Bill Text: CA AB300 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 300

Bill Title: Notaries public: notification of death: delivery of notarial records and papers.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2024-02-01 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB300 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB300-Amended.html

Amended IN Assembly March 15, 2023

Amended IN Assembly March 08, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 300

Introduced by Assembly Member Papan

January 26, 2023

An act to amend Sections 8206, 8207, and 8209 of, and to add Section 8210 to, the Government Code, relating to notaries public.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 300, as amended, Papan. Notaries public: notification of death: delivery of notarial records and papers.

Existing law requires a notary public to keep an active, sequential journal of all official acts performed as a notary public and specifies the information required to be included in the journal. Existing law requires a notary public to provide and keep an official seal to be used only in carrying out their duties and responsibilities as a notary public. Existing law requires a notary public or their representative to deface or destroy the seal upon termination, resignation, or revocation of the notary’s commission.

Existing law requires that if a notary public resigns, is disqualified, removed from office, or allows their appointment to expire, as provided, the person is required, within 30 days, to deliver all notarial records and papers to the county clerk of the county where the notary public’s official oath of office is on file.

Existing law, in the case of the death of a notary public, requires the decedent’s personal representative to notify the Secretary of State of the death and to deliver all notarial records and papers of the deceased to the clerk of the county in which the notary public’s official oath of office is on file.

This bill would require a notary public to designate a personal representative, to file the designation with the county clerk and with the Secretary of State, and to include the name and contact information of the personal representative in their sequential journals, as specified. The bill would require the notary public to inform their personal representative of their duties as personal representative and of the location of the notary public’s official seal, sequential journals, and any other records and papers relating to the notary public’s notarial acts. The bill would require the personal representative to use that information only for the purpose of complying with those duties.

The bill would require the personal representative, the decedent’s successor in interest, as defined, or the person who is in actual or constructive possession of the deceased notary public’s notarial records and papers, to notify the Secretary of State of the death of the notary public, and to deliver all notarial records and papers of the deceased to the clerk of the county in which the notary public’s official oath of office is on file. The bill would also require a personal representative to deface or destroy the notary public’s official seal upon the death of the notary public.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO

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

SECTION 1.

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.

(D) A statement as to whether the identity of a person making an acknowledgment or taking an oath or affirmation was based on satisfactory evidence. If identity was established by satisfactory evidence pursuant to Section 1185 of the Civil Code, 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 to the notary public by presentation of any document satisfying the requirements of paragraph (3) or (4) of subdivision (b) of Section 1185 of the Civil Code, the notary public shall record in the journal the type of documents identifying the witnesses, the identifying numbers on the documents identifying the witnesses, and the dates of issuance or expiration of the documents identifying the witnesses.

(F) The fee charged for the notarial service.

(G) If the document to be notarized is a deed, quitclaim deed, deed of trust, or other document affecting real property, or a power of attorney document, the notary public shall require the party signing the document to place their right thumbprint in the journal. If the right thumbprint is not available, then the notary shall have the party use their 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.

(3) A notary public shall include the name and contact information of their personal representative, as designated pursuant to Section 8209, on the inside front cover of each sequential journal.

(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 or any other means of physical delivery that provides a receipt. 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) (1) 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.

(2) The notary public shall not surrender the journal to any other person, except the county clerk, pursuant to Section 8209, or immediately, or if the journal is not present then as soon as possible, upon request to a peace officer investigating a criminal offense who has reasonable suspicion to believe the journal contains evidence of a criminal offense, as defined in Sections 830.1, 830.2, and 830.3 of the Penal Code, acting in their official capacity and within their authority.

(A) If the peace officer seizes the notary journal, they must have probable cause as required by the laws of this state and the United States. A peace officer or law enforcement agency that seizes a notary journal shall notify the Secretary of State by facsimile within 24 hours, or as soon as possible thereafter, of the name of the notary public whose journal has been seized.

(B) The notary public shall obtain a receipt for the journal, and shall notify the Secretary of State by certified mail any other means of physical delivery that provides a receipt 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.

