Only four of Pennsylvania's 67 counties are involved in a pilot program for e-notarization that began on Jan. 30. However, notaries in the other 63 counties — including Butler — should pay attention to developments connected with the test, because it's probably inevitable that e-notarization will be implemented statewide in the not-too-distant future.

It will be Westmoreland County in Western Pennsylvania and Philadelphia, Lancaster and Chester counties in the eastern part of the commonwealth that will initially test e-notarization. Depending on the results of that test, which will be evaluated in June, the Department of State will decide whether to make the process available in some or all of the remaining counties.

With more and more aspects of Americans' lives "going online," it's unlikely that e-notarization will be deemed not workable. And soon, regardless of any start-up glitches encountered, e-notarization will be regarded as routine — virtually as routine as making a credit card purchase at a store when the customer must affix his or her signature to a screen, rather than a piece of paper.

The use of e-notarization won't result in much, if any, added convenience to the person having a document notarized, or to the notary. A person still will be required to appear before the notary and have his or her sworn statement recorded.

As a story in Wednesday's Butler Eagle noted, the significant change brought about by e-notarization will be in what happens after the signature is recorded.

Before, the person having a document notarized and having it recorded at the courthouse would have to personally take the document to the courthouse. With e-notarization, the notarized document will be sent over the computer, protected by software programs that encrypt the signatures.

According to Marc Aronson, president of the Pennsylvania Association of Notaries, if the software detects that a document has been in some way intercepted, a warning will be sent out to the recorder.

Utah in 1996 was the first state to use e-notarization. Other states currently use it, but it is widely unregulated other than by broad national electronic signature laws.

In Pennsylvania, officials should be sure that there are no "loose ends" to be addressed by the General Assembly in regard to this change, so that when counties beyond the initial four are introduced to e-notarization, that the transition is a smooth and confusion- and problem-free as possible.

Notaries in the county and the county recorder of deeds can make that happen by keeping in close touch with how the pilot program evolves.

— J.R.K.