SummaryHouse Bill 833 authorizes up to five employees of the Louisiana Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration to be appointed by the executive director as ex officio Notaries with non-civil law powers. These employees may only perform notarial acts related to the functions of the Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration. The notarizations must be performed without charge.
AnalysisMore broadly, House Bill 833 creates the Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration in the office of the Governor; consolidates functions relative to hurricane protection, flood control, and coastal restoration under the authority of that office; provides the powers, duties, functions, and responsibilities of that office; provides for the interrelations between the Governor's Executive Assistant for Coastal Activities, the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, the Governor's Advisory Commission on Coastal Protection, Restoration and Conservation, and the Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration.
Most relevant to Notaries and notarization, House Bill 833 adds to Louisiana’s already lengthy list of persons who have ex officio Notary powers. Up to five employees of the Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration may be appointed by the executive director as ex officio Notaries. These employees may only perform notarial acts related to the office or in which the executive director or Authority is named as a party. The notarizations must be performed without charge. 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 822.