Notary URFP 2027 Course Development Final.docx

COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA

Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth

Unsealed Request for Proposals (URFP) # Online Notary Public Course Instruction and Examination Development

Issue Date: September 21, 2026

Due Date/Time: October 14, 2026

Issuing Agency: Secretary of the Commonwealth, Notary Division 400 East Cary Street, 1st Floor, Richmond VA 23219

Contract Term: From the Date of Award through the completion of the project.

Proposal Submission: All unsealed proposals must be received by the due date and time shown for this solicitation and submitted via eVA, Virginia’s electronic procurement website. Offerors must be registered in eVA to submit an electronic proposal. Proposals will not be accepted via hard copy, email, or FAX. Any proposals submitted after the stated due date and time will not be accepted.

All Inquiries for Information Should Be Directed To: Suzanne Swinson, Assistant Director, Division of Executive Administrative Services at suzanne.swinson@governor.virginia.gov, 804-225-48939 office. All questions must be received via email by 5:00 PM by September 30, 2026. All questions must be in writing and will be answered in writing, by email or addendum.

In compliance with this Unsealed Request for Proposal (URFP) and all conditions imposed in this URFP, the undersigned hereby offers and agrees to furnish all goods and/or services in accordance with the attached signed proposal and the mandatory requirements outlined herein or as mutually agreed upon by subsequent negotiation, and the undersigned firm hereby certifies that all information provided below and, in any document, or schedule attached hereto is true, correct and complete.

Company Name:

Email:

Address:

Telephone:

City/State/ZIP:

Fax:

Signature:

Cell:

Printed Name:

eVA Vendor ID Number:

Title:

DSBSD Number (if applicable):

Date:

Vendor SCC ID Number:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. PURPOSE

II. BACKGROUND

III. STATEMENT OF NEEDS

IV. PROPOSAL PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

V. EVALUATION AND AWARD CRITERIA

VI. GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

VII. SPECIAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

VIII. PAYMENT

IX. PRICING PROPOSAL

X. ATTACHMENTS

Note: This public body does not discriminate against faith-based organizations in accordance with the Code of Virginia, § 2.2-4343.1 or against a bidder because of race, religion, color, sex, national origin, age, disability, or any other basis prohibited by state law relating to discrimination in employment.

I. PURPOSE:

The Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth (SOC) is seeking proposals from qualified vendors to develop a mandatory Virginia Notary Public Course of Instruction and Examination as required by § 47.1-5.2 of the Code of Virginia by January 1, 2027.

II. BACKGROUND:

A. Overview of the Secretary of the Commonwealth: The Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth serves as an important administrative office within the executive branch of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Secretary is appointed by the Governor and assists the Governor in carrying out a variety of statutory, administrative, and public-service responsibilities.

Among the Office's responsibilities are appointments to state boards and commissions, restoration of rights, extraditions, service of process, authentications and apostilles, and the commissioning and administration of Virginia notaries public.

B. Notary Division: The Notary Division of the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth is responsible for administering Virginia's notary public commissioning program. Virginia currently has approximately 129,000 registered notaries public, making the Notary Division responsible for serving and supporting a substantial statewide population of commissioned notaries.

The Division's responsibilities include processing applications for new and renewing notary commissions; maintaining commission records; processing electronic notary registrations; responding to notary verification requests and public inquiries; providing educational information and guidance; and developing resources to assist Virginia notaries in understanding and fulfilling their statutory responsibilities.

The Division also works closely with Virginia's circuit courts, state agencies, members of the public, and other stakeholders regarding the administration of Virginia's notary laws and commissioning requirements.

C. Role and Duties of a Virginia Notary Public: A Virginia Notary Public is a public officer commissioned by the Commonwealth of Virginia to serve as an impartial and unbiased witness in the performance of authorized notarial acts. The role of a notary is to help protect the integrity of documents and transactions and to deter fraud by verifying the identity of individuals appearing before the notary, confirming their willingness to participate in the transaction, and properly completing the required notarial certificate.

