (2) is personally known to the notary public or identified by the
notary public through satisfactory evidence; (3) signs the document in the presence of the notary public;
and (4) takes an oath or affirmation from the notary public that the person is voluntarily affixing his
signature and vouching for the truthfulness or accuracy of the signed document (N.M. STAT. ANN. 14-12A-
2[F]).

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regulating official may authenticate that Notary’s commission, signature and seal. Across
national lines, authentication procedures vary from the simple to the complex.8

Protective Assurances of Notarization

While the Notary’s role has evolved, the Notary continues to play an important
role in business and commerce. When viewed from a post 9/11 vantage point and against
the backdrop of the rising tide of identity theft, need for the Notary’s services will likely
increase as government and businesses incorporate notarial procedures to mitigate risks
and losses.
Documents which contain notarial acts can be relied upon by transacting parties in
ways non-notarized documents cannot. Notarization imparts at least five important
assurances in a transaction. In particular, a Notary:
(1) Proves transacting parties were present at the time of notarization.
Personal appearance is the cornerstone of the notarial act, because the subsequent
assurances cannot reliably be made without the signer’s physical presence. The document
signer must appear in person before – and communicate with – the Notary Public, face to
face in the same room. Physical presence allows the Notary to not only identify the
signer, but to make observations that the individual is willing and aware.
(2) Provides identity screening to ensure document signers are who they say they
are. The Notary must positively identify the document signer beyond a reasonable doubt,
either through personal knowledge of the individual’s identity, the sworn vouching of a
personally known credible witness, or reliable identification documents. State
requirements for ID cards vary, but typically Notaries must accept federal or state-issued
identification documents that bear a photograph, signature and physical description.9 True
identification cannot be based on the Notary’s mere familiarity with a signature. The
personal physical presence of the signer is critical to the Notary’s assessment of identity.
(3) Ascertains that transacting parties executed a document willingly and without
duress, and aware of its significance and effect. Only by personal appearance can a

8
For nations acceding to The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization
(Authentication) for Foreign Public Documents (1961) (as does the U.S.), authentication is streamlined.
However, for nations that are not parties to this treaty, a lengthy and cumbersome “chain certificate”
process requires authentication from several officials in both the originating and recipient countries.
9
Incredibly, Pennsylvania passed legislation in 2003 to allow use of a Social Security card as a valid form
of identification, but this is an exception to the norm.

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Notary ensure that the signer was not under direct physical threat or duress at the hands
of a third party. As an impartial and unbiased witness, the Notary can view the
transaction taking place, observe the parties and examine their actions and interactions.
The Notary will witness firsthand any threats, intimidation, bullying, cajoling or other
tactics to unduly influence a signer.10
In addition, the Notary can assess whether the signer possesses a basic mental
awareness in general and awareness of the transaction in particular. While few states
actually require Notaries to screen signers for awareness11, only a reckless Notary would
proceed with a notarization if there were any reasonable doubt about the signer’s
awareness of the transaction.
(4) Attests to the important facts of the notarization by signing and affixing the
official seal12 to a notarial certificate13 that is preprinted on or attached to the document.
The Notary’s certificate proves the execution of the document and is evidence of the
Notary’s role in the transaction as an impartial, third-party witness.
In a well-known court case where the Notary improperly signed a certificate
stating the signers “personally appeared” before the Notary when the Notary instead took
the signers’ acknowledgments by telephone, a Texas court held that “…a Notary’s
official acts as expressed by legislation are not insignificant formalities which may be
smiled out of the law. If a famous actor or artist should advertise that he would personally
appear at a concert on a given date, and then should in fact perform for the audience by
telephone, that audience would have no difficulty in concluding that the performer had
not ‘personally appeared.’ A Notary can no more perform by telephone those notarial acts
which require a personal appearance than a dentist can pull a tooth by telephone.”14

