Montgomery, AL – Alabama Secretary of State
Beth Chapman is holding the state’s first Notary Public Conference on Thursday,
October 1, 2009 from 9:00 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. at the Renaissance Hotel and
Conference Center. This conference is free as a public service for all Alabama
notaries. More than 2000 have registered to participate in this conference and
a waiting list has already been put into place for future conferences. Response
to this conference was so great that the original venue, the State Capitol, had
to be changed immediately to the Renaissance Hotel to accommodate those who
registered in the first few days.
The Secretary of State’s office is a
repository of more than 75,000 notaries in the state. Notaries in the State of
Alabama are appointed and commissioned by the probate judges of the various
counties. The probate judge reports to the Secretary of State the name, county,
date of issuance and date of expiration of the commission of each notary
appointed and commissioned under applicable law. Anyone can check the Secretary
of State’s website at www.sos.alabama.gov/AdminServices/NotaryPublic.aspx
to find past and current notaries.
“Notaries play a very important role in our
state,” said Secretary Chapman. “Every notary in Alabama has a legal duty to
know state notary laws, standards of reasonable care for every notary act and
to ensure that notarizations are performed to protect against document fraud by
ensuring that signatures are genuine. This conference is an important first
step to make sure that Alabama’s notaries understand their role,” Chapman
concluded.
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