Kentucky Enacts Notary Provisions

• April 19, 2019
• Elizabeth Dailey

Kentucky has enacted several provisions pertaining to notaries. These provisions are effective as of January 1, 2020.

Notarial Acts

Section 3 under the new provision sets forth a list of acts that may be performed by a notarial officer. These acts include 1) taking acknowledgments; 2) administering oaths and affirmations; 3) taking verifications of statements on oath or affirmation; 4) certifying that a copy of a certain document is a true copy; and 5) certifying depositions of witnesses.

Notary publics may perform these acts with respect to both tangible and electronic records. Online notary publics registered with the Secretary of State may also perform electronic notarizations on any of the notarial acts enumeration in Section 3.

Evidence of Identity

A notarial officer has personal knowledge of the identity of the person appearing before him or her if that individual is personally known to the officer through dealings that make it reasonably certain that the person has the identity claimed.

A notarial officer has satisfactory evidence of identity of the person appearing before him or her if the officer can identify the person by a non-expired passport, driver’s license, or government issued identification card.

Notary publics are permitted to refuse to perform a notarial act if the officer is not satisfied that the individual before him or her has the competency or capacity to execute the record, or that the individual’s signature was made knowingly and voluntarily.

Additional Sections

Additional sections of the new provision address other notarial issues such as notarial certificates, notarial stamping devices, and online notarizations.

For the full text of Senate Bill 114, please refer to https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/19RS/sb114/bill.pdf.

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