Copy Certification of a Birth Certificate, Diploma, and Passport
A private university admissions officer asks Ben, a New Mexico notary, to certify copies of three documents for an applicant. Ben has the originals in front of him: (1) a birth certificate issued by the Texas Department of State Health Services; (2) a diploma issued by a private university; and (3) a U.S. passport. The admissions officer wants one certificate attached to all three copies that says, “I certify that the attached copies are true and correct copies of the originals in my possession.” Ben has not yet journaled the act. The applicant is not present; the admissions officer brought the originals and wants the certified copies today. Ben is unsure whether he can certify all three, whether one certificate can cover multiple records, and what the journal should say.
1. Which of the three records may Ben copy-certify under Article 14A? Explain the distinction.
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Ben may certify a copy of the private university diploma, assuming he has the original before him and the copy is true and correct. He may not certify the birth certificate or the passport. A birth certificate issued by a state vital records agency is a public record, and Article 14A does not authorize a notary to certify copies of public records or records in public custody. A U.S. passport is a federal public record and likewise should not be copy-certified by a state notary. The diploma is a record issued by a private institution, not a public record, so copy certification is permitted. Ben should explain the distinction to the admissions officer rather than certify all three because the request is convenient.
2. Can Ben use one certificate for all three copies? What wording should he use for the diploma?
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Ben should not use one certificate covering all three copies. The short-form copy certification is designed for a single record, and combining public records with a private record makes the certificate ambiguous and misleading. Even for multiple private records, separate certificates are the safer practice because each certificate should identify the specific record being copied. For the diploma, Ben should use a certificate that identifies the record, states that the attached copy is a true and correct copy of a record in his possession, and includes the venue “State of New Mexico, County of [Ben’s county],” the date, his signature, and his official stamp. He should not certify the birth certificate or passport at all. If the admissions officer needs those documents, the officer should obtain them through the issuing agency or another authorized process.
3. What should Ben record in his journal for the diploma copy certification?
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Ben should make a journal entry for the copy certification even though no principal signed before him. The entry should include the date and time, the type of notarial act (“copy certification”), a description of the record (private university diploma, including the name on the diploma if appropriate), the name and address of the person requesting the act, the fact that Ben had the original in his possession and compared it with the copy, any fee, and a note that no principal signature was required because this was a copy certification rather than an acknowledgment or oath. Ben should not list the admissions officer as a signer or principal. The journal should be clear enough that a later reviewer can tell exactly what record was copied and why the act was performed.