Virginia notaries may perform authorized duties such as taking acknowledgments, administering oaths and affirmations, certifying copies of certain documents, and performing other notarial acts permitted under Virginia law. In carrying out these responsibilities, a notary must exercise reasonable care, remain impartial, follow all applicable laws and requirements, maintain required records of notarial acts, and safeguard the notary's seal, journal, and other credentials from unauthorized use. A notary does not determine the legality or validity of a document and may not provide legal advice or interpret the law unless separately authorized to practice law. Ultimately, a Virginia notary serves an important public-trust function by helping ensure that notarial acts are performed properly, consistently, and with integrity.

D. Legislation requiring mandatory education and examination: The 2026 Regular Session of the Virginia General Assembly included a bill which was approved that requires mandatory training for commission or recommission of a notary. Please reference the summary as passed here: HB163 - 2026 Regular Session | LIS. The curricula development must be completed by January 1, 2027, with an implementation date of July 1, 2027.

E. The Secretary of the Commonwealth intends to host and administer a Learning Management System (LMS) platform in-house and is in the process of hiring a program manager to develop, maintain, and administer continuing education courses for notary applicants, including curriculum design, updates to reflect statutory changes, delivery of training content, and oversight of related records.

III. STATEMENT OF NEEDS

Project Goals: The successful offeror shall furnish all services including, but not limited to, providing the necessary labor, materials, supervision, equipment, services, incidentals, and related items necessary to develop a comprehensive Virginia Notary Public Course of Instruction and Examination that fully complies with the requirements of § 47.1-5.2 of the Code of Virginia and is subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Commonwealth.

Curricula Development:

The selected offeror will develop a high-quality online training course based on adult learning principles that can be implemented on an in-house Learning Management System. The course should present content in a logical sequence and contain the appropriate level of detail for the audience, including effective practice exercises and job aids/reference materials.

Course Instruction Requirements The offeror shall develop separate courses of instruction for Initial Commission Applicants and Recommission Applicants that include the following course requirements:

(i) Initial Commission Course For applicants seeking an initial commission as a Virginia Notary Public or Electronic Notary Public:

The remaining instructional hours shall include, at a minimum:

· Virginia Notary Laws

· Duties and responsibilities of Virginia Notaries Public

· Best practices for performing notarial acts

· Procedures for notarizations

· Verification of identity

· Journal requirements and recordkeeping

· Notarial certificates

· Electronic notarization

· Remote Online Notarization (RON)

· Ethics and professional conduct

· Fraud prevention

· Common notarial errors

· Any additional topics approved by the Secretary of the Commonwealth

(ii) Recommission Course For applicants seeking recommission as a Virginia Notary Public or Electronic Notary Public:

Delivery Format:

· Any combination of curriculum, instructional materials, videos, slides, PDFs, etc. which thoroughly cover the course requirements.

· Course materials must be storable in cloud folders like OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox and similar platforms.

· Course shall be flexible for use with Commonwealth web-based or cloud-hosted system such as Virtual Instructor Led (VILT) using a Commonwealth approved delivery platform (i.e. Webex, LMS).

· Develop a comprehensive written exam covering all required course content.

· Randomize examination questions from an approved question bank.

· Establish a passing score approved by the Secretary of the Commonwealth.

· Course materials should be available in English, with optional pricing to deliver a Spanish and Koren version. Optional pricing components will not be used in evaluating pricing score.

Maintenance and Support:

The Secretary of the Commonwealth intends to host and administer a LMS platform in-house and is in the process of hiring a program manager to develop, maintain, and administer continuing education courses for notary applicants, including curriculum design, updates to reflect statutory changes, delivery of training content, and oversight of related records.

The selected offeror should have the ability to update materials, handbook references, hyperlinks, etc. when notified of Virginia law changes Proposal should include

· Established timeframes needed to correct errors or update materials as requested.

· Cost of maintenance and support options.

Contractor Qualifications: The successful offeror should demonstrate the experience below:

· Five years of experience developing quality online education materials for adult learners

· Seasoned designers with experience working with state licensing or certification programs

· Experience creating online examinations

· Proven timely and accurate customer service and technical support

IV. PROPOSAL PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

0. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Application Date and Time of Submittals: In order to be considered for selection, an Offeror is to submit a complete response to this URFP no later than October 14, 2026. Responses received after the submission due date and time will not be accepted.

