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§29C-1-101. Short title.
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "uniform notary act."

§29C-1-102. Purposes and rules of construction.
(a) This chapter shall be construed and applied to promote its underlying purposes and policies.

(b) The underlying purposes and policies of this chapter are:

(1) To simplify, clarify and modernize the law governing notaries public;

(2) To make uniform notary laws among the states enacting it; and

(3) To promote, serve and protect the public interest.

(c) In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) Words in the singular number include the plural, and words in the plural number include the singular;

(2) Words of the masculine gender include the feminine and the neuter; and

(3) Words of the neuter gender may refer to any gender when the sense so indicates.

§29C-1-103. Prospective effect of chapter; exceptions.
Except as otherwise provided herein, this chapter applies prospectively and shall be applicable to all notaries public whether commissioned before, on or after the effective date of this chapter: Provided, That the following sections in article two of this chapter shall apply only to those notaries public commissioned on or after the effective date of this chapter: Subsections (a) and (b) of section one hundred one, sections two hundred one, two hundred two, two hundred three, two hundred four, two hundred six, two hundred seven and three hundred one, relating to the appointment and qualifications of notaries, and section one hundred two, relating to jurisdiction and terms of notaries public.

§29C-1-104. Construction against implicit repeal.
This chapter is intended to provide comprehensive and unified coverage of the subject matter. Therefore, no part of it shall be construed to be impliedly repealed or amended by subsequent legislation if that construction can be avoided.

§29C-1-105. Notary public and notarization defined.
(a) The terms "notary public" or "notary" are used interchangeably to mean any individual appointed and commissioned to perform notarial acts.

(b) "Notarization" means the performance of a notarial act.

§29C-1-106. Effective date.
This chapter shall take effect the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-four.

§29C-1-107. Disposition of fees.
All fees and moneys collected by the secretary of state pursuant to the provisions of this article shall be deposited by the secretary of state as follows: One-half shall be deposited in the state general revenue fund and one-half shall be deposited in the service fees and collections account established by section two, article one, chapter fifty-nine of this code for the operation of the office of the secretary of state. The secretary of state shall dedicate sufficient resources from that fund or other funds to provide the services required in this article.

Note: WV Code updated with legislation passed through the 2012 1st Special Session