Hawaii remote online notary: the state rule and your options

Mixing the labels into one “is video legal in Hawaii?” checkout is how a Honolulu owner pays a company sticker and still has a notary who never received a remote commission, or treats a $25 company price as if it replaced the $5 lines. Hawaii video work is legal. It is not automatic on the day the ordinary commission arrives. The commissioning office is the Attorney General. California’s wait is a different state’s sentence. The bond is $1,000. The remote application and the remote issuance are two fees. The remote act is $25.

• Remote online notarization is a notarial act for a remotely located individual by communication technology. Communication technology means a live connection you and the notary can see and hear at the same time. HRS § 456-23. The notary is physically in Hawaii. You are not in the same room. The document is electronic. The certificate must show that the act used communication technology. One sufficient sentence is “This notarial act involved the use of communication technology.”
• An in-person act is the ordinary commission. The signer is in the room. HAR § 5-11-61: no person shall perform notarial acts for remotely located individuals, or advertise that they can, without a current remote online notary public commission from the Attorney General. A regular commission does not open the video job.

The permanent date and the website date are not the same sentence. The notaries page says Act 54, Session Laws of Hawaii 2020, became effective January 1, 2021. The documents page posts Senate Bill 2275, House Draft 2, as that act. Section 27 of that bill text says the act takes effect on January 1, 2021. News Release 2022-10, March 11, 2022, says Act 54 went into effect in 2021 and announces that active notaries can apply at notary.ehawaii.gov. The welcome page says Act 54 became effective January 1, 2021, and that HAR Chapter 5-11 became effective in February 2022. The rules PDF we retrieved is compiled February 27, 2022. We are printing the effective date of the act, the February 2022 rules date, and the March 11, 2022 website announcement. We are not treating March 11 as a second start date for the statute, This page does not state the first day a remote act was performed.

The ordinary commission comes first on the pages the office is using, and the statute is wider. § 456-1: the Attorney General commissions notaries. The term is four years from the date of the commission, unless sooner removed for cause after a hearing. HAR § 5-11-21: the application may require proof that the applicant is at least 18, resides in Hawaii, and is a United States citizen, a United States national, or an alien authorized to work in the United States. The notaries page says a United States citizen, or a national or permanent resident alien who diligently seeks citizenship upon becoming eligible, a Hawaii resident, and at least 18. We are printing the rule and the page. We are not deciding that “authorized to work” and “permanent resident alien who diligently seeks citizenship” are the same proof.

Who may apply for the remote commission is the place the statute and the office are not the same sentence. § 456-24(a): a notary public or an applicant for commission as a notary public may apply to the Attorney General to be commissioned as a remote online notary public. HAR § 5-11-62(a): only a notary public with an active commission may apply. The notaries page uses that active-commission sentence. The Notary Manual we retrieved, the file dated in the address April 14, 2023, repeats it and cites the rule. News Release 2022-10 says active notaries public can apply. We are printing the statute, the rule, the manual, the page, and the news release. We are not deciding which sentence a clerk will use on a given application.

The bond is in the commission statute, and a government notary is a narrower exception. § 456-5: before entering on the duties of the commission, the notary executes, at the notary’s own expense, an official surety bond in the sum of $1,000. A judge of the circuit court approves the bond. The surety is a surety company authorized to do business in the State. After approval, the bond is filed with the clerk of the circuit court of the circuit where the notary resides. The ehawaii.gov FAQ says the same $1,000 bond, and that notarizing starts only after the circuit court has the commission copy, a seal impression, a specimen signature, and the original bond approved by a judge. The manual we retrieved says the same $1,000. § 456-18: a notary in government service is not required to furnish that bond unless the head of the department requires it, and then the department bears the expense. A government notary also does not charge for government business. We are printing the $1,000 bond and the government-service exception. We will not turn the exception into “Hawaii requires no bond.” A bond is a promise of money if the notary fails the duties of the office. It is not the price of your session. We did not read a second bond dollar for the remote commission.

