Rodney Stevens
Lower Clarence residents now have access to a Justice of the Peace JP every Friday at Yamba Library.
Rex Grant, who has been a JP for the past 40 years, will be manning the desk at Yamba Library from 10am until 12 noon, providing this free community service which began on October 6.
Mr Grant said he initially got his JP qualifications when he worked in local government in Moree and Bombala, then after a 10-year sea change on Norfolk Island, he worked at the University of New England, using his JP qualifications to assist international students and students who needed documents certified.
When he retired in 2018, Mr Grant said he joined the Coffs Harbour and District branch of the JP Association and while living at Sawtell, he manned a desk at the Toormina Shopping Centre on Saturday’s, until he recently relocated to Yamba.
“We repositioned here to Yamba a little over a month ago and I thought there was something needed here in terms of service, so I talked to Jacqui at the Library, and she was keen to get something going,” he said.
Initially, Mr Grant said the JP service at Yamba Library will run as a trial, to gauge community demand.
“We are giving it a trial for three months on a weekly basis and if that’s not popular, or as popular as we’d hoped, we will probably go back to fortnightly,” he said.
JPs are required to renew their qualifications every five years, Mr Grant said, and he recently re-sat the exam where he scored 100 per-cent, which was required to pass.
Community members will be able to access a range of JP services from Mr Grant at Yamba Library.
“We witness statutory declarations, we certify copies of documents for people that have an original copy and want copies done and certified for legal purposes,” he said.
“Sometimes people come in with other documents that they want their signature witnessed on and we can do that.
“We will witness affidavits, but we don’t do wills or anything more complicated than that which would require a notary or someone with more legal experience.”
Mr Grant said he can only witness or certify documents that relate to the Commonwealth, NSW, or some Queensland documents, but we cannot do anything international.
“If people want proof of life or anything like that for overseas estates, we can’t do that,” he said.
Anyone wanting information on the Coffs Harbour and District branch of the JP association can call Terry Tweedie on 0428 711 725.