AnalysisAccording to the bill analysis for Assembly Bill 1036, prior to 2014, incarcerated individuals faced challenges in getting needed authorizations to permit a minor child to visit them while in prison notarized, as a result of a Notary inability to accept a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) ID card as proof of identity. As CDCR requires minor children visiting a prison inmate to be accompanied by someone other than his/her parent or legal guardian, in addition to the certified copy of the minor children’s birth certificate, the adult must also bring a notarized written consent authorization form signed by the minor children’s parent or legal guardian expressly giving permission for the minor children to visit a prisoner. To address this problem, Chapter 159, Statutes of 2013 authorized the Notary public to rely on CDCR-issued ID cards to be accepted for notarizing documents signed by state prisoners. Inmates in local county jails also need notarial services for the same reasons as state prisoners. Thus, AB 1036 authorizes a Notary to rely on ID issued by a sheriff’s department for county inmates when notarizing documents signed by local county jail inmates.
Read Assembly Bill 1036.