DELIVERABLE GROUP 3 House Legislative Oversight Review of S - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

DELIVERABLE GROUP 3 House Legislative Oversight Review of S ecretary of S tate’s Office 1

Disclaimer: Updates to Program Evaluation Report In the course of preparing the Deliverable Group presentations, some data provided in the original Program Evaluation Report has been corrected. The presentations will reference the corrected data, and the Program Evaluation Report will be updated once the Deliverable Group presentations are concluded. 2

Deliverable Group 3 Divisions Grouped in Deliverable Group 3:  Notaries, Authentications, Boards & Commissions  Legal Functions Related to Notaries, Authentications, Boards & Commissions 3

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Division of Notaries, Authentications, Boards & Commissions Not aries Public Elect oral Apost illes & The Division of Notaries, College Aut hent icat ions Authentications, Boards & Commissions encompasses a variety of areas, including: Oat hs & Execut ive Commissions Orders & for Public Rat ified Act s Officials S t at e Boards & Commissions 5

What is a notary public, and how do they serve the state?  Notaries public are public officers of the state of S outh Carolina that are commissioned to perform notarial acts.  Notaries are appointed by the Governor and commissioned by the S ecretary of S tate.  Notaries serve as impartial witnesses for the state in order to prevent fraud. 6

Notary Public Qualifications S ection 26-1-15 requires that a person meet the following qualifications to serve as a notary public in S outh Carolina:  Be registered to vote in S outh Carolina.  Be able to read and write in the English language.  S ubmit an application with no significant misstatement or omission of fact. 7

Notary Public Qualifications  Under S ection 26-1-40, a notary public must take the oath of office prescribed by the S tate Constitution and record a copy of the oath with the S ecretary of S tate.  The oath of office is included on the notary application. 8

Notary Public Application Process The Not aries Division print s Applicant downloads not ary The Not aries Division verifies commission and mails it t o public applicat ion from and processes applicat ion. t he newly appoint ed not ary S ecret ary of S t at e’s websit e. public. Applicant complet es Wit hin 15 days of receipt of applicat ion and forwards it Legislat ive Delegat ion commission, t he not ary t o t heir Legislat ive forwards applicat ion t o t he public enrolls t heir Delegat ion, wit h check for S ecret ary of S t at e’s Not aries commission wit h t he clerk of $25.00 filing fee made court in t he count y in which Division. payable t o t he S ecret ary of t hey reside.* S t at e. Legislat ive Delegat ion verifies t hat applicat ion is *The failure of a not ary public t o enroll complet e, including checking Legislat ive Delegat ion t heir commission wit h t he clerk of court wit h t he S t at e Elect ion endorses applicat ion. does not invalidat e t heir commission or Commission t o verify t hat t heir not arial act s. applicant is a regist ered vot er. 9

Required by S .C. Code §§ 26-1-10, -15 Notary Public Commissions Cust omers: Not ary Public Applicant s Deliverable Nos. 127, 128 & 129 Number of Cust omers S erved in 2017-18: • No. 127: 2,105 • No. 128: 8,654  Notary public commissions have a duration • No. 129: 6,883 of 10 years, and are eligible for renewal provided that the notary maintains the Tot al Employee statutory requirements. Equivalent s in 2017-18: • No. 127: 0.15 • No. 128: 0.48 • No. 129: 0.32  The application fee is $25.00 (for both new and renewal applications).  If a notary application is not complete or the applicant does not meet the statutory requirements for a notary, the application must be rej ected by the applicant’s Legislative Delegation or S ecretary of S tate. Out come S ought by Agency* Fulfill st at ut ory requirements of issuing commissions and maint aining record of not ary 10 appoint ment s. *Legislat ive int ent not expressly st at ed.

