2004 Minnesota Statutes

CHAPTER 359. Notaries public

     359.01 Commission. 

    Subdivision 1.    Resident notaries.  The governor may 
 appoint and commission as notaries public, by and with the 
 advice and consent of the senate, as many citizens of this state 
 or resident aliens, over the age of 18 years, as the governor 
 considers necessary.  The governor will appoint and commission 
 notaries public and the secretary of state shall receive 
 applications for appointments and commissions, shall keep a 
 register of those persons appointed and commissioned as notaries 
 public by the governor with the advice and consent of the 
 senate, shall update that register when informed of a change in 
 name and address by a notary public, shall process applications 
 by a notary public for reappointment, shall receive fees for the 
 performance of these functions to be deposited into the general 
 fund, and shall perform those clerical and administrative duties 
 associated with these functions.  The governor may also receive 
 such applications directly. 

    Subd. 2.    Nonresident notaries.  (a) The governor, by 
 and with the advice and consent of the senate, may appoint as 
 notary public a person who is not a resident of this state if: 

    (1) the person is a resident of Wisconsin, Iowa, North 
 Dakota, or South Dakota, and of a county that shares a boundary 
 with this state; 

    (2) the person designates the secretary of state as agent 
 for the service of process for all purposes relating to notarial 
 acts and for receipt of all correspondence relating to notarial 
 acts. 

    (b) The secretary of state shall receive applications for 
 nonresident notary appointments and commissions, shall keep a 
 register of those persons appointed and commissioned as notaries 
 public by the governor with the advice and consent of the 
 senate, shall update that register when informed of a change in 
 name and address by a notary public, shall process applications 
 by a notary public for reappointment, shall receive fees for the 
 performance of these functions to be deposited into the general 
 fund, and shall perform those clerical and administrative duties 
 associated with these functions.  The governor may also receive 
 such applications directly. 

    Subd. 3.    Fees.  (a) When making application for a 
 commission the applicant must submit, along with the information 
 required by the secretary of state, a nonrefundable fee of $40. 

    (b) All fees shall be retained by the secretary of state 
 and are nonreturnable, except that an overpayment of a fee is 
 the subject of a refund upon proper application. 

    HIST: (6937) RL s 2656; 1955 c 820 s 44; 1969 c 1148 s 59; 
 1973 c 725 s 67; 1984 c 504 s 1; 1984 c 609 s 23; 1984 c 654 art 
 2 s 129; 1Sp1986 c 3 art 1 s 82; 1992 c 513 art 3 s 72; 1993 c 
 354 s 2; 1993 c 369 s 127; 1996 c 439 art 1 s 22,23; 2004 c 251 
 s 19 

*   NOTE:  The amendment to this section by Laws 2004, chapter 
*251, section 19, is effective July 1, 2005.  Laws 2004, chapter 
*251, section 23.

     359.02 Term. 

    A notary commissioned under section 359.01 holds office for 
 five years, unless sooner removed by the governor or the 
 district court, or by action of the commissioner.  Within 60 
 days before the expiration of the commission, a notary may apply 
 for reappointment for a new term to commence and to be 
 designated in the new commission as beginning upon the day 
 immediately following the date of the expiration.  A notary 
 whose commission expires on January 1, 2005, may apply for 
 reappointment six months before the expiration date.  The 
 reappointment takes effect and is valid although the appointing 
 governor may not be in the Office of Governor on the effective 
 day. 

    All notary commissions expire on January 31 of the fifth 
 year following the year of issue. 

    HIST: (6938) RL s 2657; 1953 c 63 s 1; 1984 c 504 s 2; 1986 c 
 444; 1989 c 6 s 1; 1989 c 189 s 1; 1993 c 354 s 3; 1993 c 369 s 
 128; 1994 c 465 art 3 s 72; 1996 c 439 art 1 s 24; 1999 c 11 art 
 4 s 1; 2001 c 208 s 25 

     359.03 Seal; register. 

    Subdivision 1.    Requirement.  Every notary shall get 
 an official seal, with which to authenticate official acts, and 
 upon which shall be engraved the arms of this state, the words 
 "notarial seal."  The seal, with the notary's official register, 
 is exempt from execution, and, on death or removal from office, 
 the register must be deposited with the court administrator of 
 the district court of the notary's county. 

    Subd. 2.    Validation and legalization of certain 
 instruments.  All instruments heretofore duly made and 
 executed which have been acknowledged before a notary public as 
 provided by law, but the seal used thereon has engraved on it 
 "notary public," are hereby validated and legalized, and in case 
 such instruments are recorded, the recording is hereby validated 
 and legalized, and all such instruments are validated to the 
 same extent as though properly sealed at the time of their 
 acknowledgment.  This subdivision shall not affect any action 
 now pending in any of the courts of this state.  

