Minnesota Passes Remote Online Notarization Bill

It’s official: 2018 is the year of remote online notarization. Following in the footsteps of five progressive states, two new states have chosen to bring the notarial practice into the modern era.

We’re excited to announce that both the Minnesota State Legislature passed a remote notarization bill, empowering their notaries to conduct notarizations online for citizens of all 50 states, regardless of where they’re located at the time of signing (at home or abroad). Minnesota Bill SF 893 has been signed into law by Governor Mark Dayton.

Minnesota joins a growing number of states to pass online notarization bills, including Tennessee, Indiana, Texas, Nevada, and Virginia. With the passing of these bills, these states bring the antiquated process of finding a notary into the digital era. With Notarize, any American can legally notarize documents, online. And now, Minnesota notaries can join the movement.

Senate File 893 passed overwhelmingly in the Senate 63-0. Senator Jerry Relph authored and led the charge along with months of effort Michele Timmons of the Uniform Law Commission and a large group of stakeholders.

“With the passage of SF893, Minnesota notaries will gain the ability to serve their clients and legally notarize documents online for the first time ever. Remote notarization is safe, secure and convenient for everyone. The passage of this bill is testament that we’re continuing to modernize how the MN government serves its constituents by providing easy access to business and government services. Minnesota is proud to be a leader in the electronic age of document authentication.” - Rep. Dennis Smith, MN.

This moment maps a long journey for us in Minnesota. In June of 2016, we traveled to Saint Paul, MN to meet with Secretary of State Steve Simon – a member of NASS’s newly formed Remote Notary Taskforce. Our visits prior to the group’s first official meeting later that summer helped lay the groundwork for the eventual adoption by NASS of online notary standards, providing clear policy and regulatory guidance for the effective operation and regulation of online notarizations. Building on those conversations, we set out to become the most compliant, secure and #1 rated notary solution in the market today.

Once the bills go into effect in 2019, notaries in Minnesota will be able to use the Notarize platform to serve customers from all 50 states, regardless of where the signer is located at the time of the signing. This will finally give notaries a way to meet the expectations of consumers and businesses who rely on notarizations in the digital economy – from any device and any location, at any time.

At Notarize, we’ve been leading the effort to modernize state laws and the notarial process. We appreciate the leadership we've seen from Vermont and Minnesota in creating a more efficient and secure experience for consumers and thank the legislators, agencies, and other stakeholders who believe in providing citizens, businesses and government agencies with secure and innovative solutions.

We're excited to open our platform to notaries from Minnesota, and look forward to seeing more states adopt remote online notarization.