pmwj H.B. 243 75(R)BILL ANALYSIS JUDICIAL AFFAIRS H.B. 243 By: Thompson 2-19-97 Committee Report (Unamended) BACKGROUND Current law concerning the proof of identity of a person acknowledging a written instrument or certificate of acknowledgement requires the officer the taking the acknowledgement to either personally know the person or to verify that person's identity on the oath of a credible witness. The most common way of verifying a person's identity in most situations is through the use of government issued identification cards or documents. The requirement of personal knowledge or the oath of a credible witness can cause hardship on the acknowledging person in attempting to find such a witness or increased liability for the officer taking such acknowledgement. PURPOSE The purpose of this bill is to allow the use of federal or state issued identity cards or documents in identifying a person acknowledging a written instrument or signing a certificate of acknowledgement. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1 amends Section 121.005 and 121.007, Civil Practices and Remedies Code, as follows: Sec. 121.005(a) is amended to require that the identity of the acknowledging person be verified by a witness personally known to the officer or an identification card or document provided by the federal or a state government, in addition to personal knowledge by the officer of the acknowledging person's identity. Sec. 121.005(b) this subsection is amended to allow the use of an identity card or document to identify an acknowledging person on a certificate of acknowledgement other than the short form authorized by Section 121.008. Sec. 121.007 amends the form used for ordinary certificate of acknowledgement to include the use of identity cards or other identification documents. SECTION 2. Application of the act. SECTION 3. Emergency clause. Effective date.