§ 131 — Procedure of appointment; fees and commissions; fee payment methods

§ 131. Procedure of appointment; fees and commissions; fee payment\nmethods. 1. New appointment. (a) Applicants for a notary public\ncommission shall submit to the secretary of state with their\napplication, the oath of office, duly executed before any person\nauthorized to administer an oath, together with their signature.\n (b) Upon being satisfied of the competency and good character of\napplicants for appointment as notaries public, the secretary of state\nshall issue a commission to such persons; and the official signature of\nthe applicants and the oath of office filed with such applications shall\ntake effect.\n (c) The secretary of state shall receive a non-refundable application\nfee of sixty dollars from applicants for appointment, which fee shall be\nsubmitted together with the application. No further fee shall be paid\nfor the issuance of the commission.\n (d) A notary public identification card indicating the appointee's\nname, address, county and commission term shall be transmitted to the\nappointee.\n (e) The commission, duly dated, and a certified copy or the original\nof the oath of office and the official signature, and twenty dollars\napportioned from the application fee shall be transmitted by the\nsecretary of state to the county clerk of the county in which the\nappointee resides by the tenth day of the following month. Transmission\nmay be accomplished by electronic means that results in a submission of\nsuch records and fees by the secretary of state to the county clerk. For\npurposes of this section, "electronic" shall have the same meaning as\nset forth in section three hundred two of the state technology law.\n (f) The county clerk shall make a proper index of commissions and\nofficial signatures transmitted to that office by the secretary of state\npursuant to the provisions of this section.\n 2. Reappointment. (a) Applicants for reappointment of a notary public\ncommission shall submit to the secretary of state with their application\nthe oath of office, duly executed before any person authorized to\nadminister an oath, together with their signature.\n (b) Upon being satisfied of the completeness of the application for\nreappointment, the secretary of state shall issue a commission to such\npersons; and the official signature of the applicants and the oath of\noffice filed with such applications shall take effect.\n (c) The secretary of state shall receive a non-refundable application\nfee of sixty dollars from each applicant for reappointment, which fee\nshall be submitted together with the application. No further fee shall\nbe paid for the issuance of the commission.\n (d) The commission, duly dated, and a certified or original copy of\nthe oath of office and the official signature, and twenty dollars\napportioned from the application fee plus interest as may be required by\nstatute shall be transmitted by the secretary of state to the county\nclerk of the county in which the appointee resides by the tenth day of\nthe following month. Transmission may be accomplished by electronic\nmeans that results in a submission of such records and fees by the\nsecretary of state to the county clerk.\n (e) The county clerk shall make a proper record of commissions\ntransmitted to that office by the secretary of state pursuant to the\nprovisions of this section.\n 3. Electronic notarization. (a) After registration of the capability\nto perform electronic notarial acts pursuant to section one hundred\nthirty-five-c of this article, the secretary of state shall transmit to\nthe county clerk the exemplar of the notary public's electronic\nsignature and any change in commission number or expiration date of the\nnotary public's commission. Transmission may be accomplished by\nelectronic means.\n (b) Registration of the capability to perform electronic notarizations\nshall be treated as a new appointment by the secretary of state.\n 4. Fees. (a) Except for changes made in an application for\nreappointment, the secretary of state shall receive a non-refundable fee\nof ten dollars for changing the name or address of a notary public.\n (b) The secretary of state may issue a duplicate identification card\nto a notary public for one lost, destroyed or damaged upon application\ntherefor on a form prescribed by the secretary of state and upon payment\nof a non-refundable fee of ten dollars. Each such duplicate\nidentification card shall have the word "duplicate" stamped across the\nface thereof, and shall bear the same number as the one it replaces.\n (c) The secretary of state shall accept payment for any fee relating\nto appointment or reappointment as a notary in the form of cash, money\norder, certified check, company check, bank check or personal check. The\nsecretary of state may provide for accepting payment of any such fee due\nby credit or debit card, which may include payment through the internet.\n