Virginia e-Notary Public

CALL TO ACTION – Virginia Notaries – now is the time to stand up and be heard. There is a Bill processing through the Virginia General Assembly that will remove our ability to notarize a document using “Personally Known” as a form of ID. We need to speak up to our legislators to stop the forward movement of that single point in this Bill.
https://legiscan.com/VA/text/HB163/2026
In 2021 (during the worst of the COVID epidemic) a close friend of mine experienced a family tragedy. Her 24 year old son had been shot by his roommate, leaving him with 13-15 bullet holes. Fairfax County EMTs arrived rapidly, and life flighted him to Innova hospital in Reston. Unfortunately, in order to triage the bleeding before the flight, they had cut his clothing from his body, and no form of ID was brought with him. Obviously, his roommate was arrested and jailed.
My friend was unable to access his apartment, as she was not on the lease, and the Leasing Office (rightfully so!) would not grant her access. She couldn’t provide insurance information, contact his employment or Union Rep, manage his vehicle - simply couldn’t manage any of his affairs without a notarized PoA. Options were limited, it would HAVE to be performed by a notary who personally knew him. During COVID.
We requested that the medical staff withhold his pain meds for one hour beyond the next dose period, and I went to the hospital and performed the notarization. He has since fully recovered, bought a home, gotten married and is a new father, but the story could have been significantly different!
Write your Congressional Representative and House Delegate an email today, and ask them to require modification to that Bill to allow Virginia notaries to continue to use “Personally Known to the Notary” as an Identity Proofing process.
Here is the link where you can find the legislators that represent you: https://whosmy.virginiageneralassembly.gov

Virginia HB163 | 2026 | Regular Regular Session Bill Text (2026-01-06) Notarization, filing, and recordation of certain land records; duties of notary or settlement agent; acknowledgement and satisfactory evidence of identity; requirements for commission or recommission of notary; clerk of circuit court to establish property alert notification sy

I would like to welcome all of you - we are stronger together! There are new notarial laws going into effect on July 1, 2024 - you can find out more about them on the VA SoC Notary webpage, or check them out on the Virginia Association of Notaries page, on the News tab.

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It might be a good time to check your iPhone settings if you haven't done so since the last update... Darned if my "Journaling" setting wasn't public!