Notary Public exams

A notary public is commissioned by the state, and only some states test applicants. The four here do, and each does it differently. California requires an approved education course before the Secretary of State's exam — a longer course for first-time applicants, a shorter refresher for renewing notaries whose commission has not lapsed — plus a Live Scan fingerprint background check, and it caps by statute the fee a notary may charge for each act. New York requires the Department of State's written exam for most applicants, exempting attorneys and qualifying court clerks, and requires residency or a place of business in the state. Arizona sets citizenship-or-permanent-residency and state-residency qualifications in statute and requires an exam. Pennsylvania requires a pre-approved education course completed within the months before application and an exam delivered by Pearson VUE, with a single online attempt allowed and a window in which to pass after authorisation.

What the exams test is the state's notary law: who may be a notary, what acts are permitted, identification standards, journal and seal requirements, fees, prohibited acts and penalties. Arizona's statutes, for instance, specify the stamp's elements, require a paper journal for acts on tangible records and an audiovisual recording of every remote notarial act. California's statutes fix the maximum fee per signature and the minimum age.

Commissions run for a fixed term and renewal is the notary's responsibility; New York states this explicitly. What renewal costs you differs by state and by whether you let the commission lapse: California accepts a shorter refresher course for a notary still in commission and sends a lapsed one back through the full first-time course, while a state that tests every applicant tests renewals too.