SECTION 87.3. Electronic Submission of Traditional Notary Public Application

(a) The secretary of state has developed a system for electronic submission of the application for a traditional notary public commission, the bond required under §406.010 of the Government Code, and the statement of officer. The secretary of state authorizes the submission of these documents electronically on behalf of a traditional notary public under the following terms and conditions:

(1) the submitter must comply with the technical specifications contained in the eNotary Web Service Consumer's Guide available through the Information Technology Division of the Office of the Secretary of State;

(2) the traditional notary public application and the statement of officer signed by the applicant and the surety bond signed by an officer or attorney-in-fact for the surety must be attached to the electronic submission as an image in the format specified in the eNotary Web Service Consumer's Guide; and

(3) all fees must be paid by prepaid account, LegalEase® or credit card.

(b) If the applicant is qualified, the secretary of state shall cause the commission to be issued and the educational materials to be sent to the traditional notary public. On commission, the applicable fees will be charged to the prepaid account, LegalEase® or the credit card.

(c) If the application is rejected, the secretary of state will return a notice of the rejection to the submitter electronically. On rejection, no fees are charged to the account, LegalEase® or to the credit card.

(d) Status of a traditional notary public application submission may be checked through use of a web service interface.

(e) If the submitter is not able to consistently comply with the technical specifications and the submissions are failing as a result, the secretary of state may revoke the privilege of the submitter to submit electronically until all technical issues are resolved to the satisfaction of the secretary of state.

(f) As part of the electronic submission, the submitter is responsible for accurately entering the data elements related to the application. Repeated and consistent entry errors may result in a revocation of the privilege of the submitter to submit electronically.

(g) The submitter shall retain the original signed application, surety bond and statement of officer until the commission is issued by the secretary of state.

(h) The secretary of state will not accept electronic applications on behalf of an applicant who has been convicted of a felony or a crime of moral turpitude. The application under these circumstances (along with the statement of officer, the bond, the explanation of the criminal conviction and the applicable fees) must be delivered to the secretary of state by mail, courier or personal delivery.

Source Note: The provisions of this §87.3 adopted to be effective August 19, 2018, 43 TexReg 5355