(C) 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.

(3) 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.

(f) Any applicable requirements of, or exceptions to, state and federal law shall apply to a peace officer engaged in the search or seizure of a sequential journal.

SEC. 2.

Section 8207 of the Government Code is amended to read:

8207.

(a) A notary public shall provide and keep an official seal, which shall clearly show, when embossed, stamped, impressed or affixed to a document, the name of the notary, the State Seal, the words “Notary Public,” and the name of the county wherein the bond and oath of office are filed, and the date the notary public’s commission expires. The seal of every notary public commissioned on or after January 1, 1992, shall contain the sequential identification number assigned to the notary and the sequential identification number assigned to the manufacturer or vendor. The notary public shall authenticate with the official seal all official acts.

(b) A notary public shall not use the official notarial seal except for the purpose of carrying out the duties and responsibilities as set forth in this chapter. A notary public shall not use the title “notary public” except for the purpose of rendering notarial service.

(c) The seal of every notary public shall be affixed by a seal press or stamp that will print or emboss a seal which legibly reproduces under photographic methods the required elements of the seal. The seal may be circular not over two inches in diameter, or may be a rectangular form of not more than one inch in width by two and one-half inches in length, with a serrated or milled edged border, and shall contain the information required by this section.

(d) The seal shall be kept in a locked and secured area, under the direct and exclusive control of the notary. Failure to secure the seal 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.

(e) The official seal of a notary public is the exclusive property of that notary public, and shall not be surrendered to an employer upon the termination of employment, whether or not the employer paid for the seal, or to any other person. The notary, or their personal representative, shall destroy or deface the seal upon termination, resignation, or revocation of the notary’s commission. The personal representative shall destroy or deface the seal upon the death of the notary public.

SEC. 3.

Section 8209 of the Government Code is amended to read:

8209.

(a) If any notary public resigns, is disqualified, removed from office, or allows their appointment to expire without obtaining reappointment within 30 days, all notarial records and papers shall be delivered within 30 days to the clerk of the county in which the notary public’s current official oath of office is on file. If the notary public willfully fails or refuses to deliver all notarial records and papers to the county clerk within 30 days, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be personally liable for damages to any person injured by that action or inaction.

(b) In the case of the death of a notary public, the personal representative of the deceased, the decedent’s successor in interest as defined in Section 377.11 of the Code of Civil Procedure, or the person who is in actual or constructive possession of the notarial records and papers of the deceased, shall promptly notify the Secretary of State of the death of the notary public and shall deliver all notarial records and papers of the deceased to the clerk of the county in which the notary public’s official oath of office is on file.

(c) After 10 years from the date of deposit with the county clerk, if no request for, or reference to such records has been made, they may be destroyed upon order of court.

SEC. 4.

Section 8210 is added to the Government Code, to read:

8210.

(a) (1) A notary public shall designate a personal representative to carry out the requirements of this section and shall file the designation along with the oath of office and official bond with the county clerk pursuant to Section 8213.

(2) A notary public who ~~has a current personal representative designation filed with the Secretary of State shall update their personal representative information upon the next reappointment of the notary public.~~ does not have a personal representative on file shall be exempt from the provisions of this section until 2028, or until their next renewal of commission, whichever comes first.

(3) Upon the death of a personal representative designated by a notary public, the notary public shall update their personal representative information upon the next ~~reappointment of the notary public.~~ renewal of commission.

(b) A notary public shall inform their personal representative of all of the following information:

(1) The individual’s duties as personal representative under this section.

(2) The location of all of the following:

(A) The notary public’s official seal.

(B) The notary public’s sequential journal or journals.

(1) Destroy or deface the notary public’s official seal as required by subdivision (e) of Section 8207.

(2) Notify the Secretary of State in writing of the notary public’s death as required by subdivision (b) of Section 8209.

(3) Deliver all notarial records and papers as required by subdivision (b) of Section 8209.

(d) A personal representative shall use the information received from the notary public pursuant to subdivision (b) only for the purpose of carrying out the personal representative’s duties under this section.