FRANKFORT, Ky. (March 27, 2020) – Secretary of State Michael G. Adams today made it easier for notaries to navigate through social distancing requirements by clarifying the ability to use video conferencing technology to notarize documents.
Secretary Adams said, “As Kentucky’s chief business officer, I am taking action to streamline functions critical to our businesses. If notaries can’t easily do their job, our economy will be greatly impaired.”
“It is important to distinguish the use of communication technology to generate a notarized, tangible record from the procedure to register as an ‘online notary public’ to perform notarizations with respect to electronic records,” Director of Business Michael Wilson explained. “An online notary public requires compliance with higher standards adopted by the mortgage industry to generate notarized electronic records. However, a notary public who simply wants to use video conferencing to notarize a document in paper form can overcome the in-person requirement without much red tape.”
Notaries who intend to use video conference technology should email the Secretary of State’s notary public program coordinator Johnna Ballinger at Johnna.ballinger@ky.gov.