PRINTER'S NO. 1541
No. 1218 Session of 1999
INTRODUCED BY GREENLEAF, ROBBINS, MELLOW, COSTA, WHITE, MOWERY,
TILGHMAN AND MUSTO, NOVEMBER 30, 1999
REFERRED TO STATE GOVERNMENT, NOVEMBER 30, 1999
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of August 21, 1953 (P.L.1323, No.373), entitled
2 "An act concerning notaries public; and amending, revising,
3 consolidating and changing the law relating thereto," further
4 providing for register and copies of records; and providing
5 for identification of signers.
6 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
7 hereby enacts as follows:
8 Section 1. Section 15 of the act of August 21, 1953
9 (P.L.1323, No.373), known as The Notary Public Law, is amended
10 to read:
11 Section 15. Register; Copies of Records.--(a) Every notary
12 public shall keep an accurate register of all official acts by
13 him done by virtue of his office, and shall, when thereunto
14 required, give a certified copy of any record in his office to
15 any person applying for same. Said register shall contain the
16 date of the act, the character of the act, [and] the date and
17 parties to the instrument, [and] the signature of each person
18 whose signature is notarized and of each witness, a statement
19 detailing how each signer was identified, and the amount of the
1 fee collected for the service.
2 (b) The register and other public papers of such notary
3 shall not in any case be liable to be sized, attached or taken
4 in execution for debt or for any demand whatsoever.
5 Section 2. The act is amended by adding a section to read:
6 Section 16.1. Identification of Signers.--(a) The officer
7 notarizing the instrument shall know through personal knowledge
8 or shall have satisfactory evidence that the person appearing
9 before the notary is the person described in and who executed
10 the instrument.
11 (b) An officer who complies with this section shall be
12 deemed to have satisfied the requirements of section 5 of the
13 act of July 24, 1941 (P.L.490, No.188), known as the Uniform
14 Acknowledgment Act, in the taking of an acknowledgment.
15 (c) For the purposes of this section:
16 "Personal knowledge" means having an acquaintance, derived
17 from association with the individual in relation to other people
18 and based upon a chain of circumstances surrounding the
19 individual, which establishes the individual's identity.
20 "Satisfactory evidence" means the reliance on the
21 presentation of:
22 (1) a current, government-issued identification card bearing
23 a photograph, signature, physical description and serial or
24 identification number; or
25 (2) the oath or affirmation of a credible witness who is
26 personally known to the notary and who personally knows the
27 individual.
28 Section 3. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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