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144th General Assembly
Senate Bill # 246 w/SA 1

Primary Sponsor: DeLuca Additional Sponsor(s):    Rep. Hudson
CoSponsors: Bunting, Sens. Ennis, Sorenson, Venables, Cloutier; Reps. Carson, Johnson, Lavelle, Maier, B. Short, Stone, Viola, Wagner
Introduced on : 05/06/2008
Long Title:AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO NOTARIES PUBLIC.
Synopsis:Section 1. This Act implements a key recommendation of the Delaware Information Assurance Task Force by modernizing Delaware’s notary public laws. Eighteen states have enacted electronic notarization statutes and the National Association of Secretaries of State has approved national standards and procedures for electronic notarization of documents. Adoption of an electronic notarization statute in Delaware will facilitate electronic commerce and the creation of a trusted, secure and legally enforceable exchange of legal documents designed to protect the public and businesses from fraud and forgery.

The Act allows the Governor to appoint resident and non-resident electronic notaries who maintain offices or a regular place of employment in Delaware. The Act allows the Governor to appoint non-resident attorneys at law and non-resident employees of financial services companies licensed in the United States that have demonstrated a reasonable need for permitting their employees to become electronic notaries under Delaware law. This unique feature may, in time, allow for the wide-scale adoption and use of Delaware law for electronic notarization. The Act permits the Secretary of State to adopt a schedule of fees for each electronic notarial act or service – thereby creating a potential revenue source for the State.

The Act further updates the State’s notary laws by clarifying the identification requirements for persons whose presence and signature is being certified by a notary, clarifying that notaries must affix a photographically reproducible image of the official seal on every document, and increasing the two-year notary commissioning fee from a net $53 to $60 and the four-year commissioning fee from a net $78 to $90.

Section 2. The Act takes effect on February 1, 2009 in order to provide the Secretary of State with sufficient time to provide appropriate training to existing Delaware notaries and to establish guidelines, standards and rules effecting electronic notaries.
Author: Senator DeLuca

Current Status: Signed   On   06/26/2008
Volume Chapter76:253
Fiscal Note:
Not Required
Date Governor acted:06/26/2008
Full text of Legislation:
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Full text of Legislation:
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Legis.Doc   (You need Microsoft Word to see this document.)

Amendments: SA 1 to SB 246 - Passed
Committee Reports:
Senate Committee report 05/14/08 F=0 M=4 U=0----->Committee Report
House Committee Report 06/11/08 F=2 M=5 U=0---->Committee Report
Voting Reports:
Senate vote: () Passed 5/15/08 3:09:47 PM------->Voting Record
House vote: () Passed 6/17/08 6:05:26 PM------->Voting Record
Engrossed Version:
Engrossment------->Engrossment
Actions History:
Jun 26, 2008 - Signed by Governor
Jun 17, 2008 - Passed by House of Representatives. Votes: Passed 40 YES 0 NO 0 NOT VOTING 1 ABSENT 0 VACANT
Jun 11, 2008 - Reported Out of Committee (ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT/BANKING & INSURANCE) in House with 2 Favorable, 5 On Its Merits
May 29, 2008 - Introduced and Assigned to Economic Development/Banking & Insurance Committee in House
May 15, 2008 - Passed by Senate. Votes: 21 YES 0 NO 0 NOT VOTING 0 ABSENT
May 15, 2008 - Amendment SA 1 - Passed by Senate. Votes: 20 YES 0 NO 0 NOT VOTING 1 ABSENT
May 14, 2008 - Amendment SA 1 - Introduced and Placed With the Bill in Senate
May 14, 2008 - Reported Out of Committee (BANKING) in Senate with 4 On Its Merits
May 06, 2008 - Assigned to Banking Committee in Senate
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