Texas Amends Provisions to Permit Online Notarizations

Texas recently amended its provisions to set requirements and standards relating to remote online or electronic notarizations by means of audio and video communication.  Texas now joins a growing list of states that have adopted similar online notarization laws including Virginia, Montana, and Nevada, among others.

Specifically, the Civil Practice and Remedies Code and the Government Code of the Texas Statutes were modified to authorize the process of completing an online notarization by an online notary public and to detail qualifications for how a notary public may be appointed and commissioned as an online notary public.  The modified provisions now define the term “personally appear before an officer” to include “appearing by an interactive two-way audio and video communication” for purposes of accomplishing an online notarization.

The new provisions allow notaries to charge a maximum fee of $25 for an online notarization, and create a criminal offense for an unauthorized person to obtain, conceal, or destroy an enabling certificate that authorizes a notary public to conduct online notarizations.

These new provisions are effective on July 1, 2018, and are available in full here.