§39-4-32. Liability of notary and of an employer of notary.

(a) A notary public is liable to the persons involved for all damages proximately caused by the notary's official misconduct.

(b) The employer of a notary public is also liable to the persons involved for all damages proximately caused by the notary's official misconduct, if:

(1) The notary public was acting within the scope of his or her employment at the time he or she engaged in the official misconduct; and

(2) The employer consented to the notary public's official misconduct.

(c) It is not essential to a recovery of damages that a notary's official misconduct be the only proximate cause of the damages.

(d) For the purposes of this section, the term "official misconduct" means any act or conduct that:

(1) May result in the denial, refusal to renew, revocation, suspension or condition commission of a notary public pursuant to section twenty-one of this article; or

(2) Is prohibited by section twenty-three of this article.