By: Anderson of Dallas (Senate Sponsor - Birdwell) H.B. No. 2235

(In the Senate - Received from the House May 18, 2015; May 18, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs; May 22, 2015, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0; May 22, 2015, sent to printer.) Click here to see the committee vote

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the eligibility requirements of a notary public.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 406.004, Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 406.004. ELIGIBILITY. (a) Each person appointed and commissioned as a notary public shall be at least 18 years of age and a resident of the State of Texas and must not have been convicted of a felony or crime involving moral turpitude.

(b) If the secretary of state discovers, at any time, that an applicant to be a notary public or a commissioned notary public is not eligible to serve as a notary public, the secretary of state shall:

(1) reject the notary application; or

(2) revoke the notary commission.

SECTION 2. Section 406.009(d), Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

(d) In this section, "good cause" includes:

(1) [a final conviction for a crime involving moral turpitude;

[(2)] a false statement knowingly made in an application;

(2) [(3)] the failure to comply with Section 406.017;

(3) [(4)] a final conviction for a violation of a law concerning the regulation of the conduct of notaries public in this or another state;

(4) [(5)] the imposition on the notary public of an administrative, criminal, or civil penalty for a violation of a law or rule prescribing the duties of a notary public; or

(5) [(6)] performing any notarization when the person for whom the notarization is performed did not personally appear before the notary at the time the notarization is executed.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.

* * * * *