Florida Senate - 2017 SB 440 By Senator Gibson 6-00371-17 2017440__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to notaries public; amending s. 3 117.05, F.S.; expanding the list of forms of 4 identification which a notary public may rely on in 5 notarizing a signature on a document to include a 6 veteran health information card; providing an 7 effective date. 8 9 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 10 11 Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (5) of section 12 117.05, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 13 117.05 Use of notary commission; unlawful use; notary fee; 14 seal; duties; employer liability; name change; advertising; 15 photocopies; penalties.— 16 (5) A notary public may not notarize a signature on a 17 document unless he or she personally knows, or has satisfactory 18 evidence, that the person whose signature is to be notarized is 19 the individual who is described in and who is executing the 20 instrument. A notary public shall certify in the certificate of 21 acknowledgment or jurat the type of identification, either based 22 on personal knowledge or other form of identification, upon 23 which the notary public is relying. 24 (b) For the purposes of this subsection, “satisfactory 25 evidence” means the absence of any information, evidence, or 26 other circumstances which would lead a reasonable person to 27 believe that the person whose signature is to be notarized is 28 not the person he or she claims to be and any one of the 29 following: 30 1. The sworn written statement of one credible witness 31 personally known to the notary public or the sworn written 32 statement of two credible witnesses whose identities are proven 33 to the notary public upon the presentation of satisfactory 34 evidence that each of the following is true: 35 a. That the person whose signature is to be notarized is 36 the person named in the document; 37 b. That the person whose signature is to be notarized is 38 personally known to the witnesses; 39 c. That it is the reasonable belief of the witnesses that 40 the circumstances of the person whose signature is to be 41 notarized are such that it would be very difficult or impossible 42 for that person to obtain another acceptable form of 43 identification; 44 d. That it is the reasonable belief of the witnesses that 45 the person whose signature is to be notarized does not possess 46 any of the identification documents specified in subparagraph 47 2.; and 48 e. That the witnesses do not have a financial interest in 49 nor are parties to the underlying transaction; or 50 2. Reasonable reliance on the presentation to the notary 51 public of any one of the following forms of identification, if 52 the document is current or has been issued within the past 5 53 years and bears a serial or other identifying number: 54 a. A Florida identification card or driver license issued 55 by the public agency authorized to issue driver licenses; 56 b. A passport issued by the Department of State of the 57 United States; 58 c. A passport issued by a foreign government if the 59 document is stamped by the United States Bureau of Citizenship 60 and Immigration Services; 61 d. A driver license or an identification card issued by a 62 public agency authorized to issue driver licenses in a state 63 other than Florida, a territory of the United States, or Canada 64 or Mexico; 65 e. An identification card issued by any branch of the armed 66 forces of the United States or a veteran health identification 67 card issued by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs; 68 f. An inmate identification card issued on or after January 69 1, 1991, by the Florida Department of Corrections for an inmate 70 who is in the custody of the department; 71 g. An inmate identification card issued by the United 72 States Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, for an inmate 73 who is in the custody of the department; 74 h. A sworn, written statement from a sworn law enforcement 75 officer that the forms of identification for an inmate in an 76 institution of confinement were confiscated upon confinement and 77 that the person named in the document is the person whose 78 signature is to be notarized; or 79 i. An identification card issued by the United States 80 Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services. 81 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2017.