Section 45-17-2.3. Grant or denial of commission or recommission; grounds; unauthorized practice of law

   (a) After an applicant submits to the clerk of superior court of the county the application, endorsements, and declaration of applicant as required in Code Section 45-17-2.1, the clerk of superior court shall either grant or deny a commission or recommission as a notary public within ten days following the applicant's submission of the necessary documents.

(b) The clerk of superior court may in his or her discretion deny a commission or recommission to an applicant based on any of the following grounds:

   (1) The applicant's criminal history;

   (2) Revocation, suspension, or restriction of any notary commission or professional license issued to the applicant by this or any other state;

   (3) The commission in this or any state of any act enumerated in subsection (a) of Code Section 45-17-15, whether or not criminal penalties or commission suspension or revocation resulted; or

   (4) The applicant is found by the State Bar of Georgia, a court of this state, or a court of any other state to have engaged in the unauthorized practice of law.

(c) Any applicant who is denied a notarial commission or recommission by the clerk of superior court shall upon demand be allowed a hearing and adjudication before the superior court clerk with a right of de novo appeal to the superior court, such appeal to be determined by the court without the intervention of a jury.

Code 1981, § 45-17-2.3, enacted by Ga. L. 1984, p. 1105, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 6, § 45; Ga. L. 2002, p. 630, § 1.