AnalysisA seemingly minor new law will help remove big confusion over a common request: that a Notary certify a photograph. Although most statutes do not specifically address this issue, it is important because of frequent requests that photographs be notarized, particularly for certain medical license applications, such as Alabama’s pharmaceutical license application. The NNA’s Model Notary Act (Section 5-9[b]) explicitly prohibits this practice, as does the NNA’s Notary Public Code of Professional Responsibility (Standard V-C-2). Making and certifying a subjective judgment about the accuracy, completeness, authenticity, or other attribute of a photograph, even if the Notary had a hand in its production, is not an appropriate function of a Notary.
Read Senate Bill 202.