The commission dollars are a statute amount, a rule that adjusts it, and a FAQ line that still prints the old renewal number. § 456-9: $40 for issuing the original commission, and $40 for renewing it. The same subsection says those fees may be adjusted, and other fees may be set, by rules under chapter 91. HAR § 5-11-46, compiled February 27, 2022: application $20, renewal application $20, issuance $100, renewal $100, and each examination $10. The notaries page cites the rule for the $20 application fee. The welcome page prints application $20, exam $10, and commission $100, and the same three numbers for the remote path. The FAQ we retrieved still tells a renewing notary to send the renewal with a $40 renewal fee. The fee schedule PDF is headed “Notary Fee Schedule—Effective January 1, 2020” and prints $20 and $100. We are printing the statute, the rule, the welcome page, the FAQ, and the PDF header. We are not deciding that the $40 line was erased from the statute, and we are not treating January 1, 2020 as the start of remote notarization.

The remote fees are two lines in the rule and one sum in the manual. HAR § 5-11-46: remote application $20, remote renewal application $20, remote issuance $100, and remote renewal $100. The manual and the fee-schedule PDF print “Remote Online Notary Renewal application and commission” as $120. Twenty plus one hundred is one hundred twenty. We are printing the split and the sum. The same PDF and the manual print $90 for application and restoration of a forfeited remote commission. The HAR § 5-11-46 list we read does not print that $90 remote line. It does print $10 to apply to restore a forfeited ordinary commission and $80 to restore it. The FAQ says a commission expired less than a year may be restored for a $90 fee. We are printing the rule, the manual, the PDF, and the FAQ. We are not deciding that the missing $90 line in the rule erased the manual.

The exam is a gate on both commissions. HAR § 5-11-32: no commission issues unless the person pays the examination fee and passes a written exam. The minimum passing score is 80 percent. A person who fails twice waits ninety days to reapply. HAR § 5-11-64: the remote commission has its own exam, under those same requirements. The notaries page says the ordinary exam is closed-book. The rule we read says written and 80 percent. It does not print the words “closed-book.” We are printing the page and the rule. The welcome page prints a $10 exam on the remote path as well as the ordinary path. HAR § 5-11-46(7) prints $10 for each examination.

The remote commission ends when the ordinary commission ends. HAR § 5-11-66: the remote commission expires on the same date as the notary public’s commission. A renewal filed within sixty calendar days before that date is timely. § 456-24(d): the remote notary shall forthwith file a copy of the remote commission with the clerk of the circuit court where the remote notary resides. HAR § 5-11-65: that filing is within thirty days of receipt, and the notary also submits a tangible copy of the electronic seal and electronic signature to the Attorney General. We are printing “forthwith” and “thirty days.” We are not deciding that they are the same deadline.

The technology is a name on the application, not a roster we retrieved. § 456-23(f): before the first remote act, the remote notary notifies the Attorney General and identifies the technologies. Those technologies must conform to the Attorney General’s standards. Subsection (g)(3) says the Attorney General may adopt rules to approve providers. HAR § 5-11-62 asks for a description of the technologies, the name and website of any vendor that will supply them, and a statement that the technologies comply with chapter 456 and the rules. The pages and the rules PDF we read do not print a standing list of approved companies. News Release 2022-10: the Notary Office does not endorse or recommend specific online notary platforms. A checkout that shows Proof or NotaryLive can be a vendor the notary named. It is not a statement that the Attorney General published that name on an approved list. The Attorney General does not publish that list.

Read the fee sentences before you treat a company price as Hawaii law. § 456-17: protest lines are $5; a deposition or official certificate is $5; an oath, including the certificate, is $5, and a duplicate oath certificate beyond four is $2.50; an acknowledgment is $5 for each party signing, and a duplicate acknowledgment certificate beyond one is $2.50 for each person; and any of those acts for a remotely located individual under § 456-23, other than affixing a certificate to a duplicate, is $25. The manual says a notary may charge less than those amounts, and that an overcharge violates the law. We are not adding the $5 and the $25 into one ceiling the statute did not print as a single number. A company sticker near $25 can sit on the remote line and still leave the $5 lines in the statute.

Travel is not in that fee section. § 456-17 does not print a mileage rate for a house call. A house call is a price you agree to first. A notary in government service, under § 456-18, does not charge for government business.