Required by S .C. Code §§ 26-1-130, -140, -150 Change of S tatus and Resignation Forms Cust omers: Not aries Public Deliverable Nos. 130 & 131 Number of Cust omers S erved in 2017-18: Change in S tatus/ Duplicate Commissions • No. 130: 2,035 • No. 131: 92  A notary public must notify the S ecretary of S tate within 45 days of a Tot al Employee Equivalents change in the notary’s name or address. The filing fee for a Change in in 2017-18: • No. 130: 0.20 S tatus form is $10.00. • No. 131: 0.05  A notary public may also use this form to request a duplicate commission. Resignation  If a notary public resigns their commission, the notary must immediately file a Change in S tatus-Resignation form with the S ecretary of S tate. There is no filing fee for this form. Death  If a notary public dies, the notary’s personal representative must notify Out come S ought by Agency* Maint aining accurate record of the S ecretary of S tate in writing and destroy or deface all notary seals of not aries public and prevent the decedent. misuse of not ary seals following 11 deat h or resignat ion of not ary. *Legislat ive int ent not expressly st at ed.

Notary Application Filings 8,693 8,693 8,498 9,000 8,276 8,000 7,036 6,906 6,883 7,000 6,394 6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0 FY 2015-16 FY 2016-17 FY 2017-18 FY 2018-19 New Applicat ions Renewal Applicat ions 12

Change in S tatus, Resignation, and Rej ected Filings 2,500 2,105 2,035 1,872 2,000 1,809 1,397 1,500 1,222 1,000 378 500 92 88 13 0* 0* 0 FY 2015-16 FY 2016-17 FY 2017-18 FY 2018-19 Change in S tatus Forms Resignat ion Forms Rej ections 13 *Rej ect ions and resignat ions not t racked in FY 2015-16

Provided under S .C. Code § 26-1-10 Notary Public Verification Cust omers: General Public Deliverable No. 132 Number of Cust omers S erved in 2017-18: 2 Tot al Employee Equivalents in 2017-18: 0.01 Upon receipt of a written request to verify whether an individual is commissioned as a notary public, the S ecretary of S tate will provide a verification letter regarding the individual’s status. Out come S ought by Agency* Maint aining accurate record of not aries public and prevent misuse of not ary seals following 14 deat h or resignat ion of not ary. *Legislat ive int ent not expressly st at ed.

The S ecretary of S tate also provides an online, searchable database of S outh Carolina notaries public, which includes the notary’s name, county of residence, and commission expiration date. 15

Provided under S .C. Code §§ 26-1-5, -10, -15, -20, -25, -30, -40, -50, -60, Notary Public S eminars -90, -100, -110, -120, -130, -140, -150, -160, -200, -230 Deliverable No. 133 Cust omers: Not aries Public; General Public Number of Cust omers Each fall, the S ecretary of S tate’s S erved in 2017-18: 798 Office provides free seminars Tot al Employee Equivalents throughout S outh Carolina to in 2017-18: 0.22 educate notaries public and the general public on state laws governing notaries, including the application process, notary duties and responsibilities, and best practices. Out come S ought by Agency* Educate notaries public and general public about laws governing not aries, including 16 qualificat ions, dut ies, and prohibited activities. *Legislat ive int ent not expressly st at ed.

Provided under S .C. Code §§ 26-1-5, -10, -15, -20, -25, -30, -40, -50, -60, -90, -100, -110, -120, Notary Public Webinar -130, -140, -150, -160, -200, -230 Deliverable No. 134 Cust omers: Not aries Public; General Public Number of Cust omers S erved in 2017-18: Unknown In August 2017, the S ecretary of S tate’s Office began offering a Tot al Employee Equivalents in 2017-18: 0.04 notary public webinar on its website, so that notaries and members of the public could access the same information provided at the seminars from the comfort of their home or office. Out come S ought by Agency* Educate notaries public and general public about laws governing not aries, including 17 qualificat ions, dut ies, and prohibited activities. *Legislat ive int ent not expressly st at ed.

S uggested Law Change Related to Notary Public Application Process In order to increase efficiency and conserve state resources, the S ecretary of S tate recommends that S ections 26-1-15 be amended and S ections 26-1-20 and 26-1-25 be repealed to allow notary public applicants to submit their applications directly to the S ecretary of S tate’s Office.  This would increase efficiency and conserve state agency resources by having only one office, rather than two offices, process the applications.  Processing time for applications could be reduced from 4 to 12 weeks to only 1 to 2 weeks.  Having only one office process applications would provide a single point of contact for citizens seeking to become a notary. 18