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2/22/04
PA Supreme Court Issues Ruling on Notary Education
Notary Law
On June 22, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued a ruling on mandatory notary education. This ruling reversed the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s interpretation that Act 151 of 2002 required education of all notaries.
What happened?
After the new Notary Public Law took effect last year, two lawsuits were filed in Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court challenging the Secretary’s interpretation of the language in Act 151. According to the lawsuits, the Secretary erred in claiming that Act 151 required all notaries to have education. They argued that the Act exempted existing notaries from education and required education only of new notaries.
The Supreme Court’s June 22 ruling states that Act 151 of 2002 “explicitly limits the educational requirement to applicants not appointed to the office of notary public as of the effective date” of July 1, 2003. Therefore, only notaries appointed after July 1, 2003 are required to have education. Notaries who were appointed before July 1, 2003 and who have been reappointed continuously since then are exempt from the education requirement.
Three justices filed dissenting opinions.
What is the result?
The Supreme Court’s ruling results in two groups of notaries:
Notaries who got their first commissions before July 1, 2003, and have been reappointed continuously since then, who are not required to have education
Notaries who got their first commissions on or after July 1, 2003, or notaries who have had lapses in their commissions, who are required to have education
New or existing notaries whose appointments or reappointments fell between July 1, 2003 (when the new law passed) and June 22, 2004 (when the Supreme Court ruled on the matter) were required by the law as it stood during that time to get education.
Notaries who have a gap in their reappointments (for example, if they allowed their commission to expire and did not apply for reappointment in 30 days, or if they received a letter of appointment but failed to be sworn within the 45-day period) are considered to be new appointments. All new appointments after July 1, 2003, or individuals who have had lapses in their commissions, are required to have education.
Many thanks to Marc Aronson of the Pennsylvania Association of Notaries (PAN)
For this concise statement of the court ruling
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