Posted on Aug. 09, 2022

The D.C. Council’s Committee on Housing and Executive Administration — chaired by Anita Bonds (D-At Large) — marked up bills Monday dealing with notaries and the Juneteenth holiday.

The notary bill changes the practices for notaries in the city. Notaries will be permitted to certify electronic versions of documents and allow remote online notarization, meaning they will not have to be in the same physical location to serve their customers.

“We now have the technology to perform many tasks without being in the same location,” Bonds said. “This bill brings our laws on notarization up to date allowing electronic documents. You can still get documents notarized in person, but this will help make notary services more available to everyone.”

Bonds’ other bill establishes the Juneteenth History and Planning Commission. The legislation calls for 19 commission members who will educate the public on the holiday.

The commission will be supervised by the D.C. Office of the Secretary of the District of Columbia. Noting Juneteenth as the longest-running African American holiday, the council member said “this is a very important occasion, so I want to make sure that we also work with Black residents in the District to discuss any recommendations that come from this commission.”

The bills will be considered by the full council on June 28.

Original article: https://www.washingtoninformer.com/d-c-council-committee-advances-notary-and-juneteenth-bills/