STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7561
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
June 6, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sen. HOYLMAN-SIGAL -- (at request of the Governor) -- read
twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the
Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to procedures for
appointment and reappointment of notaries public, certificates of
official character, and certification of electronic notarial records
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 131 of the executive law, as added by chapter 13
2 of the laws of 1992, the section heading as amended and subdivision 14
3 as added by chapter 92 of the laws of 2010, subdivisions 3, 9, and 10 as
4 amended by chapter 171 of the laws of 2000, subdivisions 5, 12 and 13 as
5 amended by chapter 129 of the laws of 2001, is amended to read as
6 follows:
7 § 131. Procedure of appointment; fees and commissions; fee payment
8 methods. 1. New appointment. (a) Applicants for a notary public commis-
9 sion shall submit to the secretary of state with their application, the
10 oath of office, duly executed before any person authorized to administer
11 an oath, together with their signature.
12 [2.] (b) Upon being satisfied of the competency and good character of
13 applicants for appointment as notaries public, the secretary of state
14 shall issue a commission to such persons; and the official signature of
15 the applicants and the oath of office filed with such applications shall
16 take effect.
17 [3.] (c) The secretary of state shall receive a non-refundable appli-
18 cation fee of sixty dollars from applicants for appointment, which fee
19 shall be submitted together with the application. No further fee shall
20 be paid for the issuance of the commission.
21 [4.] (d) A notary public identification card indicating the appoint-
22 ee's name, address, county and commission term shall be transmitted to
23 the appointee.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD12013-02-3
S. 7561 2
1 [5.] (e) The commission, duly dated, and a certified copy or the
2 original of the oath of office and the official signature, and twenty
3 dollars apportioned from the application fee shall be transmitted by the
4 secretary of state to the county clerk of the county in which the
5 appointee resides by the tenth day of the following month. Transmission
6 may be accomplished by electronic means that results in a submission of
7 such records and fees by the secretary of state to the county clerk. For
8 purposes of this section, "electronic" shall have the same meaning as
9 set forth in section three hundred two of the state technology law.
10 [6.] (f) The county clerk shall make a proper index of commissions and
11 official signatures transmitted to that office by the secretary of state
12 pursuant to the provisions of this section.
13 [7.] 2. Reappointment. (a) Applicants for reappointment of a notary
14 public commission shall submit to the [county clerk] secretary of state
15 with their application the oath of office, duly executed before any
16 person authorized to administer an oath, together with their signature.
17 [8.] (b) Upon being satisfied of the completeness of the application
18 for reappointment, the [county clerk] secretary of state shall issue a
19 commission to such persons; and the official signature of the applicants
20 and the oath of office filed with such applications shall take effect.
21 [9.] (c) The [county clerk] secretary of state shall receive a non-re-
22 fundable application fee of sixty dollars from each applicant for reap-
23 pointment, which fee shall be submitted together with the application.
24 No further fee shall be paid for the issuance of the commission.
25 [10.] (d) The commission, duly dated, and a certified or original copy
26 of the [application] oath of office and the official signature, and
27 [forty] twenty dollars apportioned from the application fee plus inter-
28 est as may be required by statute shall be transmitted by the [county
29 clerk] secretary of state to the [secretary of state] county clerk of
30 the county in which the appointee resides by the tenth day of the
31 following month. Transmission may be accomplished by electronic means
32 that results in a submission of such records and fees by the secretary
33 of state to the county clerk.
34 [11.] (e) The [secretary of state] county clerk shall make a proper
35 record of commissions transmitted to that office by the [county clerk]
36 secretary of state pursuant to the provisions of this section.
37 [12.] 3. Electronic notarization. (a) After registration of the capa-
38 bility to perform electronic notarial acts pursuant to section one
39 hundred thirty-five-c of this article, the secretary of state shall
40 transmit to the county clerk the exemplar of the notary public's elec-
41 tronic signature and any change in commission number or expiration date
42 of the notary public's commission. Transmission may be accomplished by
43 electronic means.
44 (b) Registration of the capability to perform electronic notarizations
45 shall be treated as a new appointment by the secretary of state.