10
It is an undeniable fact that a friend, family member or other significant person often attempts to assert
influence over a signer to enter into a transaction against his or her will.
11
In Florida, for example, “A notary public may not notarize a document if it appears that the person is
mentally incapable of understanding the nature and effect of the document at the time of notarization”
(FLA. STAT. § 117.107[5]).
12
All states except CT, KY, LA, ME, MI, NJ, NY, RI, SC, VT and VA require Notaries to use an official seal.
Use of a seal is recommended by the National Notary Association in these states and is a widespread and
customary practice.
13
The Notary’s official attestation of facts in a notarial certificate is accorded great legal weight. So, “The
official certificate of a notary public, attested by his seal, shall be presumptive evidence of the facts therein
stated, in cases where, by applicable law, he is authorized to certify such facts (IN CODE 33-16-2-6).
14
Charlton v. Richard Gill Co. 285 S.W.2d 801 (Tex.Civ.App.-San Antonio 1955).

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 (5) Memorializes the transaction as a public record by completing a written or
electronic record of the transaction in a journal of notarial acts.15 Keeping records is a
business-like practice that every prudent and conscientious public officer, Notaries
included, should follow. By recording critical facts about each notarization at the time the
act is performed, the Notary creates an official public record that safeguards citizens’
rights to valuable property and to due process under the law. The chart below depicts
states where Notaries are required by law to keep a journal.

Journal Required

Require journal for

all notarial acts
Require journal for
some notarial acts

Twenty-six states, territories and jurisdictions have a journal requirement.16 When

added to this number the states and jurisdictions recommending the practice of keeping a
journal, the total number jumps to forty-seven.
When state law requires a mandatory journal, the state’s strongest weapon against
document fraud is unsheathed. A meticulously-kept journal can help prevent fraud in six
ways:
• It protects the document signer if an instrument is lost, altered or challenged.
Case law has established the value of a Notary record book as evidence. In a
1924 case, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that a Notary’s log
was proof of a notarization on a promissory note, even when the Notary

15
See the attached Exhibit of State Journal Provisions.
16
D.C., Guam, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Northern Marianas, and Virgin Islands not pictured.
Tennessee requires a journal only if the Notary charges a fee.

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 testified he had no recollection of the event apart from the entry in his book
and the Notary’s original certification on the note had been lost.17
• It deters forgers and impostors from carrying out their crimes. Not realizing a
Notary must make a record of the notarization, a perpetrator who is requested
to provide an address, information from an ID card, signature and
thumbprint18 may head for the exit door after requesting the notarization for
fear of leaving evidence behind at the scene of a crime.19
• It shelters the Notary from allegations of wrongdoing by showing the Notary
exercised reasonable care in performing the notarization. One often
unnoticed benefit of a mandatory journal requirement is that it trains the
Notary to adopt a set of “best practices” for performing a notarial act. If a
Notary were ever charged with failing to record a transaction in the journal or
omitting certain information from an entry, the journal can disprove the
allegation by demonstrating the Notary’s established practice.
• It discourages groundless threats of litigation by demonstrating a signer
appeared before the Notary. The strong independent evidence of a journal
signature will close a loophole transacting parties and attorneys often seek to
exploit – that a signer was not present on the date a transaction took place.
The Notary Public’s journal record containing a person’s signature and
thumbprint can place that person at the time, date and location a document
was transacted.
• It facilitates quicker resolution of disputes, helping unclog our overburdened
civil and criminal courts. It follows as a matter of course that a carefully-kept
journal can be the “smoking gun” that makes a lawsuit appear to “go away.”
• It aids officials investigating and prosecuting frauds. With a Notary journal,
Notary regulating and law enforcement officials have in their arsenal a potent
tool to prosecute Notaries of violating state Notary laws.

17
Mumford v. Coghlin, 249 Mass. 184 (1924) 144 N.E. 283.
18
California requires all signers of deeds, quitclaim deeds and deeds of trust affecting real property to leave
a thumbprint in the Notary’s journal (CAL. GOV’T CODE § 8206[A][2][G]).
19
Creating A Paper Trail: The Journal As Evidence, NAT’L NOTARY MAG., July 2003, at 30-31. This
article contains a case where a journal thumbprint led to the arrest of a felon perpetrating property fraud.

