Texas § GV.406.0091 - OFFENSE OF NOTARIZATION FOR PERSON NOT PERSONALLY APPEARING

§ GV.406.0091. OFFENSE OF NOTARIZATION FOR PERSON NOT PERSONALLY APPEARING

OFFENSE OF NOTARIZATION FOR PERSON NOT PERSONALLY APPEARING. (a) A person commits an offense if, as a notary public, the person performs any notarization with knowledge that the signer, grantor, maker, or principal for whom the notarization is performed did not personally appear before the notary public at the time the notarization is executed. (b) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor, except that it is a state jail felony if the document being notarized involves the transfer of real property or any interest in real property. (c) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under Subsection (a) that the person who personally appeared before the notary public knowingly presented an apparently valid proof of identification identifying the person as the signer, grantor, maker, or principal for whom the notarization was purported to be performed, regardless of the identity of the person. (d) For purposes of this section, a person personally appears before a notary public if: (1) for a notarization other than an online notarization, the person physically appears before the notary public at the time of the notarization in a manner that permits the notary public and the person to see, hear, communicate with, and provide proof of identification to each other; and (2) for an online notarization, the person appears at the time of the notarization by an interactive two-way video and audio conference technology that meets the standards adopted for online notarization under Section 406.104 . Added by Acts 2025, 89th Leg., R.S., Ch. 298 (S.B. 693 ), Sec. 3, eff. September 1, 2025.