Term of office of notary. Recording of certificate and oath

(a) A person appointed as a notary public by the Secretary of the State may exercise the functions of the office of notary public at any place within the state beginning on the date of such person's appointment and ending five years later on the last day of the month of appointment, unless (1) such appointment as a notary is suspended or terminated by the Secretary before the end of such term, (2) the notary resigns such appointment, or (3) the notary ceases to either be a resident of the state or have one's principal place of business in the state. (b) The Secretary may, pursuant to regulations adopted in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, extend or reduce, by not more than one year, the term of any person serving as a notary public on October 1, 1990, who seeks reappointment after such date, in order for the new term for each such notary to begin on the effective date of the notary's reappointment. (c) Within thirty days after receiving a certificate of appointment from the Secretary, a notary public shall record, with the town clerk of the municipality in the state in which the notary resides, or, if the notary is not a resident of the state, with the town clerk of the municipality in the state in which the notary's principal place of business is located, such certificate and such notary's oath of office taken and subscribed to by the notary before some proper authority. Any notary public who is a resident of the state and whose principal place of business is in a municipality within the state other than the municipality in which the notary resides, may also record the notary's certificate of appointment and oath of office with the town clerk of such other municipality. Town clerks or assistant town clerks may certify to the authority and official acts of any notary public whose certificate of appointment and oath of office have been recorded in the books in their charge. The failure of a notary public to so record such certificate of appointment and oath of office shall not invalidate any notarial act performed by the notary after the date of such person's appointment as a notary public.