Judge Michael Keith

JUSTICE OF THE PEACE  |  BOSSIER PARISH, DISTRICT 6

Notary

As Justice Of The Peace I am an ex officio notary public within my territorial jurisdiction to the extent allowed by La. R.S. 13:2586.1. An ex officio notary public is different from a commissioned notary. A commissioned notary is a person, eighteen years or older, who has made the necessary application, submitted to an examination administered by an examining committee, and has given a bond.  Unlike ex officio notaries, commissioned notaries do not have limited notarial powers.

A Justice of the Peace notarial powers are limited and are only allowed to exercise functions of a notary in four specific ways.

• Administrate oaths or affirmations
  
• Notarize sworn statements, affidavits, and acknowledgements
  
• Make protests
  
• Notarize bills of sale, transfers, conveyances, exchanges, donations, chattel mortgages, and other documents or instruments affecting movable property or titles thereto.
  

Further, justices of the peace are allowed to notarize title documents relating to movable property when these documents are required by law. This includes title documents that must be registered with the office of motor vehicles (OMV) of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections.

A justice of the peace as ex officio notary public has no authority to:

• Receive or notarize any document effecting, transferring, conveying, encumbering, or mortgaging immovable property;
  
• Receive or draft inventories, appraisements, or partitions;
  
• Receive, notarize, or draft wills or prenuptial agreements;
  
• Perform any other function of a notary public other than those listed above; and
  
• Draft any documents in performance of his/her notary powers as provided above La. R.S. 13:2586.1 does not affect a justice of the peace’s authority to receive and execute affidavits, sworn statements, oaths, judicial bonds, or other documents, instruments, or acts that relate to or are involved in matters pending before his/her court.