As a Notary Public, you will always encounter unusual requests from clients. Notaries should be careful if asked to notarize a document related to the “sovereign citizen” movement.Members of the sovereign citizen movement believe that the U.S. government is illegitimate and sometimes misuse legal documents to retaliate against various individuals, including private citizens and government officials. Their activities include filing bogus liens against government officials, fraudulent federal and state tax documents, fraudulent deeds, and other false real estate filings.

Members of this movement sometimes ask Notaries to sign and stamp these documents to give them the appearance of legal authority. While notarization does confirm the signers’ identity and willingness to sign the documents, it does not validate the legality or enforceability of a document.

Recently, the California Secretary of State started sending letters to Notaries who notarized such requests indicating that these documents “fall within the category of filings/registrations which can be refused based on a reasonable belief that the filing/registration is unlawful, false, or for a fraudulent purpose, or is being requested or submitted in bad faith or to harass or defraud a person or entity. (California Government Code section 12181).”

Notaries should not refuse a notarization request because of a signer’s political position. Still, you should not perform a notarization if you have reason to believe the transaction is illegal or if the signer cannot provide satisfactory proof of identity.

Warning Signs

If you are asked to notarize a document related to the sovereign citizen movement, be alert for these warning signs that the document may be used for illegal purposes:

Also, some identification documents presented to Notaries by sovereign citizen signers may have official-sounding titles but are not issued by a government agency. Examples include identification cards labeled “Global Citizen,” “Free State Republic,” “World Passport,” or “American National.” These IDs are not government-issued and should not be accepted to identify a signer.

If you have questions about your state’s rules for refusing suspicious notarization requests or unfamiliar signer ID, or you are asked to perform a notarization you think may be illegal, you can call the NNA Notary Hotline or your state Notary regulating agency for help.

John Jacobson is a member of the Information Services team at the National Notary Association and regularly answers questions from Notaries on the NNA Notary Hotline.