Utah laws on notaries public can be found in Chapter 1, Title 46 of Utah Code.  Pursuant to Utah Code Ann. § 46-1-3, a person qualified for a notarial commission should:

• be eighteen years of age or older;
• lawfully reside in the state of Utah thirty days immediately preceding the filing for a notarial commission and maintain permanent residency thereafter;
• be able to read, write, and understand English;
• be a Utah resident or have permanent resident status under Section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act; and
• be endorsed by two residents of the state who are over the age of eighteen.
• submit an application to the lieutenant governor containing no significant misstatement or omission of fact and include at least:

(i) a statement of the applicant’s personal qualifications, the applicant’s residence address, a business address in this state, and daytime telephone number;

(ii) the applicant’s age and date of birth;

(iii) all criminal convictions of the applicant, including any pleas of admission and nolo contendere;

(iv) all issuances, denials, revocations, suspensions, restrictions, and resignations of a notarial commission or other professional license involving the applicant in this or any other state;

(v) the acknowledgment of a passing score by the applicant on a written examination;

(vi) a declaration by the applicant; and

(vii) an application fee;

The lieutenant governor may deny an application based on:

• the applicant’s conviction for a crime involving dishonesty or moral turpitude;
• any revocation, suspension, or restriction of a notarial commission or professional license issued to the applicant by this or any other state;
• the applicant’s official misconduct while acting in the capacity of a notary; or
• the applicant’s failure to pass the written examination.

Each applicant for a notarial commission should take a written examination approved by the lieutenant governor and submit the examination to a testing center designated by the lieutenant governor for purposes of scoring the examination.  The testing center designated by the lieutenant governor should issue a written acknowledgment to the applicant indicating whether the applicant passed or failed the examination.

A person commissioned as a notary by the lieutenant governor may perform notarial acts in any part of the state of Utah for a term of four years, unless the person resigned or the commission is revoked or suspended.

Utah Code Ann. § 46-1-4 provides that a notarial commission may not become effective until a constitutional oath of office and a $ 5,000 bond has been filed with and approved by the lieutenant governor.

Pursuant to Utah Code Ann. § 46-1-6, the following notarial acts may be performed by a notary within the state:

• acknowledgments;
• copy certifications;
• jurats; and
• oaths or affirmations.

A notary may not perform a notarial act if the notary:

• is a signer of the document that is to be notarized except in case of a self-proved will; or
• is named in the document that is to be notarized except:

(a)in the case of a self-proved will; or

(b)in the case of a licensed attorney that is listed in the document only as representing a signer or another person named in the document;

• will receive directly from a transaction connected with a financial transaction in which the notary is named individually as a principal; or
• will receive directly from a real property transaction in which the notary is named individually as a grantor, grantee, mortgagor, mortgagee, trustor, trustee, beneficiary, vendor, vendee, lessor, or lessee.

Utah Code Ann. § 46-1-13 provides that a notary may keep, maintain, and protect as a public record, and provide for lawful inspection a chronological, permanently bound official journal of notarial acts, containing numbered pages.

In completing a notarial act, a notary should sign on the notarial certificate exactly and only the name indicated on the notary’s commission.  A notary should keep an official notarial seal that is the exclusive property of the notary and that may not be used by any other person.

Utah Code Ann. § 46-1-18 provides that a notary may be liable to any person for any damage to that person proximately caused by the notary’s misconduct in performing a notarization.  Similarly, a surety for a notary’s bond may be liable to any person for damages proximately caused to that person by the notary’s misconduct in performing a notarization, but the surety’s liability may not exceed the penalty of the bond or of any remaining bond funds that have not been expended to other claimants.