DC Enacts Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts

District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser recently signed into law a bill, entitled the “Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts” (RULNA), which amends the notary requirements in the District of Columbia.  The changes made by the RULNA went into effect on December 4, 2018.

Some of the key provisions of the RULNA include the following:

• Establishes an electronic notary system to facilitate the notarizations of electronic records;
• Specifies the documentation that notarial officers may use to confirm an individual’s identity;
• Grants notarial officers the authority to refuse to perform notarial acts;
• Clarifies that notarial acts performed by notarial officers in other states and in federally-recognized Indian tribe jurisdictions have the same effect as notarial acts performed by notarial officers in the District of Columbia;
• Allows the District of Columbia Office of Notary Commissions and Authentications (ONCA) to deny, revoke, suspend, or impose conditions on a commission as a notary public for any acts demonstrating a lack of honesty, integrity, competence, or reliability; and
• Requires the ONCA to create an electronic database of notaries public and electronic notaries.

The full text of the RULNA can be found here.