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 With such a powerful tool at hand, states with journal requirements often require
the Notary to safeguard the journal and keep it in a locked and secure area when not in
use, lest the journal be compromised through theft, tampering or loss.20 In the event a
journal is lost, stolen or damaged, the Notary must notify the commissioning official of
the fact in writing.21
While the Notary is commissioned, law enforcement, investigators, the courts,
and the public at large have several methods for gaining access or obtaining printed
copies of records in the Notary’s journal, including:
• Open public records laws.
• A statute mandating that a Notary must provide a photocopy of a line item in
the Notary’s journal upon presentation of a specific written request.22
• State law authorizing the Notary to certify a copy of a line item in the
Notary’s journal for a member of the public.23
• Subpoena of the Notary’s records by a court.
• The Notary may be requested to relinquish control of the journal upon
presentation of a criminal search warrant.24
At the close of a Notary’s career, twenty-nine states, territories and jurisdictions
have procedures for the disposition and archival of Notary records and journals. Practices
vary widely, but law in different states may require Notaries to:
• Retain and store journals and records for a stated period of time.25
• Deposit journals and records with the local county clerk upon resignation or
revocation of the commission.26
• Submit journals to the state commissioning official.27
• Relinquish journals to an employer.28

20
GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS’ EXECUTIVE ORDER, 455 (03-13), SEC. 12(E).
21
ARIZ. REV. STAT. 41-323(B).
22
CAL. GOV’T CODE, § 8206(C).
23
ANN. CODE OF MAR. ST. GOV. ART. 18, SECT. 107.
24
CAL. GOV’T CODE, § 8206(d).
25
GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS’ EXECUTIVE ORDER, 455 (03-13) SEC. 13(B).
26
CODE OF ALABAMA 36-20-8.
27
HAW. REV. STAT. 456-16.
28
ORE. REV. STAT. 194.152(3).

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Conclusion
Among the protections afforded by notarization, the universal rule requiring
physical appearance of the signer before the Notary and the corollary recordkeeping
requirement are powerful deterrents to the financially damaging scams often perpetrated
by criminal impostors. As noted, Notaries have been deployed strategically as a
preventive measure against real property theft with great success.29 Given that the
infrastructure to support and educate Notaries already exists, and that the crime-deterrent
tools Notaries use (including the Notary journal) have been proven, the nation’s vast
“army” of 4.5 million Notaries are a ready resource available for immediate deployment
in the war against all types of document fraud.
With the maturation of eCommerce, the Notary’s role will become even more
significant. Identity thieves run rampant on the Internet 24/7, hiding behind the veil of
anonymity and using guerrilla tactics to steal personal identifying information, perpetrate
fraudulent transactions using stolen identities and commit other identity crimes. The
crime is often detected too late, and victimized consumers are too often left on their own
to clear their good names and credit. The National Notary Association believes Notaries,
with their proven identity-screening skills, are underutilized in the war on identity theft,
but could make a huge difference if pressed into service.
Addendums
Two addendums accompany this memorandum.
Addendum One – Notary Journal Matrix
The Notary Journal Matrix provides a reference tool for understanding the state-
by-state laws, regulations and recommendations that govern the Notary’s journal. The
information in the matrix indicates a.) whether a Notary must keep a journal and the rules
that govern the safeguarding of the journal (JOURNAL REQUIRED); b.) the information
a Notary must record in a journal for evidentiary purposes (JOURNAL ENTRIES); and,
c.) the laws, regulations and recommendations that govern how law-enforcement officials
or the public can request a journal entry from a Notary’s journal (JOURNAL ACCESS).
Addendum Two – Identification Matrix
The Identification Matrix provides a state-by-state reference guide indicating the
allowable methods of identification Notaries may rely upon when identifying individuals
29
See note 19 above.

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requesting notarial acts. Each state regulates acceptable methods of identification for
Notaries either in statute or in official recommendations.

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