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Virginia Law

Code of Virginia

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Code of Virginia
Title 47.1. Notaries and Out-of-State Commissioners
Subtitle .
Chapter 6. Civil and Criminal Liability
11/23/2024

Chapter 6. Civil and Criminal Liability.

§ 47.1-26. Civil liability of notary.

A notary public shall be liable for all damages proximately caused by his official misconduct.

Code 1950, § 47-3; 1972, c. 824; 1980, c. 580.

§ 47.1-27. Civil liability of employer of notary.

The employer of a notary public shall also be liable for all damages proximately caused by the official misconduct by such notary if:

1. The notary public was acting within the scope of his employment at the time such damages were caused; and

2. The employer had actual knowledge of, or reasonably should have known of, such notary's misconduct.

1980, c. 580.

§ 47.1-28. Willful misconduct a misdemeanor.

A. Any notary who knowingly and willfully commits any official misconduct under Chapter 5 (§ 47.1-24 et seq.) of this title shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor.

B. Any employer of a notary who willfully induces such notary to commit official misconduct under Chapter 5 of this title shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor.

C. Any person who knowingly and willfully misrepresents on an application for commission as a notary whether they have been convicted of any felony under the laws of this Commonwealth, of any other state, or of the United States shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

1980, c. 580; 2008, cc. 117, 814.

§ 47.1-29. Impersonation of notary a felony.

Any person who shall willfully act as, or otherwise impersonate, a notary public while not lawfully commissioned as a notary public or other official authorized to perform notarial acts, shall be guilty of a Class 6 felony.

1980, c. 580.

§ 47.1-29.1. Wrongful possession of software or hardware.

Any person who knowingly obtains, conceals, damages, or destroys the certificate, disk, coding, card, program, software, or hardware enabling an electronic notary to affix an official electronic signature or seal, without authority, shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

2007, cc. 269, 590.

§ 47.1-30. Conflict of interests.

No notary shall perform any notarial act with respect to any document, writing, or electronic document to which the notary or his spouse is a party, or in which either of them has a direct beneficial interest, or where the notary is a signatory or is named in the document to be notarized, except that a notary named in a document for the purpose of receiving notices, or named in a document as executor, trustee, or other fiduciary, shall not, for that reason alone, be precluded from performing notarial acts with respect to such document.

Any notary who violates the provisions of this section shall be guilty of official misconduct.

A notarial act performed in violation of this section shall not automatically be void for such reason, but shall be voidable in the discretion of any court of competent jurisdiction upon the motion of any person injured thereby.

1980, c. 580; 1992, c. 194; 2007, cc. 269, 590; 2011, c. 746; 2012, c. 566.