2023 New Mexico Statutes › Chapter 14 - Records, Rules, Legal Notices, Oaths › Article 14A - Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts › Section 14-14A-2 - Definitions.

In addition to the general definitions provided in Section 12-2A-3 NMSA 1978 of the Uniform Statute and Rule Construction Act [12-2A-1 to 12-2A-20 NMSA 1978], as used in the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts:
A. "acknowledgment" means a declaration by an individual before a notarial officer that:
(1) the individual has signed a record for the purpose stated in the record; and
(2) if the record is signed in a representative capacity, the individual signed the record with proper authority and signed it as the act of the individual or entity identified in the record;
B. "automatic notarial officer" means any of the following who has registered an official stamp with the secretary of state:
(1) a judicial officer;
(2) the secretary of state or a full-time staff member of the secretary of state's office while performing a notarial act within the scope of the secretary of state's or staff member's duties;
(3) a county clerk or deputy county clerk while performing a notarial act within the scope of the county clerk's or deputy county clerk's duties; and
(4) an individual who is a member of the state bar of New Mexico and licensed to practice law;
C. "electronic" means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic or similar capabilities;
D. "electronic signature" means an electronic symbol, sound or process attached to or logically associated with a record and executed or adopted by an individual with the intent to sign the record;
E. "foreign state" means a government other than the United States, a state or a federally recognized Indian tribe;
F. "in a representative capacity" means acting as:
(1) an authorized officer, agent, partner, trustee or other representative for a person other than an individual;
(2) a public officer, personal representative, guardian or other representative, in the capacity stated in a record;
(3) an agent or attorney-in-fact for a principal; or
(4) an authorized representative of another in any other capacity;
G. "judicial officer" means:
(1) a judge of a state court of this state;
(2) a special commissioner or hearing officer appointed pursuant to supreme court rule and employed by a state court;
(3) a special master appointed pursuant to supreme court rule or state statute; and
(4) a court clerk or deputy court clerk of a state court of this state;
H. "licensed to practice law" means a person who is a member of the state bar of New Mexico and, based on such membership, is authorized to practice law before the courts of this state;
I. "notarial act" means an act, whether performed with respect to a tangible or electronic record, that a notarial officer may perform under the law of this state. The term includes taking an acknowledgment, administering an oath or affirmation, taking a verification on oath or affirmation, witnessing or attesting a signature, certifying or attesting a copy and noting a protest of a negotiable instrument, but does not apply to any act that would otherwise be a notarial act if:
(1) the act is performed by a judicial officer within the scope of the judicial officer's duties; and
(2) the record is filed in the court of the judicial officer;
J. "notarial officer" means:
(1) an automatic notarial officer; and
(2) a notary public;
K. "notary public" means an individual commissioned by the secretary of state to be a notary public and authorized by such commission to perform notarial acts pursuant to the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts;
L. "official notary seal" means the great seal of the state of New Mexico, unless the secretary of state has adopted a seal specific for use by notarial officers; provided that as applied to automatic notarial officers, "official notary seal" includes as an option:
(1) for judicial officers, the seal of the court, if the supreme court has approved a seal for such court and the seal has been filed with the secretary of state;
(2) for the secretary of state or a full-time staff member of the secretary of state's office, the seal of the secretary of state, if the secretary of state has approved a seal and the seal has been filed with the secretary of state;
(3) for county clerks or deputy county clerks, the seal of the county, if the board of county commissioners has approved a seal for the county and the seal has been filed with the secretary of state; and
(4) for a person who is licensed to practice law and who is not performing a notarial act pursuant to Paragraphs (1) through (3) of this subsection, a seal approved by the state bar of New Mexico for such purpose and the seal has been filed with the secretary of state;
M. "official stamp" means a physical image affixed to or embossed on a tangible record or an electronic image attached to or logically associated with an electronic record and includes an official notary seal;
N. "person" also includes a statutory trust, public corporation, government or governmental subdivision, agency or instrumentality;
O. "record" means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form;
P. "sign" or "subscribe", when used with present intent to authenticate or adopt a record, means to:
(1) execute or adopt a tangible symbol; or
(2) attach to or logically associate with the record an electronic symbol, sound or process;
Q. "signature" means a tangible symbol or an electronic signature that evidences the signing of a record;
R. "stamping device" means:
(1) a physical device capable of affixing to or embossing on a tangible record an official stamp; or
(2) an electronic device or process capable of attaching to or logically associating with an electronic record an official stamp; and
S. "verification on oath or affirmation" means a declaration, made by an individual on oath or affirmation before a notarial officer, that a statement in a record is true.
History:
Laws 2021, ch. 21, § 2; 2023, ch. 110, § 3.
ANNOTATIONS
The 2023 amendment,
effective June 16, 2023, defined "automatic notarial officer," "judicial officer," "licensed to practice law," and "official notary seal," and revised the definitions of "notarial act," "notarial officer," and "notary public"; added a new Subsection B and redesignated former Subsections B through E as Subsections C through F, respectively; added new Subsections G and H and redesignated former Subsections F through H as Subsections I through K, respectively; in Subsection I, in the introductory paragraph, after "negotiable instrument," added "but does not apply to any act that would otherwise be a notarial act if", and added Paragraphs I(1) and I(2); in Subsection J, after "means", deleted "a notary public or other individual authorized to perform a notarial act" and added Paragraphs J(1) and J(2); in Subsection K, after "commissioned", deleted "to perform a notarial act", and after "by the secretary of state", added "to be a notary public and authorized by such commission to perform notarial acts pursuant to the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts"; and added a new Subsection L and redesignated former Subsections I through O as Subsections M through S, respectively.
Applicability.
— Laws 2021, ch. 21, § 37 provided that the provisions of Laws 2021, ch. 21 apply to notarial acts performed in this state on and after January 1, 2022.