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IL House Bill 2797

Legislation

State: Illinois
Signed: July 23, 2015

Effective: January 01, 2016
Chapter: Public Act No. 99-0112

Summary

House Bill 2797 makes changes to the information required to be provided by applicants for an Illinois Notary Public commission, authorizes the Secretary of State to implement an online application system, and provides rules for the online application system.

Affects

Amends 5/ILCS 312/2-102 and 5/ILCS 312/2-104, and adds a new Section 5/312/2-105.5.

Changes

Notary Commission

  1. Requires an applicant for a Notary commission to complete an application with the name and address as it appears on his or her current driver's license or state-issued ID, and no longer requires the applicant's official name provided on the application to contain the applicant's last name and at minimum, the initial of the first name.
  2. Requires an applicant for a Notary commission to complete an application with the applicant's date of birth, an repeals a provision requiring an applicant to state on the application that he or she is at least 18 years of age.
  3. No longer requires an applicant for a Notary commission to provide the address at which the applicant will use a Notary commission to receive fees.
  4. No longer requires an applicant for a Notary commission to complete an application in a form furnished by the Secretary of State, but to complete an application in a format prescribed by the Secretary. (Note: this change paves the way for applications to be submitted either on paper or electronically.)
  5. Clarifies that by signing an application, an applicant authorizes the Secretary to conduct a verification to confirm the information provided in the application.
  6. Clarifies that while an applicant who submits a paper application must swear the oath on the application before a Notary or other officer authorized to administer oaths, an applicant submitting an electronic application must affirm the oath electronically, and further provides that an electronic oath or affirmation has the same force and effect as an oath sworn and affirmed in person.

Online Notary Commission Application System

  1. Authorizes the Secretary of State to establish and maintain an online Notary Public application system.
  2. Requires the online Notary application system to use security measures to ensure the accuracy and integrity of applications submitted electronically.
  3. Allows the Secretary of State to cross reference and match information provided by applicants with that contained in the Secretary of State's driver's license and Illinois ID card databases in order to match the information submitted by applicants, and to receive from those databases the applicant's digitized signature upon a successful match of the applicant's information.
  4. Requires the online notary public application to contain all of the information that is required for a paper application. 
  5. Requires applicants submitting applications using the online application system to provide: (a) the applicant's full Illinois driver's license or ID card number; (b) the date of issuance of the Illinois driver's license or Illinois ID card; and (c) the applicant's e-mail address.
  6. Requires an applicant to mark the box associated with the following statement included as part of the online notary public application: "By clicking on the box below, I swear or affirm all of the following: (a) I am the person whose name and identifying information is provided on this form, and I desire to be appointed and commissioned as a notary public in the State of Illinois; (b) All the information I have provided on this form is true and correct as of the date I am submitting this form; and (c) I authorize the Secretary of State to utilize my signature on file with the Secretary of State driver's license and Illinois ID card databases and understand that such signature will be used on this online notary public application for appointment and commission as a notary public as if I had signed this form personally."
  7. Requires the online system  to send an email confirmation notice to the applicant that the application has been received and an email notice informing the applicant of whether the following information has been matched with the Secretary of State driver's license and Illinois ID card databases: (a) that the applicant has an authentic Illinois driver's license or ID card and that the driver's license or ID card number provided by the applicant matches the number on file with the Secretary of State; (b) that the date of issuance of the Illinois driver's license or ID card listed on the application matches the number on file with the Secretary of State; (c) that the date of birth provided by the applicant matches the date of birth for that person on file with the Secretary of State; and (d) that the residence address provided by the applicant matches the residence address for that person on file with the Secretary of State.
  8. Provides that if all of the information provided by the applicant in the online application matches, the online notary public application system shall retrieve from the Secretary of State's database files an electronic copy of the applicant's signature from his or her Illinois driver's license or ID card and such signature shall be deemed to be the applicant's signature on the online Notary application.
  9. Allows all photographs and signatures appearing on an Illinois driver’s license or ID card to be disclosed to officers and employees of the Secretary of State for the purpose of issuing and controlling Notary commissions without violating existing confidentiality provisions.
Analysis

House Bill 2797 changes certain information required to be provided by applicants for a Notary commission in Illinois. These changes are intended to support the implementation of an online commission application system by the Secretary of State, which HB 2797 formally authorizes. One particular feature of the application system is the ability of the Secretary of State to pull in a copy of the applicant's digitized signature from the Secretary's driver's license and ID card database. This signature then becomes the signature of the applicant in submitting his or her application. The new online application system will handle the bulk of applications in the future, but the law does still allow applicants to submit a paper application. Interestingly, if an applicant submits a paper application, the applicant must swear the oath on the application before a Notary or other officer authorized to administer oaths, but an applicant submitting an electronic application only must affirm the oath electronically without going to a Notary. The new law clarifies that an electronic oath or affirmation has the same force and effect as an oath sworn and affirmed in person.

Read House Bill 2797.

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