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1 | AN ACT concerning State government.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | ||||||
3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Illinois Notary Public Act is amended by | ||||||
5 | adding Section 1-105 as follows: | ||||||
6 | (5 ILCS 312/1-105 new) | ||||||
7 | Sec. 1-105. Notarization Task Force on Best Practices and | ||||||
8 | Verification Standards to Implement Electronic Notarization. | ||||||
9 | (a) The General Assembly finds and declares that: | ||||||
10 | (1) As more and more citizens throughout the State of | ||||||
11 | Illinois rely on electronic devices they also increasingly | ||||||
12 | depend on electronic documentation. Any assertion that | ||||||
13 | e-mails or word processing documents are necessarily | ||||||
14 | "informal and not legally binding" has been dispelled by | ||||||
15 | national legislation such as the federal "E-Sign" law in | ||||||
16 | 2000 and the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, which has | ||||||
17 | been virtually universally adopted throughout the United | ||||||
18 | States. Increasingly, laws have bestowed upon electronic | ||||||
19 | documents the same legal effect as paper instruments. | ||||||
20 | (2) Moreover, institutions, businesses, and commerce | ||||||
21 | have gradually put more of their faith in electronic | ||||||
22 | commerce and information technology in order to facilitate | ||||||
23 | formal and informal interactions that are oftentimes |
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1 | mission-critical and sensitive. In order to meet the | ||||||
2 | growing demand for electronic commerce that is both | ||||||
3 | convenient and secure, understanding the processes and | ||||||
4 | technology is critical and the need for an electronic or | ||||||
5 | remote notarization - the process of notarizing a signature | ||||||
6 | on an electronic document by electronic methods - is | ||||||
7 | becoming a necessity. | ||||||
8 | (b) As used in this Section, "Task Force" means the | ||||||
9 | Notarization Task Force on Best Practices and Verification | ||||||
10 | Standards to Implement Electronic Notarization. | ||||||
11 | (c) There is created a Notarization Task Force on Best | ||||||
12 | Practices and Verification Standards to Implement Electronic | ||||||
13 | Notarization to review and report on national standards for | ||||||
14 | best practices in relation to electronic notarization, | ||||||
15 | including security concerns and fraud prevention. The goal of | ||||||
16 | the Task Force is to investigate and provide recommendations on | ||||||
17 | national and State initiatives to implement electronic | ||||||
18 | notarization in such a manner that increases the availability | ||||||
19 | to notary public services, protects consumers, and maintains | ||||||
20 | the integrity of the notarization seal and signature. | ||||||
21 | (d) The Task Force's report shall include, but not be | ||||||
22 | limited to, standards for an electronic signature, including | ||||||
23 | encryption and decryption; the application process for | ||||||
24 | electronic notarial commission; and the training of notaries on | ||||||
25 | electronic notarization standards and best practices prior to | ||||||
26 | the commission of an electronic notary's electronic signature. |
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1 | The report shall also evaluate and make a recommendation on | ||||||
2 | fees for notary application and commission, on which documents | ||||||
3 | and acts can be attested to by electronic notaries, and on | ||||||
4 | security measures that will protect the integrity of the | ||||||
5 | electronic notary's electronic signature, as well as standards | ||||||
6 | that the Secretary of State may rely upon for revoking an | ||||||
7 | electronic notarization. The report must make a recommendation | ||||||
8 | on whether and to what extent this Act should be expanded and | ||||||
9 | updated. | ||||||
10 | (e) The Task Force shall meet no less than 5 times between | ||||||
11 | the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 100th General | ||||||
12 | Assembly and December 31, 2019. The Task Force shall prepare a | ||||||
13 | report that summarizes its work and makes recommendations | ||||||
14 | resulting from its review. The Task Force shall submit the | ||||||
15 | report of its findings and recommendations to the Governor and | ||||||
16 | the General Assembly no later than June 30, 2020. | ||||||
17 | (f) The Task Force shall consist of the following 17 | ||||||
18 | members: | ||||||
19 | (1) one member appointed by the Secretary of State from | ||||||
20 | the Index Department of the Office of the Secretary of | ||||||
21 | State; | ||||||
22 | (2) one member appointed by the Secretary of State from | ||||||
23 | the Department of Information Technology of the Office of | ||||||
24 | the Secretary of State; | ||||||
25 | (3) one member appointed by the President of the | ||||||
26 | Senate; |
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1 | (4) one member appointed by the Minority Leader of the | ||||||
2 | Senate; | ||||||
3 | (5) one member appointed by the Speaker of the House of | ||||||
4 | Representatives; | ||||||
5 | (6) one member appointed by the Minority Leader of the | ||||||
6 | House of Representatives; | ||||||
7 | (7) one member appointed by the Attorney General; | ||||||
8 | (8) one member appointed by the Secretary of State from | ||||||
9 | nominations made by the president of a statewide | ||||||
10 | organization representing state's attorneys; | ||||||
11 | (9) one member appointed by the Secretary of State from | ||||||
12 | nominations made by a statewide organization representing | ||||||
13 | attorneys; | ||||||
14 | (10) one member appointed by the Secretary of State | ||||||
15 | from nominations made by an organization representing | ||||||
16 | attorneys in a municipality of more than 1,000,000 | ||||||
17 | inhabitants; | ||||||
18 | (11) one member appointed by the Secretary of State | ||||||
19 | from nominations made by a statewide organization | ||||||
20 | representing bankers; | ||||||
21 | (12) one member appointed by the Secretary of State | ||||||
22 | from nominations made by a statewide organization | ||||||
23 | representing community bankers; | ||||||
24 | (13) one member appointed by the Secretary of State | ||||||
25 | from nominations made by a statewide organization | ||||||
26 | representing credit unions; |
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1 | (14) one member appointed by the Secretary of State | ||||||
2 | from nominations made by a statewide organization | ||||||
3 | representing corporate fiduciaries; | ||||||
4 | (15) one member appointed by the Secretary of State | ||||||
5 | from nominations made by an organization representing | ||||||
6 | realtors in a municipality of more than 1,000,000 | ||||||
7 | inhabitants; | ||||||
8 | (16) one member appointed by the Secretary of State | ||||||
9 | from nominations made by a statewide organization | ||||||
10 | representing realtors; and | ||||||
11 | (17) one member appointed by the Secretary of State | ||||||
12 | from nominations made by a statewide chapter of a national | ||||||
13 | organization representing elder law attorneys. | ||||||
14 | (g) The Secretary of State shall designate which member | ||||||
15 | shall serve as chairperson and facilitate the Task Force. The | ||||||
16 | members of the Task Force shall be appointed no later than 90 | ||||||
17 | days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the | ||||||
18 | 100th General Assembly. Vacancies in the membership of the Task | ||||||
19 | Force shall be filled in the same manner as the original | ||||||
20 | appointment. The members of the Task Force shall not receive | ||||||
21 | compensation for serving as members of the Task Force. | ||||||
22 | (h) The Office of the Secretary of State shall provide the | ||||||
23 | Task Force with administrative and other support. | ||||||
24 | (i) This Section is repealed on July 1, 2020.
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25 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, | ||||||
26 | 2017.
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