2. Application Submission: Applications shall be submitted electronically through the Virginia Electronic Procurement System, eVA. See Attachment E.

Proposal Preparation:

a) Proposals shall be signed by an authorized representative of the offeror. All information requested should be submitted. Failure to submit all information requested may result in the purchasing agency requiring prompt submission of missing information and/or giving a lowered evaluation of the proposal. Proposals which are substantially incomplete or lack key information may be rejected by the purchasing agency. Mandatory requirements are those required by law or regulation or are such that they cannot be waived and are not subject to negotiation.

b) Proposals should be prepared simply and economically, providing a straightforward, concise description of capabilities to satisfy the requirements of the URFP. Emphasis should be placed on completeness and clarity of content.

c) Proposals should be organized in the order in which the requirements are presented in the URFP. All pages of the proposal should be numbered. Each paragraph in the proposal should reference the paragraph number of the corresponding section of the URFP. It is also helpful to cite the paragraph number, subletter, and repeat the text of the requirement as it appears in the URFP. If a response covers more than one page, the paragraph number and subletter should be repeated at the top of the next page. The proposal should contain a table of contents which cross-references the URFP requirements. Information which the offeror desires to present that does not fall within any of the requirements of the URFP should be inserted at an appropriate place or be at the end of the proposal and designated as additional material. Proposals that are not organized in this manner risk elimination from consideration if the evaluators are unable to find where the URFP requirements are specifically addressed.

d) As used in this URFP, the terms "must", "shall", "should" and “may” identify the criticality of requirements. "Must" and "shall" identify requirements whose absence will have a major negative impact on the suitability of the proposed solution. Items labeled as "should" or “may” are highly desirable, although their absence will not have a large impact and would be useful, but are not necessary. Depending on the overall response to the URFP, some individual "must" and "shall" items may not be fully satisfied, but it is the intent to satisfy most, if not all, "must" and "shall" requirements. The inability of an Offeror to satisfy a "must" or "shall" requirement does not automatically remove that Offeror from consideration; however, it may seriously affect the overall rating of the Offerors’ proposal.

e) Each copy of the proposal should be bound or contained in a single volume where practical. All documentation submitted with the proposal should be contained in that single volume.

f) Ownership of all data, materials, and documentation originated and prepared for the State pursuant to the URFP shall belong exclusively to the State and be subject to public inspection in accordance with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. Trade secrets or proprietary information submitted by an offeror shall not be subject to public disclosure under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act; however, the offeror must invoke the protections of § 2.2-4342F of the Code of Virginia, in writing, either before or at the time the data or other material is submitted. The written notice must specifically identify the data or materials to be protected and state the reasons why protection is necessary. The proprietary or trade secret material submitted must be identified by some distinct method such as highlighting or underlining and must indicate only the specific words, figures, or paragraphs that constitute trade secret or proprietary information. The classification of an entire proposal document, line-item prices, and/or total proposal prices as proprietary or trade secrets is not acceptable and will result in rejection of the proposal. If, after being given reasonable time, the offeror refuses to withdraw an entire classification designation, the proposal will be rejected.

3. Oral Presentation: Offerors who submit a proposal in response to this URFP may be required to give an oral presentation of their proposal to the agency. This provides an opportunity for the offeror to clarify or elaborate on the proposal. This is a fact finding and explanation session only and does not include negotiation. The issuing agency will schedule the time and location of these presentations. Oral presentations are an option of the purchasing agency and may or may not be conducted.

B. SPECIFIC PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS: Proposals should be as thorough and detailed as possible so that the Secretary of the Commonwealth may properly evaluate your capabilities to provide the required goods/services. Offerors are required to submit the following items as a complete proposal:

1. Required Forms

a. Return the URFP cover sheet and all addenda acknowledgments, if any, signed and filled out as required.

b. Vendor/Offeror Data Sheet, included as an attachment to the URFP, and other specific items or data requested in the URFP.

c. Pricing Proposal

d. Proprietary Confidential Information Identification Form

e. State Corporation Commission Form

2. Response to the Statement of Needs

a. Provide a response clearly addressing each section within the Statement of Needs.

b. Describe your approach to successfully providing the services and include an outline of each training topic.

c. Describe how your firm will interact with the Secretary of the Commonwealth office during the development of the courses and related content.

d. Provide a timeline for completion of the work. Indicate the estimated number of weeks to complete the project after notice of award and if the project can be completed by January 1, 2027, for curriculum development and July 1, 2027, for implementation.

e. Though it is desired that the offeror will utilize their own workforce to perform the work, if any of the services will be subcontracted, include detailed information on the firm and their role in providing the services.

