I notice Jerry Lucas's blog mentions verifying the identity of the person who is about to give oral testimony before administering the oath. It appears to me that both VT and CO have passed RULONA with the relevant parts about oaths unchanged from the version the Uniform Law Commission recommends. The CO sections are "24-21-502. Definitions" and "24-21-505. Requirements for certain notarial acts".
Notaries are not required to establish identity for the person who appears before them (I'm making up the word "appearer" for this person) unless the notarial act is mentioned in "24-21-505. Requirements for certain notarial acts" (I'm ignoring notary protests, which are described in the Uniform Commercial Code). Acknowledgements and verifications on oath or affirmation are mentioned. But oaths in general are not mentioned in that section.
So my reading is that unless an oath or affirmation falls into the subset of being a verification, the notary does not have to verify the identity of the appearer. Since an oral oath is not a written record, it isn't a verification. Even if the testimony will be transcribed, the record does not yet exist at the moment the appearer is taking the oath, so it isn't a verification. The notary is not authorized to demand that the appearer present identification.
For oaths of office, it is not a verification of facts that are either true or not at the time the oath is given, it is a promise about future behavior. So again, the notary is not authorized to demand that the appearer present identification.
Scenario based on my experience: Mrs. Jones is elderly and doesn't drive anymore, so does not have current government-issued ID that she routinely carries with her. She lives near New York City, and is going home tomorrow on Amtrak, but tonight she is appealing the value of her summer cottage on the Lake Bomoseen by the town assessor. It is the custom of the Board of Civil Authority to administer oaths tell the truth to those appearing before the board. It falls to me to administer the oath. So am I going to prevent Mrs. Jones from stating her case because she doesn't have any ID with her? |
