There are certain rules a notary public must follow in order to make a valid notarization. When an attorney acts as a notary public, we would expect him to follow the rules.

Here is a copy of a notarization with John Phelps signature for the Oath of Office of Bradley Johnson to serve as a judge in Whitefish. This notarization breaks all the rules and is not valid.

Does this mean Bradley Johnson did not have a valid Oath of Office? If so, what comes of any rulings made by Judge Bradley Johnson?

Here is why this Oath of Office notarized by John Phelps is deficient and invalid:

The notarial block is non-compliant with Montana code for a proper notarization in the following ways:

1.      The venue [the location where the notarization was performed] is missing.

2.      The notary’s title has not been correctly entered. [In performing the notarization Mr. Phelps was acting in his capacity as a Notary Public for the State of Montana.  As the City Attorney he has no authority to administer the Oath of Office under his notarial seal.  It is quite possible he does have the authority to administer oaths as the City Attorney, but in that role, would not use his notarial seal, but rather the seal of the city.]

3.      If Mr. Phelps was acting in his capacity as a notary public, he is obligated by statute to include the words “Residing at” and enter the city where he lives.

4.      Again, as a notary, Mr. Phelps is required to enter his commission expiration date, showing month, day, and four-digit year.

The statutory requirements for this information can be found in 1-5-609, MCA and 1-5-416, MCA, as well as 1-5-610, MCA.

While these deficiencies are significant, they can be subsequently corrected and a Certificate of Authentication can be issued, if the document is intended to be sent to a country other than the United States.  Authenticated documents cannot be used inside the United States for any reason.

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The bottom line is the Oath of Office taken by Bradley Johnson to be Municipal Court Judge for the City of Whitefish is invalid and therefore every judicial action performed by Bradley Johnson is invalid … and John Phelps is right in the middle of it!

Did Phelps himself have a valid Oath of Office while he served as Whitefish City Attorney? So far, we cannot find it.

FVCC cannot afford to have John Phelps on its Board of Trustees. Phelps must remove himself from this trustee election.

But not to worry because as John Phelps himself said:

“I think we [trustees] could all step aside and we wouldn’t miss a beat,”

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