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May 03, 2024 Clouds | 55°F
The 193rd General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
  1. General Laws
  2. Part III COURTS, JUDICIAL OFFICERS AND PROCEEDINGS IN CIVIL CASES
  3. Title I COURTS AND JUDICIAL OFFICERS
  4. Chapter 222 JUSTICES OF THE PEACE, NOTARIES PUBLIC AND COMMISSIONERS
  5. Section 27 Tamper-evident technologies to perform notarial acts; recording of documents

Section 27

Section 27: Tamper-evident technologies to perform notarial acts; recording of documents

[ Text of section added by 2023, 2, Sec. 33 effective January 1, 2024. See 2023, 2, Sec. 85.]

  Section 27. (a) A notary public may select 1 or more tamper-evident technologies to perform notarial acts with respect to electronic records. A person shall not require a notary public to perform a notarial act with respect to an electronic record with a technology that the notary public has not selected. Any technology approved by the state secretary pursuant to subsection (h) of section 28 and selected by a notary public shall require the notary public's electronic signature and electronic seal to be:

  (i) unique to the notary public;

  (ii) capable of independent verification;

  (iii) retained under the sole control of the notary public; and

  (iv) attached to or logically associated with the electronic record in a tamper-evident manner.

  (b) A tangible copy of an electronic record shall be accepted as the equivalent of an original document for purposes of recording said copy; provided, however, that: (i) the copy contains a notarial certificate that satisfies all requirements for an original document to be accepted for recording; (ii) the copy satisfies all requirements for recording an original document set forth in chapters 183 and 185, as applicable; and (iii) the notary public executing the notarial certificate certifies that the tangible copy is an accurate copy of the electronic record.