Notaries and notarial acts
This law is about notaries — people who are officially allowed to witness and verify important documents. A notary who breaks the rules on purpose (like not checking who someone is, or signing a false certificate) can be fined up to $500 or put in jail for up to 6 months. Someone who is not a notary but pretends to be one faces the same punishment. Anyone who messes with a notary's official seal, records, or electronic tools, or who pressures a notary to do something wrong, can also be fined or jailed.
578.700. Notaries and s — prohibited acts — violations, penalties. — 1. For purposes of this section, all definitions from section 486.600 shall apply.
2. In performing a notarial act, a shall be guilty of a , punishable upon by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or imprisonment for not more than six months, or both, for :
(1) Failing to require the presence of a at the time of a notarial act;
(2) Failing to identify a principal through or ; or
(3) Executing a false under 1 of section 486.660.
3. A notary who knowingly performs any other act prohibited by chapter 486 or fails to perform any other act required by chapter 486 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable upon conviction by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or imprisonment for not more than six months, or both.
4. Any person who is not a notary and who knowingly acts as or otherwise impersonates a notary shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable upon conviction by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or imprisonment for not more than six months, or both.
5. Any person who knowingly obtains, conceals, defaces, or destroys the seal, journal, or of a notary shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable upon conviction by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars.
6. Any person who knowingly , coerces, or in any way influences a notary to commit shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable upon conviction by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars.
7. Any person who knowingly obtains, conceals, , or destroys the coding, disk, , card, token, program, software, or hardware that is intended exclusively to enable an to produce a , notary seal, or single element combining the required features of an electronic signature and notary seal, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable upon conviction by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or imprisonment for not more than six months, or both.
8. The penalties of this section shall not other and provided by law.
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Source & history notes
(L. 2020 H.B. 1655)
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