2003 House Bill 4938 ↩

House Roll Call 564: Passed

To create a new Michigan Notary Public Act to provide for licensing and regulation of notaries public. Notary applications would go to the Secretary of State rather than a county clerk. Among other changes, applications to be a notary would no longer require an endorsement by a state legislator or judge, a notary commission would last for six to seven years (rather than for four to five years under current law), the Secretary of State would be authorized to check applicants against the Law Enforcement Information Network (LEIN) system, there would be a $10 application fee, and notaries would be authorized but not required to charge up to $10 for a notary service, rather than $2. The amount of the surety bond which notaries must post would be increased from $10,000 to $25,000, and this would have to be posted before filing a notary application. Part of the new fees would be used to create a state Notary Education and Training Fund.