Arkansas’s new notary law has a number of changes over the previous legislation, including provisions recommended by Baxter Regional Medical Center employees. These changes are part of Act 537 of 2017 sponsored by State Senator Missy Irvin of Mountain View, whose district includes part of Baxter County. The new law became effective on July 31.Danielle Fusco, Public Affairs and Notary Public Administrator with the Arkansas Secretary of State’s office, says three of the changes are in response to a request from notaries at BRMC seeking guidance.
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Fusco says guidance is now provided concerning what a notary should look for prior to notarizing a document. For instance, does the client understand the document he or she is about to sign. In addition, the new law gives guidance in circumstances when signers uses a mark to sign their names or when signers are physically unable to sign their own name. Both of these changes were also made in response to the local request for guidance in these situations.
The previous $5 cap for a notarial act has also been removed. Fusco says this change was driven by the electronic notary law implemented a couple of years ago.
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Fusco says most of the state’s almost 51,000 notaries still use the traditional method with a rubber stamp and an ink pen to perform notarial acts. At this point, about 75, mostly with financial institutions, have adopted the new electronic process.
Fusco says an employer may not cancel the surety bond of a current or former employee, even if the employer paid for the bond.
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Fusco says what constitutes a complete notarial certificate is also specified in the new law, as well as the reasons a notarial act can be deemed invalid.
Fusco will be in Mountain Home on Thursday morning at 10 on the campus of Arkansas State University-Mountain Home for a notary seminar. Pre-registration is available through the Business and Commercial Services Division of the Secretary of State’s website at bcs.sos.arkansas.gov Business and Commercial Services Division of Secretary of State
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