Remote online notarization is more than just a modern convenience for businesses and the general public. It has the potential to provide more than four million notaries nationwide with a safer, simpler, more certain way to serve life’s most important transactions.
South Dakota is the latest to join the RON movement. Governor Kristi Noem signed House Bill 1272 into law this week, granting her state’s 18,000 notaries the ability to serve the public through remote online notarizations.
The law will go into effect July 1, 2019.
The bill was the second RON bill to be enacted in 2019, and one of six RON bills that have passed state legislatures this year - matching the total from all of last year.
H.B. 1272 emerged from the South Dakota legislature March 4 after a 65-0 vote in the House and a 23-10 vote in the Senate. We’ve seen a flurry of activity since then, with North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum signing House Bill 1110 into law, Kentucky passing Senate Bill 114, the Idaho Legislature approving Senate Bill 1111, and Montana revising its 2015 RON laws with House Bill 370.
We have seen remarkable progress so far in 2019, and there’s still plenty of opportunities ahead. Arizona and Nebraska are expected to pass their own RON bills in the coming weeks, while more than a dozen other states have started to scope the benefits of bringing their notaries into the 21st century.
We can’t wait to see who’s next to join the RON movement.
