We have an issue here in Tennessee that I would like to get clarification on.  Court reporters are no longer required to notarize transcripts.  Most court reporters that I’m aware of have chosen to keep their Notary commissions and still notarize transcripts.  Court reporters were also not required to maintain a record of transcripts notarized.

2014 Tenn. Pub. Acts, ch. 805 (“Chapter 805”), amends Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-21-1201 to require that all acts of a Notary be maintained in a “well-bound book” or electronic format.  It does not mention court reporters. My question:  Do you know if court reporters are excluded from Chapter 805’s recording requirement? — M.M., Murfreesboro, TN

The Tennessee law you cite states, “The Notaries Public shall keep a record in a well-bound book of each of the notaries public’s acts, attestations, protestations, and other instruments of publication.”  You state that court reporters you know have chosen to keep their Notary commissions despite no longer being required to notarize transcripts.  If court reporters must be commissioned as Notaries Public as you seem to indicate, Chapter 805 would apply to them. The law does not grant any exceptions.

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