Florida Senate - 2014                              CS for SB 172
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Commerce and Tourism; and Senator Soto
       
       
       
       
       
       577-02388-14                                           2014172c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to notaries public; creating s.
    3         117.055, F.S.; requiring a notary public to record
    4         specified information in a notarial journal when
    5         performing certain notarial acts; requiring that a
    6         notary public retain a notarial journal for a
    7         specified period; requiring a notary public to notify
    8         the Department of State if the notarial journal is
    9         lost, stolen, misplaced, destroyed, erased,
   10         compromised, rendered unusable, or becomes otherwise
   11         inaccessible during the retention period; providing
   12         that a notarial journal is the exclusive property of a
   13         notary public; requiring a notary public to secure the
   14         journal; providing that failure to comply with the
   15         notarial journal requirements constitutes grounds for
   16         suspension, nonrenewal, or denial of a notary public
   17         commission; amending s. 117.10, F.S.; exempting
   18         certain acts of specified law enforcement and
   19         correctional officers from the notarial journal
   20         requirements; providing an effective date.
   21          
   22  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   23  
   24         Section 1. Section 117.055, Florida Statutes, is created to
   25  read:
   26         117.055 Notarial journal.—
   27         (1) When performing a notarial act that requires notarizing
   28  a signature, a notary public shall record the following
   29  information in a bound sequential paper journal or an electronic
   30  journal that creates sequential and nonmodifiable records:
   31         (a) The date and time of the notarial act.
   32         (b) The type of notarial act.
   33         (c) The type, title, name, or description of the document,
   34  proceeding, or transaction requiring the notarial act.
   35         (d) The signer’s printed name and signature or, in the case
   36  of an electronic journal, the signer’s name and electronic
   37  signature pursuant to s. 668.50(2)(h).
   38         (e) The signer’s complete residence address.
   39         (f) Whether the signer is personally known to the notary
   40  public or presented satisfactory evidence of his or her identity
   41  pursuant to s. 117.05(5)(b). The notary shall record the type,
   42  last 4 digits of the unique identification number, and
   43  expiration date of the identification presented.
   44         (g) The names of witnesses to the notarial act, if any.
   45         (2) A notary public must retain a notarial journal for at
   46  least 5 years after the date of the last recorded notarial act
   47  in the notarial journal. If a notarial journal is lost, stolen,
   48  misplaced, destroyed, erased, compromised, rendered unusable, or
   49  becomes otherwise inaccessible during the retention period, the
   50  notary public must immediately notify the Department of State in
   51  writing of the circumstances of the incident.
   52         (3) The notarial journal is the exclusive property of the
   53  notary public and must be kept in a locked and secure area,
   54  under the direct and exclusive control of the notary public.
   55  Access to an electronic notarial journal must be protected by a
   56  password or other secure means of authentication.
   57         (4) Failure of a notary public to comply with this section
   58  constitutes grounds for suspension or nonrenewal of the notary
   59  public’s commission and grounds for the denial of a subsequent
   60  commission by the Governor.
   61         Section 2. Section 117.10, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   62  read:
   63         117.10 Law enforcement and correctional officers.—Law
   64  enforcement officers, correctional officers, and correctional
   65  probation officers, as defined in s. 943.10, and traffic
   66  accident investigation officers and traffic infraction
   67  enforcement officers, as described in s. 316.640, are authorized
   68  to administer oaths when engaged in the performance of official
   69  duties. Sections 117.01, 117.04, 117.045, 117.05, 117.055, and
   70  117.103 do not apply to the provisions of this section. An
   71  officer may not notarize his or her own signature.
   72         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2014.
   73