Florida Senate - 2014                       CS for CS for SB 172
       
       
        
       By the Committees on Regulated Industries; and Commerce and
       Tourism; and Senator Soto
       
       
       
       
       580-03265-14                                           2014172c2
    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 Notary Section of the Executive Office of the
    9         Governor if a notarial journal is lost, stolen,
   10         misplaced, destroyed, erased, compromised, rendered
   11         unusable, or becomes otherwise inaccessible during the
   12         retention period; requiring notary employees of a law
   13         firm to maintain a separate notarial journal for
   14         certain notarial acts pertaining to the law firm and
   15         its clients; providing that such a notarial journal is
   16         the exclusive property of the law firm; requiring the
   17         law firm to comply with notarial journal maintenance
   18         and security requirements; providing that all other
   19         notarial journals are the exclusive property of a
   20         notary public; requiring a notary public to secure a
   21         notarial journal; providing that failure to comply
   22         with notarial journal requirements does not invalidate
   23         a lawful notarization; providing that failure to
   24         comply with the notarial journal requirements
   25         constitutes grounds for suspension, nonrenewal, or
   26         denial of a notary public commission; providing
   27         applicability; amending s. 117.10, F.S.; exempting
   28         certain acts of specified law enforcement and
   29         correctional officers from the notarial journal
   30         requirements; providing an effective date.
   31          
   32  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   33  
   34         Section 1. Section 117.055, Florida Statutes, is created to
   35  read:
   36         117.055 Notarial journal.—
   37         (1) When performing a notarial act that requires notarizing
   38  a signature, a notary public shall record the following
   39  information in a bound, sequential paper journal or an
   40  electronic journal that creates sequential and nonmodifiable
   41  records:
   42         (a) The date and time of the notarial act.
   43         (b) The type of notarial act.
   44         (c) The type, title, name, or description of the document,
   45  proceeding, or transaction requiring the notarial act.
   46         (d) The signer’s printed name and signature or, in the case
   47  of an electronic journal, the signer’s name and electronic
   48  signature pursuant to s. 668.50(2)(h).
   49         (e) The signer’s complete residence address.
   50         (f) Whether the signer is personally known to the notary
   51  public or presented satisfactory evidence of his or her identity
   52  pursuant to s. 117.05(5)(b). The notary shall record the type,
   53  last 4 digits of the unique identification number, and
   54  expiration date of the identification presented.
   55         (g) The names of witnesses to the notarial act, if any.
   56         (2) A notary public must retain a notarial journal for at
   57  least 5 years after the date of the last recorded notarial act
   58  in the notarial journal. If a notarial journal is lost, stolen,
   59  misplaced, destroyed, erased, compromised, rendered unusable, or
   60  becomes otherwise inaccessible during the retention period, the
   61  notary public must immediately notify the Notary Section of the
   62  Executive Office of the Governor in writing of the circumstances
   63  of the incident.
   64         (3)A notary employee of a law firm shall maintain a
   65  separate notarial journal to record notarial acts of the
   66  employee subject to the requirements of this section which
   67  pertain to the law firm and its clients. Such notarial journal
   68  is the exclusive property of the law firm and shall be
   69  maintained and kept by the law firm in a secure area. Any such
   70  notarial journal must remain in the law firm’s custody upon the
   71  termination of the employment of the notary employee. A law firm
   72  shall comply with all applicable provisions of subsection (2) as
   73  it relates to notarial journals maintained by its notary
   74  employees to record notarial acts pertaining to the law firm and
   75  its clients.
   76         (4) Except as specifically provided in subsection (3), a
   77  notarial journal is the exclusive property of the notary public.
   78  A paper journal must be kept in a locked and secure area, under
   79  the direct and exclusive control of the notary public. Access to
   80  an electronic notarial journal must be protected by a password
   81  or other secure means of authentication.
   82         (5)Failure of a notary public to comply with this section
   83  does not invalidate an otherwise lawful notarization.
   84         (6) Failure of a notary public to comply with this section
   85  constitutes grounds for suspension or nonrenewal of the notary
   86  public’s commission and grounds for the denial of a subsequent
   87  commission by the Governor.
   88         (7)This section does not apply to employees of a law
   89  enforcement agency, an office of state attorney, or the Office
   90  of the Attorney General when acting within the scope of their
   91  employment.
   92         Section 2. Section 117.10, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   93  read:
   94         117.10 Law enforcement and correctional officers.—Law
   95  enforcement officers, correctional officers, and correctional
   96  probation officers, as defined in s. 943.10, and traffic
   97  accident investigation officers and traffic infraction
   98  enforcement officers, as described in s. 316.640, are authorized
   99  to administer oaths when engaged in the performance of official
  100  duties. Sections 117.01, 117.04, 117.045, 117.05, 117.055, and
  101  117.103 do not apply to the provisions of this section. An
  102  officer may not notarize his or her own signature.
  103         Section 3. This act shall take effect January 1, 2015.