Hawaii Approves Provisions for Remote Online Notarization

The Hawaii Department of the Attorney General recently adopted its Proposed Notaries Public Rule Amendments under Hawaii Administrative Rules Chapter 5-11 (HAR 5-11).  These changes were initially proposed on July 1, 2021, and became effective on March 9. 2022.

Among other processes, HAR 5-11 outlines:

• The application process for a remote online notary public commission, which entails filing an application for commission of remote online notary public with the attorney general;
• The requirement for a notary public to pay for and pass an examination specific to the notarization of remotely located individuals;
• The application process for the renewal of remote online notary public commission which must be completed within sixty calendar days prior to the expiration of the notary public’s current commission;
• The requirement that a remote online notary public only perform a notarial act for remotely located individuals if the remotely located individual personally appears before the remote online notary public at the time of the notarization.  This appearance can be made my means of communication technology that provides a continuous synchronous audiovisual feed and allows the notary public and remotely located individual to see and speak with each other through live transmission and permit the notary public to use at least two different types of identify proofing; and
• The standards for keeping and maintaining an electronic stamping device which must contain the name of the notary public, the commission number of the notary public, and the words “notary public” and “State of Hawaii”.