46 4. Fees. (a) Except for changes made in an application for reappoint-
47 ment, the secretary of state shall receive a non-refundable fee of ten
48 dollars for changing the name or address of a notary public.
49 [13.] (b) The secretary of state may issue a duplicate identification
50 card to a notary public for one lost, destroyed or damaged upon applica-
51 tion therefor on a form prescribed by the secretary of state and upon
52 payment of a non-refundable fee of ten dollars. Each such duplicate
53 identification card shall have the word "duplicate" stamped across the
54 face thereof, and shall bear the same number as the one it replaces.
55 [14.] (c) The secretary of state [and any county clerk,] shall accept
56 payment for any fee relating to appointment or reappointment as a notary
S. 7561 3
1 in the form of cash, money order, certified check, company check, bank
2 check or personal check. The secretary of state [and any county clerk]
3 may provide for accepting payment of any such fee due [to him or her] by
4 credit or debit card, which may include payment through the internet.
5 § 2. Section 132 of the executive law is amended to read as follows:
6 § 132. Certificates of official character of notaries public. The
7 secretary of state or the county clerk of the county in which the
8 commission of a notary public is filed may certify to the official char-
9 acter of such notary public and any notary public may file [his] their
10 autograph signature and a certificate of official character in the
11 office of any county clerk of any county in the state and in any regis-
12 ter's office in any county having a register and thereafter such county
13 clerk may certify as to the official character of such notary public.
14 The secretary of state shall collect for each certificate of official
15 character issued [by him] the sum of one dollar. The county clerk and
16 register of any county with whom a certificate of official character has
17 been filed shall collect for filing the same the sum of [one dollar] ten
18 dollars. For each certificate of official character issued, with seal
19 attached, by any county clerk, the sum of [one dollar] five dollars
20 shall be collected [by him].
21 § 3. Section 133 of the executive law, as amended by chapter 376 of
22 the laws of 1953, is amended to read as follows:
23 § 133. Certification of notarial signatures. The county clerk of a
24 county in whose office any notary public has qualified or has filed
25 [his] their autograph signature and a certificate of [his] official
26 character, shall, when so requested and upon payment of a fee of [fifty
27 cents] three dollars, affix to any certificate of proof or acknowledg-
28 ment or oath signed by such notary anywhere in the state [or] of New
29 York, a certificate under [his] their hand and seal, stating that a
30 commission or a certificate of [his] official character of such notary
31 with [his] their autograph signature has been filed in [his] the county
32 clerk's office, and that [he] the county clerk was at the time of taking
33 such proof or acknowledgment or oath duly authorized to take the same;
34 that [he] the county clerk is well acquainted with the handwriting of
35 such notary public or has compared the signature on the certificate of
36 proof or acknowledgment or oath with the autograph signature deposited
37 in [his] their office by such notary public and believes that the signa-
38 ture is genuine. An instrument with such certificate of authentication
39 of the county clerk affixed thereto shall be entitled to be read in
40 evidence or to be recorded in any of the counties of this state in
41 respect to which a certificate of a county clerk may be necessary for
42 either purpose. In addition to the foregoing powers, a county clerk of
43 a county in whose office a notary public has qualified may certify the
44 signature of an electronic notary public, registered with the secretary
45 of state pursuant to section one hundred thirty-five-c of this article,
46 provided such county clerk has received from the secretary of state, an
47 exemplar of the notary public's registered electronic signature.
48 § 4. Subparagraph (i) of paragraph (d) of subdivision 6 of section
49 135-c of the executive law, as amended by chapter 104 of the laws of
50 2022, is amended to read as follows:
51 (i) A notary public may certify that a tangible copy of the signature
52 page and document type of an electronic record [remotely] notarized by
53 such notary public is an accurate copy of such electronic record. Such
54 certification must (1) be dated and signed by the notary public in the
55 same manner as the official signature of the notary public provided to
56 the secretary of state pursuant to section one hundred thirty-one of
S. 7561 4
1 this article, and (2) comply with section one hundred thirty-seven of
2 this article.
3 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately. Applications for a nota-
4 ry commission post-marked, submitted to or received by the county clerk
5 prior to such effective date, but not yet processed, may be processed by
6 the county clerk to which any such application has been submitted.
