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House passes notary public training requirement after heated floor debate
Summary
House Bill 172, which establishes notary public training and renewal requirements including a four-hour course and open-book test during a transitional renewal window, passed the House 52-17 after members debated an amendment to reduce training to two hours (which failed 36-37).
The Utah House debated House Bill 172 on Jan. 28, voting to require notary public education and to phase in the requirement across a multi-year renewal window. Representative Shurtleff, the sponsor, told the chamber about recurring errors in notarizations that had delayed international adoptions and triggered litigation; he said the lieutenant governor’s office reports roughly 60 problematic notarizations per month.
The bill, as discussed on the floor, would require new applicants to complete a mandatory course and an open-book test; current notaries would participate in a phased renewal from Feb. 2005 through Feb. 2009 so that everyone would receive training within that cycle. Shurtleff said online and classroom options would be available; Salt Lake Community College was noted as offering classes.
Members raised concerns that the required four hours of training could burden small businesses and frequent notarizers. Representative Kaiser moved to amend the bill to reduce the requirement from four to two hours; the motion passed initially but a division vote reversed that outcome and the amendment failed on a roll call (36-37). The sponsor resisted the reduction, saying two hours would not be sufficient.
Debating members cited fraud settlements and case examples to argue both for mandatory training and for testing options. Representative Foulke suggested a testing option so experienced notaries could 'test out' of training. After further discussion and summation by the sponsor, the House voted to pass HB 172 as written by a vote of 52-17; the bill will be sent to the Senate for consideration.
The chamber discussed implementation details, including an open-book test administered by a national vendor and the question of whether the Lieutenant Governor’s Office could set rules governing notaries. Representative Romero noted the statute is codified at Title 46-1-1 (the Notary Act).