3. Experience and Qualifications

a. Describe your firm’s experience in providing the services described herein.

b. Provide details of your staff who would be assigned to the project with names, qualifications, and experience level performing the services described herein.

c. Describe your firm’s success in developing and delivering online courses for a broad population.

d. Provide a sample of previous course development work similar to what is being requested in this solicitation.

V. EVALUATION AND AWARD CRITERIA

Category Point Value

1. Specific plans and technical approach 35

2. Experience and qualifications 35

3. Maintenance and support 15

4. Price 15

VI. GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

A. VENDORS MANUAL: This solicitation is subject to the provisions of the Commonwealth of Virginia Vendors Manual and any changes or revisions thereto, which are hereby incorporated into this contract in their entirety. The process for filing a complaint about this solicitation is in section 7.13 of the Vendors Manual. (Note section 7.13 does not apply to protests of awards or formal contractual claims.) The procedure for filing contractual claims is in section 7.19 of the Vendors Manual. A copy of the manual is normally available for review at the purchasing office and is accessible on the Internet at eva.virginia.gov under “I Sell To Virginia”.

B. APPLICABLE LAWS AND COURTS: This solicitation and any resulting contract shall be governed in all respects by the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, without regard to its choice of law provisions, and any litigation with respect thereto shall be brought in the circuit courts of the Commonwealth. The agency and the contractor are encouraged to resolve any issues in controversy arising from the award of the contract or any contractual dispute using Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) procedures (Code of Virginia, § 2.2-4366). ADR procedures are described in Chapter 9 of the Vendors Manual. The contractor shall comply with all applicable federal, state and local laws, rules and regulations.

C. ANTI-DISCRIMINATION: By submitting their (bids/proposals), (bidders/offerors) certify to the Commonwealth that they will conform to the provisions of the Federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, as well as the Virginia Fair Employment Contracting Act of 1975, as amended, where applicable, the Virginians With Disabilities Act, the Americans With Disabilities Act and § 2.2-4311 of the Virginia Public Procurement Act (VPPA). If the award is made to a faith-based organization, the organization shall not discriminate against any recipient of goods, services, or disbursements made pursuant to the contract on the basis of the recipient's religion, religious belief, refusal to participate in a religious practice, or on the basis of race, age, color, gender sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin and shall be subject to the same rules as other organizations that contract with public bodies to account for the use of the funds provided; however, if the faith-based organization segregates public funds into separate accounts, only the accounts and programs funded with public funds shall be subject to audit by the public body. (Code of Virginia, § 2.2-4343.1E).

In every contract over $10,000 the provisions in 1. and 2. below apply:

MINIMUM INSURANCE COVERAGES AND LIMITS:

1. Workers’ Compensation - Statutory requirements and benefits. Coverage is compulsory for employers of three or more employees, to include the employer. Contractors who fail to notify the Commonwealth of increases in the number of employees that change their workers’ compensation requirements under the Code of Virginia during the course of the contract shall be in noncompliance with the contract.

2. Employer’s Liability - $100,000.

3. Commercial General Liability - $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 in the aggregate. Commercial General Liability is to include bodily injury and property damage, personal injury and advertising injury, products and completed operations coverage. The Commonwealth of Virginia shall be added as an additional insured to the policy by an endorsement.

During the performance of this contract, the contractor agrees to (i) provide a drug-free workplace for the contractor's employees; (ii) post in conspicuous places, available to employees and applicants for employment, a statement notifying employees that the unlawful manufacture, sale, distribution, dispensation, possession, or use of a controlled substance or marijuana is prohibited in the contractor's workplace and specifying the actions that will be taken against employees for violations of such prohibition; (iii) state in all solicitations or advertisements for employees placed by or on behalf of the contractor that the contractor maintains a drug-free workplace; and (iv) include the provisions of the foregoing clauses in every subcontract or purchase order of over $10,000, so that the provisions will be binding upon each subcontractor or vendor.

a. For orders issued July 1, 2014, and after, the Vendor Transaction Fee is:

(i) DSBSD-certified Small Businesses: 1%, capped at $500 per order.

