Chapter 1 - Notaries Public
CHAPTER 1 - Notaries Public
32-1-101. Qualifications; application; term.
(a) The secretary of state shall commission as a notary anyqualified person who submits an application in a form prescribed by thesecretary of state.
(b) To be qualified for a notarial commission a person shall:
(i) Be at least eighteen (18) years of age;
(ii) Be a resident of the state of Wyoming and the county fromwhich making application;
(iii) Be able to read and write the English language; and
(iv) Submit an application certifying compliance with therequirements of this subsection, accompanied by a fee of thirty dollars($30.00).
(c) A person commissioned as a notary by the secretary of statemay perform notarial acts in any part of the state for a term of four (4)years.
(d) A person holding a notarial commission who changes residenceto a different county shall procure a new notary commission for the new countyof residence.
32-1-102. Name changes.
(a) When a notary changes surnames, the notary may continue touse the notarial commission and seal issued to the notary provided:
(i) When a notary marries or changes surnames, the notary shallfile a certified copy of the certificate of marriage or order of name change inthe office of the county clerk of the county where the notary resides and senda certified copy of the marriage certificate or order of name change and athree dollar ($3.00) filing fee to the secretary of state. The surname of thenotary's spouse or the notary's new surname may then be added after thenotary's name as it appears on the notary's commission;
(ii) When a notary divorces and the notary's previous name isrestored by the court, the notary shall file a certified copy of the divorcedecree in the office of the county clerk of the county where the notary residesand send a certified copy of the notary's divorce decree and a three dollar($3.00) filing fee to the secretary of state. The notary's restored surname maythen be added after the notary's name as it appears on the notary's commission.
(b) Instead of adopting the surname of the notary's spouse, anotary may continue to use or be commissioned as a notary by the name by whichthe notary is generally known.
32-1-103. Transmittal of notarial commission to county clerks.
Thesecretary of state shall transmit each notarial commission to the office of thecounty clerk of the county in which the applicant resides where the commissionshall be recorded.
32-1-104. Bond and oath; notary commission forfeited upon failure toobtain another bond.
(a) No notarial commission becomes effective until the applicantfiles with the county clerk within sixty (60) days after issuance of thecommission an oath and bond in the amount of five hundred dollars ($500.00)conditioned on the faithful performance of the duties of the office. Theapplicant shall swear or affirm under oath to support the constitution of theUnited States and the constitution of Wyoming and to faithfully and impartiallydischarge and perform all the duties of a notary. The bond shall be executedby the applicant and two (2) sureties, to be approved by the county clerk, orby a surety company licensed in this state. Upon the filing of the oath andbond the county clerk shall transmit the notarial commission to the notary andthe county clerk shall send a written notice of qualification to the secretaryof state.
(b) Upon cancellation of a notarial bond by a surety as aresult of claims paid by the surety to persons injured as a result of thebonded notary's negligence or misconduct, the secretary of state shall notifythe notary by certified mail return receipt requested that the notary'scommission shall be revoked unless within twenty (20) days after the notaryreceives the notice the notary files proof with the secretary of state that thenotary has secured another bond in the full amount of five hundred dollars($500.00).
32-1-105. Powers and jurisdiction.
(a) Every notary may administer oaths and affirmations, takedepositions, receive acknowledgments of deeds, mortgages and powers of attorneyand other instruments in writing.
(b) A notary serves as an impartial witness to the signing of adocument, establishes the identity of the person signing the document andattests that the signature on the document was made in his presence. If theperson did not appear before the notary and sign the document in the notary'spresence, the notary may acknowledge the person's signature when the personappears before the notary, presents proper identification, acknowledges thesignature is that of the person and the document was voluntarily executed bythe person.
