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Show V About Town Shell shock has settled over Utah since the legislature adjorned last week. It was indeed surprising that the Democrats, holding control of both houses, could not muster enough votes to push their Brand X budget through the session. Even more surprising, the Republicans did not even know they didn't have the support. Anyway, now' Ron Rcncher, Democratic House Leader, can look forward to being replaced. Utahns were also spared the agony of having the legislature in session permanently, as they failed to pass the bill providing for an annual general session. Well, Assistant City Prosecutor Ted Canon has changed his tactics this week on his purge of pornography. After failing to establish a case against theatre operator Lee Harper last week, Canon has decided to go after the company, rather than the individual. He thinks it will be easier to prove the basic legal requirements necessary to win the case . . . Notary Negligence Victimizes Utahns by M. M , Gaber transfer title of a trailer from You have just received a Crandall . to himself. primary job of a notary, says Harrison, is to identify the signer and to Yet witness the signature. the present Utah law does not require a notary public to request proof of a signers identification. The law only implies, through the acknowledgement forms used by a notary, that the signer must actually be present. I personally know of cases where the notary will send the document through the mail to be sighed, Harrison stated. Technically, that is not a correct procedure. Marsh said he has handled such cases. It is not difficult to prove a signature was forged, Marsh says, but it is difficult to discover the title was improperly transferred. Glen Crandall, a local Certified Public Accountant, is one victim of notaries who did not ask for identification. A man used Crandalls signature to The X He signed document. Has the simply forged Crandall's and asked an signature been notarized you signature unassuming notary to stamp ask. Yes it has. But dont relax it. The notary did so, without requesting yet. Is a notarized signature apparently identification. of Cranreally insurance against for- proof dall hasn't seen his trailer gery? You are not being paranoid. since. One lawyers secretary told The Utah Secretary of of her first act as a notary State's office receives an public. A man came in asking average of one complaint a for my boss by his nick name,' month alleging misuse of she said, and no one docs that notary seals enough, apparwithout knowing him. My ently, to warrant concern. Last So in. boss wasn't this man year Clyde Miller, Utah Lieu- asked a signame to notarize tenant Governor, asked the Utah American Bar Associa- ture on an automobile title. He tion to help him draft a bill said he was a car dealer. 1 notarized the signature, tightening the present notary He knows my boss, thinking, public law. Orval Harrison, so it must be okay. But, sure Salt Lake attorney, has been my boss didnt know preparing the Associations enough, who he was. He had forged version of the bill. the car dealer's name. Easy Access The major problems are Reputation that the forgers can get access to ar. old notary seal, or, more The present Utah law not commonly, the notary does requires a notary applicant to know the person signing the identify himself only as a U.S. document, Harrison explains. citizen and a Utah resident, Hundreds of deeds are and be over 18 years of age. signed every day, says Ralph The applicant must be bonded Marsh, of Backman, Clark and for $500. To be bonded, the applicant Marsh, 'and I suppose on a forgeries happen regular simply, pays an insurance basis. The percentage may be company $20. Does the insursmall, but when it happens to ance company check for crimyou, its a big problem' he inal records or other evidence adds. of potential misuse by bond Identification de-feet- i r J:- or A Handy Lillie Book Orvtil Harrison has been preparing a hill to tighten the notary public late. registered notary publics in applicants? Theres no wray we would Utah, an office clerk states, have time to do that, an Proposed Law Salespeople and secret aries have one thing ir common-th- cy need to know addresses. AVA Maps, a Salt Lake County firm, has published the answer to their dreams: the SALT LAKE COUNTY STREET DIRECTORY. Listing all the streets in the county alphabetically, the pocket-size- d book tells the street's location and its zip code. proposed new law, being drafted by Harrison, does not address the problem Bill Hendry, publisher, is of enforcement or investiga-enforcincurrently compiling a similar tion. But it does attempt to book listing streets in Weber address that of assuring iden-Stat- County. tification. In one controversial The book sells for $1.95 section, th act would require a and can be located by calling (continued on page 12) The similar response. We have no funds for investigating or g, Hinton states. In 1975 the Secretary of office processed over es 4,000 notary applications, There are at least 16,000 532-274- 6. Mountain Bell Installs Time Saver ( When Mountain Bell begins charging for directory assistance in July, business people who need to find curreni numbers fast will feel a bite in their bills. But if they use new machinery installed at Mountain Bell, they may be able to reduce the bite a little. A video display terminal in Salt Lake City, hooked up to a computer in Denver, Colorado, tells the operator the old number, the new number, and the date of the change-a- ll in 19 seconds. When a caller dials a number that has been changed, he or she is automatically transferred to the intercept operator, sitting at the new terminal. Informatin given out by this operator is free to the. minutes per day, said Royce Stilson, spokesman for Mountain Bell, and that saves up to 3 - 4 hours per day. Over a year, that adds up to several days. Also, it can be updated hourly, he added. The Salt Lake office receives about 14,500 intercept calls per day, Stilson said. Besides saving time and money, the machine can also act in the event of an emergency. During the Congress Hotel fire, we used the emergency system, Stilson said. saves of 193 People calling the hotel numbers were transferred to a recording telling them about the fire, he explained. The new system cuts down on the amount of time involved in getting and giving caller. changed numbers, and it But its not free to Mountain requires few'er operators, Bell. Thats w hy they installed Stilson stated. The system was the machine. The new system installed in Salt Lake in the fall of 1975, 1 |