§ 5323. Rules

(a) The Office, with the advice of the advisor appointees, may adopt rules to implement this chapter. The rules may:

(1) prescribe the manner of performing notarial acts regarding tangible and electronic records;

(2) include provisions to ensure that any change to or tampering with a record bearing a certificate of a notarial act is self-evident;

(3) include provisions to ensure integrity in the creation, transmittal, storage, or authentication of electronic records or signatures;

(4) prescribe the process of granting, renewing, conditioning, denying, suspending, or revoking the commission of or otherwise disciplining a notary public and assuring the trustworthiness of an individual holding a commission as notary public;

(5) include provisions to prevent fraud or mistake in the performance of notarial acts; and

(6) prescribe standards for remote online notarization, including standards for credential analysis, the process through which a third person affirms the identity of an individual, the methods for communicating through a secure communication link, the means by which the remote notarization is certified, and the form of notice to be appended disclosing the fact that the notarization was completed remotely on any document acknowledged through remote online notarization.

(b) Rules adopted regarding the performance of notarial acts with respect to electronic records and remote online notarization may not require, or accord greater legal status or effect to, the implementation or application of a specific technology or technical specification. In adopting, amending, or repealing rules regarding notarial acts with respect to electronic records and remote online notarization, the Office shall consider, as far as is consistent with this chapter:

(1) the most recent standards regarding electronic records and remote online notarization promulgated by national bodies, such as the National Association of Secretaries of State;

(2) standards, practices, and customs of other jurisdictions that substantially enact this chapter; and

(3) the views of governmental officials and entities and other interested persons.

(c) Neither electronic notarization nor remote online notarization shall be allowed until the Secretary of State has adopted rules and prescribed standards in these areas. (Added 2017, No. 160 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. July 1, 2019.)