Electronic Notaries in Colorado

• Jurisdiction: Colorado,United States
• Citation: Vol. 33 No. 6 Pg. 45
• Pages: 45
• Publication year: 2004

33 Colo.Law. 45 Colorado Lawyer 2004.

2004, June, Pg. 45. Electronic Notaries In Colorado

---

45

Vol. 33, No. 6, Pg. 45

The Colorado Lawyer
June 2004
Vol. 33, No. 6 [Page 45]

Features

Electronic Notaries In Colorado
by Michael L. Shea, Trevor Timmons

Michael L. Shea, previously Director of the Business Division, is now Co-director of the Division of Licensing and Enforcement for the Colorado Secretary of State and is responsible for the implementation of UETA and electronic notaries. He can be contacted at (303) 860-6911 or by e-mail at mike. shea@sos.state.co.us. Trevor Timmons, Deputy Chief Information Officer for the Colorado Secretary of State, was appointed by the Secretary in 2002 to serve as a member of the Electronic Filing Technology Fund Advisory Panel. He can be contacted by e-mail at Trevor.Timmons@sos.state.co.us

Colorado is again entering uncharted territory with its latest move toward innovation and the development of electronic commerce. House Bill 04-1300 ("H.B 1300")1 is the most recent legislation that pushes the state further into the digital world. H.B. 1300 makes several changes to the existing Notaries Public Act by expanding the statutory provisions concerning the notary's electronic signature. The bill proposes a general format for creating an electronic signature that could be used by a notary when notarizing electronic documents that have been signed with electronic signatures

This article discusses the legislative history of electronic transactions in Colorado. It then describes the concept of electronic signatures, the use of the electronic notary, and how the Secretary of State's office proposes to handle electronic notarization pursuant to H.B. 1300.

Legislative History

Colorado passed the Uniform Electronic Transaction Act ("UETA")2 in 2002. This legislation provides that parties to a transaction may agree that the transactional documents may be transmitted electronically and may be signed with electronic signatures.3 However, there are a number of transactions, especially those involving real estate, where a signature must be notarized. Both UETA and the NNotaries Public Act provide for electronic notarization. UETA provides:

If a law requires a signature or record to be notarized, acknowledged, verified or made under oath, the requirement is satisfied if the electronic signature of the person authorized to perform those acts, together with all other information required to be included by other applicable law, is attached to or logically associated with the signature or record.4

Colorado's Notaries Public Law was amended in 2002 by H.B. 02-11195 to encompass the concept of the electronic signature of the notary. H.B. 02-1119 also amended the County Clerks' statute6 to allow County Clerks and Recorders to accept documents for recording that are transmitted to them electronically rather than in paper.7 However, the amended notary statute also provides, "The secretary of state shall promulgate rules necessary to establish standards, procedures, practices, forms and records relating to a notary's electronic signature."8

The Secretary of State instituted rule-making in late 2003, but to date, no rules regarding electronic signatures for notaries have been adopted. Further, a proposed rule, Rule 2, only addresses the issue of how a notary public notifies the Secretary of State that the notary wishes to be an electronic notary and the technology that the notary intends to use to electronically notarize documents. The proposed Rule 2 does not set out any standards or processes for creating or approving electronic signatures.9

The issue of electronic notarization has reached a crisis stage as a result of two counties implementing pilot projects for the electronic recording of real estate documents. Douglas and Boulder Counties presently accept real estate recordings from selected title companies by electronic means.

Although there are provisions in the Colorado statutes regarding unacknowledged...