Hawaii Passes Remote Online Notarization Bill
July 16, 2020
Hawaii has passed a bill that allows for remote online notarization (RON) in the state.
SB 2275, which awaits the signature of Gov. David Ige, will go into Jan. 1, 2021. Hawaii becomes the 27th state to pass RON legislation. Click here to view a map of states that have passed RON.
The legislation updates the state’s notary public laws to conform to the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (2018), the Hawaii Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, other state notary laws, and current notary practices.
According to the legislation, a remote online notary located in the state may perform a notarial act using communication technology if the notary has:
- Personal knowledge of the identity of the individual
- Satisfactory evidence of the identity of the remotely located individual by oath or affirmation from a credible witness appearing before the remote online notary public under this chapter, or
- Obtained satisfactory evidence of the identity of the remotely located individual by using at least two different types of identity proofing
According to the legislation, the audio/video recording of the RON must be retained for 10 years unless a different period is required by an adopted rule.
The legislation says a notary public may select one or more tamper-evident technologies to perform notarial acts with respect to electronic documents. No person shall require the use of a platform that that notary has not selected. Notaries must notify the state’s attorney general the type of technology that will be used to perform RON. The technologies selected by a remote online notary public to perform RON shall conform to the attorney general's standards.
Contact ALTA at 202-296-3671 or [email protected].