    Subd. 3.    Specifications.  The seal of every notary 
 public may be affixed by a stamp that will print a seal which 
 legibly reproduces under photographic methods the seal of the 
 state of Minnesota, the name of the notary, the words "Notary 
 Public," and the words "My commission expires ...............," 
 with the expiration date shown thereon.  The seal shall be a 
 rectangular form of not more than three-fourths of an inch 
 vertically by 2-1/2 inches horizontally, with a serrated or 
 milled edge border, and shall contain the information required 
 by this subdivision. 

    HIST: (6939) RL s 2658; 1947 c 42 s 1; 1947 c 372 s 1; 1971 c 
 251 s 1; 1986 c 444; 1Sp1986 c 3 art 1 s 82; 1993 c 354 s 4,5 

     359.04 Powers. 

    Every notary public so appointed, commissioned, and 
 qualified shall have power throughout this state to administer 
 all oaths required or authorized to be administered in this 
 state; to take and certify all depositions to be used in any of 
 the courts of this state; to take and certify all 
 acknowledgments of deeds, mortgages, liens, powers of attorney, 
 and other instruments in writing; and to receive, make out, and 
 record notarial protests.  

    HIST: (6940) RL s 2659; 1947 c 372 s 2; 1993 c 354 s 6 

     359.05 Date of expiration of commission and name to be 
  endorsed. 

    Every notary public, except in cases provided in section 
 359.03, subdivision 3, taking an acknowledgment of an 
 instrument, taking a deposition, administering an oath, or 
 making a notarial protest, shall, immediately following the 
 notary's signature to the jurat or certificate of 
 acknowledgment, endorse the date of the expiration of the 
 commission; such endorsement may be legibly written, stamped, or 
 printed upon the instrument, but must be disconnected from the 
 seal, and shall be substantially in the following form:  "My 
 commission expires ............, ....."  Except in cases 
 provided in section 359.03, subdivision 3, every notary public, 
 in addition to signing the jurat or certificate of 
 acknowledgment, shall, immediately following the signature and 
 immediately preceding the official description, endorse thereon 
 the notary's name with a typewriter or print the same legibly 
 with a stamp or with pen and ink; provided that the failure so 
 to endorse or print the name shall not invalidate any jurat or 
 certificate of acknowledgment.  

    HIST: (6941) GS 1866 c 26 s 4; GS 1894 s 2271; 1905 c 48 s 1; 
 1921 c 430 s 1; 1947 c 372 s 3; 1971 c 251 s 2; 1986 c 444; 1993 
 c 354 s 7; 1998 c 254 art 1 s 107 

  359.06 Repealed, 1976 c 2 s 128 

     359.061 Record of commission; certificate. 

    The commission of every notary shall be recorded in the 
 office of the court administrator of the district court of the 
 notary's county of residence, in a record kept for that 
 purpose.  The commission of a nonresident notary must be 
 recorded in the office of the court administrator of the 
 district court of the Minnesota county that borders the county 
 in which the nonresident notary resides.  The court 
 administrator, when requested, shall certify to official acts in 
 the manner and for the fees prescribed by statute or court rule. 

    HIST: 1976 c 239 s 109; 1983 c 359 s 46; 1986 c 444; 1Sp1986 c 
 3 art 1 s 82; 1996 c 439 art 1 s 25; 1997 c 222 s 55 

     359.062 Notice; languages other than English. 

    (a) A notary public who is not an attorney who advertises 
 the services of a notary public in a language other than 
 English, whether by radio, television, signs, pamphlets, 
 newspapers, or other written communication, with the exception 
 of a single desk plaque, shall post or otherwise include with 
 the advertisement a notice in English and the language in which 
 the advertisement appears.  This notice must be of a conspicuous 
 size, if in writing, and must state:  "I AM NOT AN ATTORNEY 
 LICENSED TO PRACTICE LAW IN MINNESOTA AND MAY NOT GIVE LEGAL 
 ADVICE OR ACCEPT FEES FOR LEGAL ADVICE."  If the advertisement 
 is by radio or television, the statement may be modified but 
 must include substantially the same message. 

    (b) A notary public who violates this section is guilty of 
 a misdemeanor. 

    HIST: 1996 c 401 s 2 

     359.07 Notary in detached county. 

    Subdivision 1.    Powers.  In any county which has 
 heretofore been detached from another county of this state, and 
 which has been newly created and organized, any notary public 
 residing in such newly created and organized county, who was a 
 resident of the county from which the new county was detached 
 and created, shall have the same powers during the unexpired 
 term of appointment as such notary public was authorized by law 
 to exercise under the commission issued to the notary as a 
 resident of the county from which the new county was detached 
 and created and within which the original appointment as notary 
 public was made; and all acts heretofore done by any such notary 
 public, while residing in the newly created and organized 
 county, otherwise in conformity of law, are hereby declared to 
 be legal and valid and to the same effect as if the notary 
 public had been originally commissioned as a resident of the 
 newly created and organized county.  

