LA House Bill 538

Legislation

State: Louisiana
Signed: July 10, 2009

Effective: July 10, 2009
Chapter: Act No. 510

Summary

House Bill 538 permits the Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry to appoint employees as ex officio Notaries Public with power to perform notarial acts limited to the agriculture loan program in Louisiana.

Affects

Amends Section 35:410 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes.

Changes

Authorizes the Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry to appoint employees of the Louisiana Agricultural Finance Authority or the Department of Agriculture and Forestry as ex officio Notaries and to subsequently suspend or terminate any appointment at any time.
Permits the persons appointed as ex officio Notaries to administer oaths, attest affidavits and take acknowledgments only on acts and instruments related to the agriculture loan program.
Stipulates that the notarial acts performed by the ex-officio Notaries appointed by Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry shall be performed without charge.

Analysis

House Bill 538 is similar in nature to recently enacted HB 833. It permits the Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry to appoint employees of the Louisiana Agricultural Finance Authority or the Department of Agriculture and Forestry as ex-officio Notaries Public with power to perform notarial acts limited to the agriculture loan program in Louisiana. Unlike the aforementioned bill, HB 538 does not waive the bond requirement for ex-officio Notaries of the Agricultural Finance Authority or Department of Agriculture and Forestry or clarify that the respective government office will pay for the ex-officio Notary’s seal. The notarizations authorized are not the attorney-like functions of Louisiana’s regular civil law Notaries, but are akin to the ministerial common law functions of Notaries in the 49 other states.

Read House Bill 538.