---
type: "Bill"
title: "NOTARY PUBLIC-REAL ESTATE"
description: "Amends the Illinois Notary Public Act. Requires a notary public applicant to provide a $25,000 surety bond (now, a $5,000 surety bond). Requires a notary public to keep a journal of notarial acts and specifies the required contents of the journal. With respect to satisfactory evidence that a person unknown to the notary is the person whose true signature appears on a document, requires (i) one witness known to the notary who knows the document signer and who is unaffected by the document or transaction or (ii) 2 witnesses who know the document signer and are unaffected by the document or transaction. Makes official misconduct involving notarial acts with respect to real estate documents a Class 1 felony. Makes willful impersonation of a notary public a Class 1 felony (now, a Class A misdemeanor). Makes unlawful possession of a notary's seal a Class 1 felony (now, a misdemeanor with a fine not exceeding $1,000)."
jurisdiction: "us/states/il"
legislature: "Illinois General Assembly"
session: "94th"
identifier: "SB 304"
citation: "Illinois SB 304 (94th)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 3
action_count: 54
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2005-02-15"
last_action: "2006-07-14"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/92cc8b1d-1aad-449b-980b-bb3735a1a591"
source_url: "http://ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=304&GAID=8&DocTypeID=SB&LegId=15698&SessionID=50&GA=94"
source_hash: "45cf06e9c2f4ffd01e0b1691163a2e0734b77733bb169d08de438b566e5badb7"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-il"]
---

# Illinois SB 304 (94th) — NOTARY PUBLIC-REAL ESTATE

Amends the Illinois Notary Public Act. Requires a notary public applicant to provide a $25,000 surety bond (now, a $5,000 surety bond). Requires a notary public to keep a journal of notarial acts and specifies the required contents of the journal. With respect to satisfactory evidence that a person unknown to the notary is the person whose true signature appears on a document, requires (i) one witness known to the notary who knows the document signer and who is unaffected by the document or transaction or (ii) 2 witnesses who know the document signer and are unaffected by the document or transaction. Makes official misconduct involving notarial acts with respect to real estate documents a Class 1 felony. Makes willful impersonation of a notary public a Class 1 felony (now, a Class A misdemeanor). Makes unlawful possession of a notary's seal a Class 1 felony (now, a misdemeanor with a fine not exceeding $1,000).

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09400SB0304&GA=94&SessionId=50&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=15698&DocNum=304&GAID=8&Session=&print=true)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09400SB0304eng&GA=94&SessionId=50&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=15698&DocNum=304&GAID=8&Session=&print=true)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09400SB0304enr&GA=94&SessionId=50&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=15698&DocNum=304&GAID=8&Session=&print=true)

## Votes

- Third Reading — **44–8** (pass) · upper
- Third Reading — **111–0** (pass) · lower
- Concurrence — **58–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Martin A. Sandoval — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2005-02-15** Filed with Secretary by Sen. Martin A. Sandoval `filing`
- **2005-02-15** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2005-02-15** Referred to Rules `referral-committee`
- **2005-02-16** Added as Co-Sponsor Sen. John J. Cullerton
- **2005-02-17** Assigned to Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2005-02-24** Postponed - Judiciary
- **2005-03-02** Postponed - Judiciary
- **2005-03-09** Do Pass Judiciary; 009-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2005-03-09** Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading March 10, 2005
- **2005-03-17** Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Filed with Secretary by Sen. Martin A. Sandoval `amendment-introduction`
- **2005-03-17** Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Referred to Rules `referral-committee`
- **2005-04-06** Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Rules Refers to Judiciary
- **2005-04-06** Second Reading `reading-2`
- **2005-04-06** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading April 7, 2005
- **2005-04-07** Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Postponed - Judiciary
- **2005-04-12** Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Recommend Do Adopt Judiciary; 010-000-000
- **2005-04-14** Recalled to Second Reading `reading-2`
- **2005-04-14** Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Adopted; Sandoval `amendment-passage`
- **2005-04-14** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading
- **2005-04-14** Third Reading - Passed; 044-008-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2005-04-14** Arrived in House `introduction`
- **2005-04-14** Placed on Calendar Order of First Reading `reading-1`
- **2005-04-14** Chief House Sponsor Rep. James D. Brosnahan
- **2005-04-14** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2005-04-14** Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2005-04-20** Assigned to Executive Committee `referral-committee`
- **2005-05-13** Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2005-11-10** Added as Chief Co-Sponsor Sen. Jacqueline Y. Collins
- **2006-04-17** Final Action Deadline Extended-9(b) April 30, 2006
- **2006-04-17** Assigned to State Government Administration Committee `referral-committee`
- **2006-04-18** Alternate Chief Sponsor Changed to Rep. Michael J. Madigan
- **2006-04-18** Added Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie
- **2006-04-18** Motion to Suspend Rule 25 - Prevailed
- **2006-04-19** House Committee Amendment No. 1 Filed with Clerk by State Government Administration Committee `amendment-introduction`
- **2006-04-19** House Committee Amendment No. 1 Adopted in State Government Administration Committee; by Voice Vote `amendment-passage`
- **2006-04-19** Do Pass as Amended / Short Debate State Government Administration Committee; 009-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2006-04-19** Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate
- **2006-04-19** Second Reading - Short Debate `reading-2`
- **2006-04-19** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate
- **2006-04-25** Fiscal Note Filed As Amended by HA 1
- **2006-04-30** Final Action Deadline Extended-9(b) May 5, 2006
- **2006-05-02** Third Reading - Short Debate - Passed 111-000-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2006-05-02** Secretary's Desk - Concurrence House Amendment(s) 01
- **2006-05-02** Placed on Calendar Order of Concurrence House Amendment(s) 01-May 3, 2006
- **2006-05-02** House Committee Amendment No. 1 Motion to Concur Filed with Secretary Sen. Martin A. Sandoval `filing`
- **2006-05-02** House Committee Amendment No. 1 Motion to Concur Referred to Rules `referral-committee`
- **2006-05-02** House Committee Amendment No. 1 Motion to Concur Rules Referred to Financial Institutions `referral-committee`
- **2006-05-03** House Committee Amendment No. 1 Motion To Concur Recommended Do Adopt Financial Institutions; 007-000-000
- **2006-05-03** House Committee Amendment No. 1 Senate Concurs 058-000-000
- **2006-05-03** Passed Both Houses
- **2006-06-01** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2006-07-14** Governor Approved `executive-signature`
- **2006-07-14** Effective Date July 14, 2006
- **2006-07-14** Public Act . . . . . . . . . 94-1029 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/92cc8b1d-1aad-449b-980b-bb3735a1a591`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Illinois legislature records).