§456-18 Notaries in government service. Except as otherwise provided for by law, the head of every department (which term as used in this chapter includes any department, board, commission, bureau, or establishment of the United States, or of the State, or any political subdivision thereof) may designate one or more of the head of every department's subordinates to be a notary public who, upon duly qualifying and receiving a commission as a notary public in government service, shall perform, without charge, the services of a notary public in all matters of business pertaining to the State, any political subdivision thereof, or the United States.

Any provision of this chapter to the contrary notwithstanding, a subordinate so designated and thus qualified and commissioned as a notary public in government service shall:

(1) Be authorized to perform the duties of a notary public in one or more of the judicial circuits of the State as the attorney general shall designate;

(2) Not be required to:

(A) Pay any fee to the clerk of any circuit court for filing a copy of the notary's commission;

(B) Pay any fee to the attorney general for the issuance of the notary's commission or the renewal thereof; or

(C) Furnish and file an official bond unless that bond is required by the head of the department in which the notary is a subordinate, in which event, the expense of furnishing any such bond shall be borne by the department concerned; and

(3) Not demand or receive any fee for the notary's service as a notary public; provided that where the occasion, in the judgment of the head of the department, is deemed one of urgent necessity and convenience, the notary may, but shall not be compelled to, administer oaths or take acknowledgments in nongovernmental matters, for which services the prescribed fees shall be demanded and received as governmental realizations and covered into the notaries public revolving fund established by section 456-9.5, except that if that fund is terminated, the fees shall thereafter be deposited into the general fund of the State; provided further that with the prior written approval of the attorney general, the notary public, upon paying the fees prescribed by law and upon executing, depositing, and filing at the notary's own expense, the required official bond, may demand or receive the fees prescribed by law for services rendered by the notary in matters not pertaining to such public business. [L 1931, c 136, §1; RL 1935, §5210; am L 1941, c 322, §6; am L 1943, c 173, pt of §1; RL 1945, §7677; RL 1955, §168-17; HRS §456-18; gen ch 1985; am L 1998, c 290, §7]