Sponsored by:
Assemblyman RONALD S. DANCER
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes 180 days from receipt of notary public commission as deadline for taking oath of office.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning notaries public and amending P.L.1979, c.460.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 5 of P.L.1979, c.460 (C.52:7-14) is amended to read as follows:
5. Oath; Filing; Certificate of Commission.
a. Within [three months] 180 days of the receipt of a commission, each notary public shall take and subscribe an oath before the clerk of the county in which the notary public resides, to faithfully and honestly discharge the duties of the office; and make and keep a true record of all such matters as are required by law, which oath shall be filed with the clerk. The oath of office of a nonresident notary public shall be taken and subscribed before the clerk of the county in which the nonresident notary public maintains the notary public's office or the county in which the nonresident notary public is an employee of a business with its domicile or primary place of business in this State.
b. Upon the administration of the oath, the clerk shall cause the notary public to endorse the certificate of commission and qualification and shall transmit the certificate to the State Treasurer within 10 days of the administration of the oath. After the administration of the oath, the clerk shall provide a notice to the person that a notary public who is not licensed as an attorney-at-law shall not use or advertise the title of lawyer or attorney-at-law, or equivalent terms, in any language, which mean or imply that the notary public is licensed as an attorney-at-law in the State of New Jersey or in any other jurisdiction of the United States. The notice shall also state that a notary public who advertises the notary public's services, in any language, is required to provide with such advertisement a notice in the language of the advertisement which contains the following statement or translation of the following statement if the advertisement is not in English: "I am not an attorney licensed to practice law and may not give legal advice about immigration or any other legal matter or accept fees for legal advice."
c. The State Treasurer shall cancel and revoke the appointment of any notary public who fails to take and subscribe the oath within [three months] 180 days of the receipt of the commission and any appointment so canceled and revoked shall be null, void and of no effect. A commission authorizes the notary public to perform notarial acts. The commission does not provide the notary public any immunity or benefit conferred by the law of this State on public officials or employees.
(cf: P.L.2021, c.179, s.8)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
Presently, pursuant to the requirements of P.L.1979, c.460, the "Notaries Public Act of 1979," each notary public is required to take and subscribe an oath before the clerk of the county in which he resides within three months of the receipt of his commission. The failure to take the oath within the prescribed period can result in the cancellation and revocation of the appointment as notary public, and, the sponsor has learned, the loss of the application fee for the notary public commission. This bill would extend and clarify the permitted period within which the notary public is required to take and subscribe the oath of office to 180 days from the receipt of the commission.
It is the sponsor's view that establishing a specified number of days eliminates uncertainty as to the deadline by which the oath of office must be taken, and extending the time period further aids in (1) avoiding revocation, (2) the loss of the initial application fees, and (3) the payment of application fees a second time upon reapplication, as is currently required.`