Signed, sealed, delivered: Secretary Wayne Williams announces free "mini tutorials" for Colorado notaries concerning official signatures

DENVER, February 23, 2016 - Secretary of State Wayne Williams announced today the first release in a series of eLearning tutorials aimed at providing notaries with continuing education and self-training opportunities.

The first release is focused on what a notary's official signature is and why it is important. The series will be provided through the Secretary of State's eLearning platform so participants can take the trainings at the time and place of their choosing. They are free and open to the public.

The project originated from a desire to increase information and training available to notaries statewide.

“ELearning has been a great way to share information with our customers and this latest offering provides more than 84,000 Colorado notaries with a deeper look at official signatures.," said Mike Hardin, director of Business & Licensing for the Colorado Secretary of State.

"Our notary team has worked hard on this tutorial and we anticipate more to come.”

A notary's duty is to screen the signers of important documents — such as property deeds, wills and powers of attorney — for their true identity, their willingness to sign without duress or intimidation, and their awareness of the contents of the document or transaction, according to the National Notary Association. A notary is a verifier, an authenticator, an impartial agent for the state, a public recorder of acts and an unbiased, official witness.

The Colorado Secretary of State's eLearning classes took top honors from the National Secretaries of State in 2014, receiving the NASS IDEAS Award for innovation. The online platform is designed to better serve constituents and expand training and learning content across the three main functions of the office – registration, elections and licensing. The nearly 50 courses cover such functions as starting a business in Colorado, training to be a game manager, holding a voter registration drive, making voting sites accessible and managing nonprofit boards.

Notary tutorial: Go to the Colorado Secretary of State website at www.state.co.us, and under "Programs & Services" see the "Notary public" entry. Click on that, then click on "Tutorials" under "Training & testing."