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Administrative Delegations


NOTARIES


CHAPTER 5 DELEGATIONS OF AUTHORITY

GENERAL ADMINISTRATION

GENERAL EXHIBIT 1-50

NOTARIES PUBLIC -OFFICIAL BUSINESS

l-50-00 Purpose and Authority
10 Standards
20 Allowances
30 Procedure
40 Designation of Notaries Public

l-50-00  PURPOSE AND AUTHORITY

  1. Purpose.  This Chapter states the criteria to be used in requiring civilian officers and employees to serve as notaries public in the performance of official business, the allowances to be paid them for expenses incurred, and the procedure for obtaining payment.

  2. Legal Basis.  The Notaries Public Expense Act of 1965 (PL 681, 84th Cong., approved 7/11/56) provides that civilian officers and employees of the departmeuts and establishments of the Federal Government who are required to serve as notaries public in connection with the performance of official business shall be paid an allowance to be established by the department or establishment concerned, not to exceed the expense required to be incurred by them in order to obtain their commission.

l-50-10  STANDARDS

  1. Amount and Accessibility of Notarial Services

    Officers or employees of the department will serve as notaries public for the performance of official business.

  2. Selection of Notaries.  To the extent practicable, individuals should be selected from among personnel:

    1. Who are centrally located and would usually be available to provide service.

    2. Whose regular assignments and workloads would not be adversely affected by recurring interruptions involved in providing service.

    3. Who have knowledge of, or could readily orient themselves to, the format of a wide variety of legal documents.

l-50-20  ALLOWANCES

On or after January 1, 1955, each officer or employee who is required to serve as a notary public and obtains his commission shall be reimbursed for the actual expenses required to obtain or renew his commission; including fee, bond (when required), and the minimum amount necessary to obtain a satisfactory seal and stamp when such reimbursement is claimed as provided in l-50-30 below.

Note: Executive Order 977 (November 24, 1908) prohibits charge for notarial services during working hours.

l-50-30  PROCEDURE

  1. Notification of Commission.  It is the responsibility of any person required to serve as notary for official business who does not have a current valid commission to file the necessary application with the clerk or other official responsible for processing commissions in the local jurisdiction.  Each such officer or employee shall notify the officer who designated him, by memorandum, in two copies, whether he has obtained the, necessary commission, and (if so) of its effective date and date of expiration.  The designating officer will forward one copy of the memorandum reporting the commission to the appropriate fiscal office with a notation as to the appropriation to be charged with the allowances.  This will ordinarily be the approprition currently available for general expenses of the program for which the major portion of the services are performed.

  2. Claim for Reimbursement
    1. Each officer or employee who has been designated and has obtained his commission shall certify an itemized claim for actual expenses which he was required to incur to obtain or renew his commis.sion, on or after January 1, 1955, on SF-1129 (original and two carbon copies) and shall execute the following certification on the back of the original:

      I hereby certify that I am and have been since (date) required to serve as a notary public in connection, with the performance of official business for the Department of Health, Education; and Welfare.  I understand that I am not permitted to charge a fee for notarial services perfcrmed during working hours.

      ________________________
      Employee

    2. He shall forward the original and one copy to the appropriate fiscal office, together with a copy of his formal designation and receipts for each item of expense claimed, and retain one copy of the voucher for his own records.

    3. The fiscal office will process the voucher for payment.

l-50-40  DESIGNATION OF NOTARIES PUBLIC

Heads of POCs, Princip,al Regional Officials, and the Assistant Secretary for Management and Budget for the Office of the Secretary have the authority to designate officers and employees to serve as notaries public when it is determined that such service is required for the facilitation of department business.  The area of exercise of this authority is within organizational elements under their direct supervision or in installations where they provide the administrative support.  POC heads will not designate notaries public for their regional organizations where the PR0 has provided for this service.  These officials may redelegate this authority.


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