    Subd. 2.    Record of commission.  Such notary public so 
 residing in the newly created and organized county shall have 
 the commission as such notary public recorded by the court 
 administrator of the district court of the newly created and 
 organized county of residence, or of the county to which the 
 newly created county is attached for judicial purposes, as 
 provided in section 359.061, and when so recorded shall be 
 entitled to the same certificate of and from the court 
 administrator of the district court as provided in section 
 359.061. 

    Subd. 3.    Seal.  Such notary shall, immediately upon 
 the adoption of this section, get an official seal, as provided 
 in and in conformity with section 359.03.  

    HIST: (6943, 6944, 6945) 1907 c 323 s 1-3; 1980 c 509 s 142; 
 1986 c 444; 1Sp1986 c 3 art 1 s 82 

     359.071 Change of name or address. 

    A notary shall notify the secretary of state of any name or 
 address change within 30 days of the change. 

    HIST: 1984 c 504 s 3; 1986 c 444; 1989 c 189 s 2; 1993 c 354 s 
 8; 1997 c 222 s 56; 2004 c 251 s 20 

*   NOTE:  The amendment to this section by Laws 2004, chapter 
*251, section 20, is effective July 1, 2005.  Laws 2004, chapter 
*251, section 23.

     359.08 Misconduct.  

    Any notary who shall exercise the duties of office after 
 the expiration of a term, or when otherwise disqualified, shall 
 be guilty of a misdemeanor.  

    HIST: (6946) RL s 2661; 1963 c 753 art 2 s 5; 1986 c 444 

     359.085 Standards of conduct for notarial acts. 

    Subdivision 1.    Acknowledgments.  In taking an 
 acknowledgment, the notarial officer must determine, either from 
 personal knowledge or from satisfactory evidence, that the 
 person appearing before the officer and making the 
 acknowledgment is the person whose true signature is on the 
 instrument. 

    Subd. 2.    Verifications.  In taking a verification 
 upon oath or affirmation, the notarial officer must determine, 
 either from personal knowledge or from satisfactory evidence, 
 that the person appearing before the officer and making the 
 verification is the person whose true signature is on the 
 statement verified. 

    Subd. 3.    Witnessing or attesting signatures.  In 
 witnessing or attesting a signature, the notarial officer must 
 determine, either from personal knowledge or from satisfactory 
 evidence, that the signature is that of the person appearing 
 before the officer and named in the document. 

    Subd. 4.    Certifying or attesting documents.  In 
 certifying or attesting a copy of a document or other item, the 
 notarial officer must determine that the proffered copy is a 
 full, true, and accurate transcription or reproduction of that 
 which was copied. 

    Subd. 5.    Making or noting protests of negotiable 
 instruments.  In making or noting a protest of a negotiable 
 instrument, the notarial officer must determine the matters set 
 forth in section 336.3-505. 

    Subd. 6.    Satisfactory evidence.  A notarial officer 
 has satisfactory evidence that a person is the person whose true 
 signature is on a document if that person (i) is personally 
 known to the notarial officer, (ii) is identified upon the oath 
 or affirmation of a credible witness personally known to the 
 notarial officer, or (iii) is identified on the basis of 
 identification documents. 

    Subd. 7.    Prohibited acts.  A notarial officer may not 
 acknowledge, witness or attest to the officer's own signature, 
 or take a verification of the officer's own oath or affirmation. 

    HIST: 2000 c 483 s 53 

  359.09 Repealed, 1965 c 811 art 10 s 336.10-102 

  359.10 Repealed, 1965 c 811 art 10 s 336.10-102 

     359.11 Taking depositions. 

    In taking depositions, the notary shall have the power to 
 compel the attendance of and to punish witnesses for refusing to 
 testify as provided by statute or court rule.  All sheriffs and 
 constables shall serve and return all process issued by any 
 notary in taking depositions.  

    HIST: (6949) RL s 2664; 1983 c 359 s 47 

     359.12 Administrative actions and penalties. 

    Every notary who shall charge or receive a fee or reward 
 for any act or service done or rendered as a notary greater than 
 the amount allowed by law, or who dishonestly or unfaithfully 
 discharges duties as notary, or who has pleaded guilty, with or 
 without explicitly admitting guilt, plead nolo contendere, or 
 been convicted of a felony, gross misdemeanor, or misdemeanor 
 involving moral turpitude, is subject to the penalties imposed 
 pursuant to section 45.027, except that a notary may be removed 
 from office only by the governor or the district court.  The 
 commissioner has all the powers provided by section 45.027 and 
 shall proceed in the manner provided by that section in actions 
 against notaries. 

    HIST: (6950) RL s 2665; 1986 c 444; 1Sp1986 c 3 art 1 s 82; 
 1993 c 354 s 9