(ii) Businesses that are not DSBSD-certified Small Businesses: 1%, capped at $1,500 per order.

b. Refer to Special Term and Condition “eVA Orders and Contracts” to identify the number of purchase orders that will be issued as a result of this solicitation/contract with the eVA transaction fee specified above assessed for each order.

For orders issued prior to July 1, 2014, the vendor transaction fees can be found at eva.virginia.gov.

The specified vendor transaction fee will be invoiced, by the Commonwealth of Virginia Department of General Services, typically within 60 days of the order issue date. Any adjustments (increases/decreases) will be handled through purchase order changes.

The contractor shall provide each Contract Worker with a copy of this Section and will require Contract Workers to participate in agency training on civility in the State workplace if contractor’s (and any subcontractor’s) regular mandatory training programs do not already encompass equivalent or greater expectations. Upon request, the contractor shall provide documentation that each Contract Worker has received such training.

For purposes of this Section, “State workplace” includes any location, permanent or temporary, where a Commonwealth employee performs any work-related duty or is representing his or her agency, as well as surrounding perimeters, parking lots, outside meeting locations, and means of travel to and from these locations. Communications are deemed to occur in a State workplace if the Contract Worker reasonably should know that the phone number, email, or other method of communication is associated with a State workplace or is associated with a person who is a State employee.

The Commonwealth of Virginia may require, at its sole discretion, the removal and replacement of any Contract Worker who the Commonwealth reasonably believes to have violated this Section.

This Section creates obligations solely on the part of the contractor. Employees or other third parties may benefit incidentally from this Section and from training materials or other communications distributed on this topic, but the Parties to this agreement intend this Section to be enforceable solely by the Commonwealth and not by employees or other third parties.

For the purposes of this section, “ forced or indentured child labor” means all work or service exacted from any person younger that 18 years of age under the menace of any penalty for the nonperformance of such work or service and for which such person does not offer himself voluntarily or performed by any person younger than 18 years of age pursuant to a contract the enforcement of which can be accomplished by process or penalties.

VII. SPECIAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

A. AUDIT: The contractor shall retain all books, records, and other documents relative to this contract for five (5) years after final payment, or until audited by the Commonwealth of Virginia, whichever is sooner. The agency, its authorized agents, and/or state auditors shall have full access to and the right to examine any of said materials during said period.

B. AWARD: Selection shall be made of two or more DSBSD-certified micro business offerors deemed to be fully qualified and best suited among those submitting proposals on the basis of the evaluation factors included in the Request for Proposals, including price, if so stated in the Request for Proposals, provided that the price proposal is up to and including $10,000. Negotiations shall be conducted with the offerors so selected. Price shall be considered, but need not be the sole determining factor. After negotiations have been conducted with each offeror so selected, the agency shall select the offeror which, in its opinion, has made the best proposal, and shall award the contract to that offeror. The Commonwealth may cancel this Request for Proposals or reject proposals at any time prior to an award, and is not required to furnish a statement of the reasons why a particular proposal was not deemed to be the most advantageous (Code of Virginia, § 2.2-4359D). Should the Commonwealth determine in writing and in its sole discretion that only one DSBSD-certified micro business offeror is fully qualified, or that one such offeror is clearly more highly qualified than the others under consideration, a contract may be negotiated and awarded to that offeror. Any award to a DSBSD-certified micro business offeror pursuant to the above process may be made only if the price as negotiated remains under $10,000. The award document will be a contract incorporating by reference all the requirements, terms and conditions of the solicitation and the contractor’s proposal as negotiated. If the agency in its sole discretion determines that the above criteria for limiting the negotiation to micro businesses are not present, the agency shall follow the same process as specified above, but restricting the negotiation instead to DSBSD-certified small business offerors, provided that the price proposal is not more than $100,000.