Kentucky laws on notaries public are found in Chapter 423, Title XXXVIII of Kentucky Code. Pursuant to KRS § 423.010, the Secretary of State may appoint as many notaries public as s/he deems necessary, who shall hold office for four years. Any resident of the Commonwealth of Kentucky desiring to be appointed a notary public shall make written application to the Secretary of State. The application must be approved by the Circuit Judge, circuit clerk, county judge/executive, county clerk, justice of the peace, or a member of the General Assembly of the county of the residence of the applicant or in the county in which the applicant’s principal place of employment is located. A person who is not a resident of Kentucky but who is employed in Kentucky may become a notary public by making an application to the Secretary of State which has been approved by an officer from the county in which the applicant is principally employed in Kentucky. A notary public shall be 18 years of age, a resident of the county from which s/he makes his or her application or be principally employed in the county from which s/he makes his or her application, of good moral character, and capable of discharging the duties imposed upon him or her, and the endorsement of the officer approving the application shall so state. The Secretary of State, in his or her certificate of appointment to the applicant, shall designate the limits within which the notary is to act. Before a notary acts, s/he must take an oath before any person authorized to administer an oath. S/he must in the same court give an obligation with good security, which shall be proven by a notarized statement from, and not the personal appearance of, the person providing the security, for the proper discharge of the duties of his or her office. Every certificate of a notary public must state the date of the expiration of his or her commission. The Secretary of State must give to each notary appointed a certificate of his or her appointment under the seal of the Commonwealth of Kentucky in lieu of a commission heretofore required to be issued to the notary by the Governor of Kentucky, and receive a fee of ten dollars ($10) for the certificate.
A county clerk shall have the powers of a notary public in the exercise of the official functions of the office of clerk within his or her county, and the official actions of the county clerk shall not require the witness or signature of a notary[i].
KRS § 423.020 provides that a notary public may exercise all the functions of his or her office in any county of the state, by filing in the county clerk’s office in such county his or her written signature and a certificate of the county clerk of the county for which s/he was appointed, setting forth the fact of his appointment and qualification as a notary public, and paying a fee to the county clerk.
The county clerk must, when requested, subjoin to any certificate of proof or acknowledgment signed by the notary a certificate under his or her hand and seal, stating that such notary public has filed a certificate of his or her appointment and qualifications with his or her written signature in his or her office, and was at the time of taking such proof or acknowledgment duly authorized to take the same; that s/he is well acquainted with the handwriting of the notary public and believes that the signature to such proof or acknowledgment is genuine[ii].
Pursuant to KRS § 423.030, the notaries public must record in a well bound and properly indexed book, kept by them for that purpose, all protests made by them for the nonacceptance or nonpayment of all bills of exchange, checks or promissory notes placed on the footing of bills of exchange, and on which a protest is required by law, or of which protest is evidence of dishonor. A copy of such protest certified by the notary public under his or her notarial seal is prima facie evidence in all the courts of Kentucky.
Pursuant to KRS § 423.040, notaries public shall upon protesting any instrument mentioned in KRS 423.030 give notice of the dishonor to such parties thereto as are required by law to be notified to fix their liability on such paper. When the residence of a party is unknown to the notary public, s/he shall send the notices and such statement in such protest shall be prima facie evidence that to the holders of the paper, shall state in his or her protest the names of the parties to whom s/he gave notice, and the time and manner of giving the same and such statement in such protest shall be prima facie evidence that notices were given as therein stated.
Pursuant to KRS § 423.050, upon the resignation of a notary public or the expiration of his or her term of office if s/he is not reappointed, s/he shall place his or her record book in the office of the county clerk in the county in which s/he was appointed, and if a notary dies, his or her representative shall deposit the record book with the clerk aforesaid.
Pursuant to KRS § 423.060, if any commercial paper is protested in any other state of the United States in which it is made payable, and by the laws of that state a notary public or other officer authorized to protest the same is required to give notice of dishonor to the parties or if the certificate of such notary or officer, or a copy thereof, stating that such notice was sent, is evidence, in the courts of that state, then such protest, certificate or copy is admissible as evidence and shall have the same effect in the courts of Kentucky as is given to such evidence in the courts of the other state.
