SB 72-OATHS; NOTARIES PUBLIC; STATE SEAL  SENATOR GENE THERRIAULT said the committee would hear SB 72 and although he didn't intend to take any action, he wanted the issue introduced. ANNETTE KREITZER, chief of staff to Lt. Governor Loren Leman, asked members to look at the sheet comparing the current notary statute and the proposed changes. They vetted this with other notaries, insurance company lobbyists and with banks, she said. With regard to qualifications, they propose: lowering the age to 18; making residency requirements the same as the general residency statute; requiring the applicant to reside legally in the U.S. and not have been convicted or incarcerated for a felony within 10 years of the application. 5:10:45 PM CHAIR THERRIAULT asked whether a person living abroad could notarize documents. SCOTT CLARK, notary commission administrator, explained that notary commissions are restricted to a certain area so someone that wasn't physically in the state wouldn't qualify for an Alaskan notary commission. As proposed, the applicant must reside in the U.S. but wouldn't have to be a citizen. CHAIR THERRIAULT remarked the stamp doesn't travel outside the state. MR. CLARK agreed. SENATOR CHARLIE HUGGINS asked whether military officer signatures would continue to be recognized as official. MR. CLARK said current statute recognizes the authority of commissioned military officers and no change is proposed. 5:13:23 PM MS. KREITZER said the commissions are separated into limited governmental notaries public, and notaries public. Notaries public have a four-year term while limited governmental notaries public have open-ended commissions that end when employment ends. As proposed, the $40 application fee would remain the same, but the fee for a Lieutenant Governor certificate would increase from $2 to $5. With regard to a bond, a $1,000 notary bond would be required of all applicants except the new limited governmental notary public and the Lieutenant Governor is required to keep those for two years. 5:14:54 PM SENATOR WAGONER questioned the necessity of increasing the fee by $3. MS. KREITZER said the increase would bring an additional $8,700 as reflected in the fiscal note. MR. CLARK said the $2 fee has been in effect since 1961. The certificates verify details about notarizations and are usually required for documents that go to foreign countries, he explained. The $2 fee didn't cover the cost of the 3,000 ornate certificates prepared each year and the $5 fee is fair. Many states charge between $20 and $25 for the same type certificate. CHAIR THERRIAULT said these are clearly not the standard notarization that you get from the bank. MR. CLARK said most of the public never sees or needs this type certificate. 5:17:06 PM MS. KREITZER explained that with regard to commission types the limited governmental notaries public would include municipal and federal employees in addition to state employees. This makes it clear that the commissions may be held concurrently. CHAIR THERRIAULT questioned whether limited commissions are limited to a specific job and/or specific transaction. MS. KREITZER clarified that limited governmental notaries public have that title because they work for a governmental entity. They can do all the same notary actions as a notary public it simply signifies they work for a federal, state or municipal government and that they don't charge a fee. 5:18:58 PM CHAIR THERRIAULT noted they don't charge a fee and then questioned whether they could notarize things for the general public. MS. KREITZER said they could notarize things for the public, but typically people go elsewhere. CHAIR THERRIAULT asked whether a limited governmental notary public working in a government office would have the power to decline offering private notary services. MR. CLARK referenced page 10, lines 29-30 to clarify that a limited governmental notary public could perform notarial acts only in the conduct of official government business. CHAIR THERRIAULT questioned whether that was a new restriction. 5:20:38 PM MS. KREITZER said it is new and they repealed and readopted most of the statute. She said they examined the statute carefully, but were certainly open to suggestions With regard to commission revocation, she explained that the Administrative Procedure Act is cumbersome so they propose that the Lieutenant Governor would have the ability to review complaints and dismiss them if found to be trivial. They propose to move to a web based system, but don't want to expose private personal information. The public needs to know who and where notaries public are located and how to reach them, but they propose to keep e-mail addresses, fax numbers and other information private. No changes were proposed for non-commissioned notaries. SENATOR THOMAS WAGONER suggested the state not get to the point that notaries public all charge the maximum fee allowed under law. MS. KREITZER assured members the Lieutenant Governor has no intention to go down that path. She noted a proposed amendment that is designed to remove impediments to electronic notarization in the future. She asked members to review the draft amendment before the bill is heard again. CHAIR THERRIAULT asked what constitutes electronic notarization because he's only familiar with traditional notarization. 5:24:54 PM MR. CLARK explained the traditional aspect of notarization wouldn't change and electronic notarizations in the future would be held to the same high standards as current notarizations. That being said, he couldn't say what an electronic notarization would look like because no pilot project had been successful to date. Digital signatures are common right now and successfully addressing the intra-country security issue is a work in progress. CHAIR THERRIAULT questioned, "The current wording here removes impediments to move to that through regulatory changes?" MS. KREITZER said they aren't looking for regulatory authority. It's simply preparing the way for a future Legislature to define what electronic notarization would look like. If you believe we're looking for regulatory authority we're open to amendment, she said. 5:27:06 PM CHAIR THERRIAULT read the proposed amendment and interpreted it to give authority. MS. KREITZER said her interpretation is that you can't adopt regulations where technology doesn't exist. CHAIR THERRIAULT replied if the technology came into existence tomorrow they'd be pre-approved. MS. KREITZER agreed it would be to the extent that the law would allow. She said she wouldn't mind withdrawing the regulations portion because the intent is to remove impediments. CHAIR THERRIAULT said a future Legislature that wants to make that policy call would remove the impediments when appropriate. There were no further questions. 5:28:22 PM CHAIR THERRIAULT announced he would hold SB 72 in committee.