(c) The administration of an oath or proof of acknowledgment ofany instrument may be performed for use in this state with the same effect asif performed by a notary public in this state before:
(i) A justice, judge or clerk of any court of record of theUnited States;
(ii) A justice, judge or clerk of any court of record of anystate or territory;
(iii) A notary public authorized by any state or territory toperform notarial acts; or
(iv) Any other officer of the state or territory where the oathis administered or acknowledgment is made, authorized by its laws to administeran oath or take proof or acknowledgment.
(d) A Wyoming notary public may administer oaths or proofs ofacknowledgment in a contiguous state if that state recognizes the Wyomingnotary public's authority within that state to perform those acts. Theadministration of an oath or proof of acknowledgment performed in Wyoming by anotary public of a contiguous state has the same effect under Wyoming law as ifthat act were performed by a Wyoming notary public, if that contiguous stategrants Wyoming notaries public similar authority within that state. Toimplement the purposes of this subsection, the secretary of state:
(i) May enter into agreements with contiguous states; and
(ii) Shall adopt rules and regulations pursuant to the WyomingAdministrative Procedure Act.
32-1-106. Official seal.
(a) Each notary public before entering upon the duties of hisoffice, shall provide himself with an official seal with which he shallauthenticate all his official acts, which seal shall clearly show, whenembossed, stamped, impressed or affixed to a document, his name, the words"notary public," the name of the county wherein he resides, and theword "Wyoming," and the seal of a notary public shall not be leviedupon or sold. If the notary public changes his county of residence to adifferent county than that shown on the seal, he shall have the seal altered toindicate such change.
(b) The seal of every notary public may be affixed by a sealpress or stamp that will print or emboss a seal which legibly reproduces underthe photographic methods the name of the notary, the words "notarypublic," the name of the county in which he resides and the word "Wyoming."The seal may be circular not over two (2) inches in diameter or may be arectangular form of not more than three-fourths of an inch in width by two andone-half (2 1/2) inches in length, with a serrated or milled edged border, andshall contain the information required by this section.
32-1-107. Notary's certificate as presumptive evidence.
Inall the courts within this state the certificate of a notary public over hishand and official seal, shall be received as presumptive evidence of the factscontained in such certificate; provided, that any person interested as a partyto a suit may contradict, by other evidence, the certificate of a notarypublic.
32-1-108. Action on notarial bond.
Ifany person shall be damaged or injured by the unlawful act, negligence ormisconduct of any notary public, the person damaged or injured may maintain acivil action on the bond of such notary public against such notary public, andhis sureties; and the recovery in such action shall not be a bar to any futureaction for other cause, to the full amount of the bond.
32-1-109. Notary acting after term expires.
Whoever,having been appointed a notary public, does or performs any act as a notarypublic, after the expiration of his term of office, knowing that such term ofoffice has expired, shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars ($500.00)nor less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00).
32-1-110. Failure of county clerk to perform duties imposed bychapter.
Ifany county clerk shall fail or neglect to fulfill and perform the dutiesimposed on him by this chapter, such person shall be liable in the penal sum oftwo hundred dollars ($200.00), to be recovered and applied as provided in thepreceding section.
32-1-111. When court may protest paper in lieu of notary.
Whenthe holder of any instrument desires it to be protested, and no notary publiccan be found, it shall be lawful for any circuit court of the county whereinsaid instrument is required to be protested, to perform the services hereinrequired to be performed by notaries public, and to be entitled to the samefees as are hereinafter provided for notaries public for similar services.
32-1-112. Fees.
Anotary is entitled to receive a fee of two dollars ($2.00) for each oath oraffirmation administered or for each signature notarized.
32-1-113. Notary's interest in bank not disqualifying.
Itshall be lawful for any notary public who is a stockholder, director, officeror employee of a bank or other corporation to take the acknowledgment of anyparty to any written instrument executed to or by said corporation, or toadminister an oath to any other stockholder, director, officer, employee oragent of such corporation, or to protest for nonacceptance, or nonpayment,bills of exchange, drafts, checks, notes and other negotiable instruments whichmay be owned or held for collection by any such bank or other corporation.