What is a Notary Public?
A Notary Public is an official appointed by a state government to serve the public as an impartial witness during notarizations. As ministerial officials, they are expected to follow statutory rules without the exercise of significant personal discretion.
Notaries Public certify the proper execution of many of the life-changing documents of private citizens — whether those transactions convey real estate, grant powers of attorney, establish a prenuptial agreement, or perform the multitude of other activities that enable our civil society to function.
The National Notary Association explains more in this video.
Copy Certification By Document Custodian
We often receive requests for certified copies of documents such as passports, driver licenses, birth certificates, etc. A notary public in Tennessee is not authorized to certify copies, and it is actually illegal for a notary to certify a copy of a vital document (such as a birth certificate).
Notaries in Tennessee can notarize what is called “Copy Certification by Document Custodian”. In short, it is a statement that you are the custodian, or owner, of a document, and that you have sworn before a notary public under penalty of perjury that it is a true copy of the original. The notary then notarizes the fact that you have sworn or affirmed before them that the copy is a true reproduction, not that the notary is certifying the authenticity. Learn more here.