Where you may sit is § 456-23, and the notary’s chair is narrower than yours. The notary is located in this State. HAR § 5-11-68 uses the same “located in the State” words. You are a remotely located individual, which means you are not in the physical presence of that notary. The news release says the notary is physically in the state at the time of the act, and that signers may be in any location. If you are outside the United States, subsection (b)(4) adds a test: the document is filed with or relates to a matter before a United States public official, court, or entity; or it involves property in the United States or a transaction substantially connected with the United States; or it involves a bank whose deposits are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, including such a bank in the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, or the Republic of Palau; and the foreign state does not prohibit the signing. The FAQ we retrieved still says a Hawaii notary can perform duties only in Hawaii, and a later answer still talks about the signer being present. Those answers describe the ordinary commission. They are not a sentence that § 456-23’s remote signer has to sit in the room. We are printing the FAQ and the statute. We are not deciding that the FAQ erased the remote section.

The ID check has three doors in the statute, and the quiz door has numbers in the rule. § 456-23(b)(1): personal knowledge; or a credible witness who appears before the remote notary and gives an oath or affirmation; or at least two different types of identity proofing. HAR § 5-11-69: if the remote notary does not already have satisfactory evidence, the two types are a credential analysis and a knowledge-based authentication, plus a live visual comparison of the credential and the person. Knowledge-based authentication (KBA) is a quiz drawn from your personal history. The rule prints at least five questions; at least five answer choices each; at least 80 percent correct; all questions answered within two minutes; one retake within 24 hours; at least 40 percent of the prior questions replaced on the retake; and a second failure blocks another try with the same remote notary for 24 hours. The notary must not see or record the questions or answers. If you leave the workflow, or the session drops, identity verification starts over. The manual we retrieved repeats a visual-comparison line inside the quiz list. The rule’s quiz list does not. We are printing the rule. The ordinary FAQ still says an in-person ID is a current card issued by the United States, this State, any other state, or a national government, with a photograph and a signature. We will not copy that in-person list onto the video session and call it § 456-23. If the quiz cannot finish, a mobile notary or a walk-in is the product that can finish.

The certificate has required words, and one of them is the communication-technology sentence. § 456-23(c): the certificate must indicate that the act was performed using communication technology. Subsection (d): a form is sufficient if it follows the rules, or if it is a form the state already allows and contains a statement substantially as follows: “This notarial act involved the use of communication technology.” HAR § 5-11-72 says the electronic certificate indicates the same thing, and that the electronic seal shows the notary’s name, the commission number, and the words “notary public” and “State of Hawaii.” That is the remote certificate.

The session file and the journal are both ten-year duties, and the office’s older pages still describe a record book. § 456-23(e): the audiovisual recording is kept at least ten years after the recording is made, unless a rule sets a different period. The rule we read does not shorten that floor. HAR § 5-11-73: the remote notary keeps the electronic journal and the audiovisual recording for ten years after the last notarial act in the journal. § 456-15: every notary keeps a journal of all notarial acts and retains it for ten years after the last act in the journal. On resignation or when the commission ends, the notary keeps the journal and tells the Attorney General where it is. The FAQ we retrieved still quotes an older title, “Record; copies as evidence,” and a shorter list that does not include the fee. It also says record books are turned in within 90 days after the commission ends. The manual’s record-book section says the records are maintained for 10 years upon resignation, death, expiration, or revocation. The current statute’s hold runs from the last act, and it tells the notary to report the journal’s location rather than turn the journal in. We are printing the statute, the rule, the manual, and the FAQ. We are not deciding that the FAQ’s turn-in sentence erased § 456-15.

The notaries page we retrieved still says revisions to the administrative rules will be forthcoming. The welcome page says HAR Chapter 5-11 became effective in February 2022. The rules PDF is compiled February 27, 2022. We are printing the page and the compilation date. We are not deciding that “forthcoming” means the February 2022 rules are not in force. The welcome page lists office hours as Monday through Friday, except holidays, between 8 a.m. and 12 p.m. The FAQ lists 7:45 a.m. to 12:00 noon and says to call ahead. We are printing both hours. We are not deciding which door is open at 7:50.