KRS § 423.070 provides that the Governor may appoint and commission one or more commissioners of deeds in each state of the United States for a term of two years. Before entering on the duties of his or her office, each commissioner shall make and subscribe an affidavit, before an officer authorized to administer an oath, to well and truly execute and perform all the duties of his or her office. The affidavit must be filed in the office of the Secretary of State of Kentucky.
Pursuant to KRS § 423.080, any commissioner of deeds appointed and qualified may take the acknowledgment of proof of any instrument of writing, except wills, which instrument is required by the laws of Kentucky to be recorded. The examination, acknowledgment or proof of any such instrument taken by a commissioner, and certified under his or her official seal, shall authorize the instrument to be recorded in the proper office. A commissioner of deeds may administer any oath or take any affirmation necessary to discharge his or her official duties, and may take and certify depositions to be read on the trial of any action or proceeding in any of the courts of Kentucky.
Pursuant to KRS § 423.110, notarial acts may be performed outside Kentucky for use in Kentucky with the same effect as if performed by a notary public of Kentucky by the following persons authorized pursuant to the laws and regulations of other governments in addition to any other person authorized by the laws and regulations of this state:
1) A notary public authorized to perform notarial acts in the place in which the act is performed;
2) A judge, clerk, or deputy clerk of any court of record in the place in which the notarial act is performed;
3) An officer of the foreign service of the United States, a consular agent, or any other person authorized by regulation of the United States Department of State to perform notarial acts in the place in which the act is performed;
4) A commissioned officer in active service with the Armed Forces of the United States and any other person authorized by regulation of the Armed Forces to perform notarial acts if the notarial act is performed for one of the following or his or her dependents: a merchant seaman of the United States, a member of the Armed Forces of the United States, or any other person serving with or accompanying the Armed Forces of the United States;
5) Any other person authorized to perform notarial acts in the place in which the act is performed; or
6) A person, either a resident or a nonresident of Kentucky, who is appointed by the Governor of Kentucky to perform notarial acts in or outside Kentucky covering writings prepared for recordation in Kentucky.
Pursuant to KRS § 423.130, the person taking an acknowledgment shall certify that:
1) The person acknowledging appeared before him or her and acknowledged he executed the instrument; and
2) The person acknowledging was known to the person taking the acknowledgment or that the person taking the acknowledgment had satisfactory evidence that the person acknowledging was the person described in and who executed the instrument.
Pursuant to KRS § 423.140, the form of a certificate of acknowledgment used by a person whose authority is recognized under KRS 423.110 shall be accepted if:
1) The certificate is in a form prescribed by the laws or regulations of Kentucky;
2) The certificate is in a form prescribed by the laws or regulations applicable in the place in which the acknowledgment is taken; or
3) The certificate contains the words “acknowledged before me,” or their substantial equivalent.
Pursuant to KRS § 423.150, the words “acknowledged before me” mean:
1) That the person acknowledging appeared before the person taking the acknowledgment;
2) That he acknowledged he executed the instrument;
3) That, in the case of:
(a) A natural person, he executed the instrument for the purposes therein stated;
(b) A corporation, the officer or agent acknowledged s/he held the position or title set forth in the instrument and certificate, he signed the instrument on behalf of the corporation by proper authority, and the instrument was the act of the corporation for the purpose therein stated;
(c) A partnership, the partner or agent acknowledged s/he signed the instrument on behalf of the partnership by proper authority and s/he executed the instrument as the act of the partnership for the purpose therein stated;
(d) A person acknowledging as principal by an attorney in fact, s/he executed the instrument by proper authority as the act of the principal for the purposes therein stated;
(e) A person acknowledging as a public officer, trustee, administrator, guardian, or other representative, s/he signed the instrument by proper authority and he executed the instrument in the capacity and for the purposes therein stated; and
4) That the person taking the acknowledgment either knew or had satisfactory evidence that the person acknowledging was the person named in the instrument or certificate.
KRS § 423.990 provides that for each failure to record his or her protest as required by KRS 423.030, a notary public shall forfeit all his or her fees and shall be fined five dollars ($5).
[i] KRS § 423.010.
[ii] KRS § 423.020.
