New laws passed by the Arkansas General Assembly regulating notary public acts effective July 31, 2017

1.        Arkansas notaries may now charge a “reasonable amount” for notarial acts. This amount must be agreed upon by the client and notary prior to the notarial act taking place. This removes the previous $5 cap.

2.        An employer may not cancel the surety bond of a current or former employee, even if the employer paid for the bond.

3.        A notary may now refuse to notarize a document for any reason.

4.        Guidance is now provided concerning what a notary should look for prior to notarizing a document: Does the client understand the document they are about to sign? Is the client acting of his/her free will? Can the client communicate directly in a language understood by the notary? Can the client sign the document using letters or characters understood by the notary?

5.        Guidance is now provided when the signer uses a mark to sign their name or when the signer is physically unable to sign their own name.

6.        What constitutes a complete and incomplete notarial certificate is also specified in law. A complete notarial certificate must include the following information:  the signature of the notary public exactly the way it is on file with the Secretary of State’s Office; the date the signature is witnessed; the venue of the notarial act including the State of Arkansas and county of where the signature was witnessed; and the signature and seal of the notary public in compliance with Arkansas notary laws.

7.        Reasons a notarial act can be deemed invalid are now outlined in law, including:  when the information is known or believed by the notary public to be false; a notary public puts their signature and seal on an incomplete notarial certificate (see item 6); a notary public signs and seals the certificate at a time other than when the signer is present.