Arizona Notary Manual: Commission, Seal, and Journal

The Arizona Notary Public Reference Manual is the Secretary of State’s official handbook for anyone holding or seeking a notary commission in the state, and Arizona law requires every commissioned notary to keep a copy on hand throughout the four-year term.¹ It walks through eligibility, the exam that took effect July 1, 2025, the bond and filing fee, seal and journal rules, permitted acts and their fee caps, remote online notarization, and what happens when a commission ends. The exam itself is drawn directly from the manual, so reading it is not optional.²

Who Qualifies for a Commission

Under A.R.S. § 41-269, an applicant must be at least 18, a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, an Arizona resident for income tax purposes who claims Arizona as a primary residence on both state and federal returns, able to read, write, and understand English, and free of any felony conviction.³ A limited exception for the felony bar exists under A.R.S. § 41-271, allowing the Secretary of State to reconsider based on the applicant’s circumstances.

The residency test is stricter than a mailing address. If you file your income taxes in another state, you do not qualify, even if you live part of the year in Arizona.

The Notary Exam

Since July 1, 2025, every applicant for a new or renewed commission must pass a proctored exam before the Secretary of State will issue the commission. The test contains 45 questions pulled from the Reference Manual, requires an 80% score, and must be finished within 60 minutes.²

It is open-book, but only in a specific sense. A digital copy of the manual is built into the testing platform during the session. You cannot bring a printed copy to a testing center or keep one nearby during remote proctoring. Prometric administers the exam at ten Arizona testing sites and remotely. The fee is $46.75 per attempt. Fail, and you wait 30 days before retaking it.²

Bond, Application, and Filing Fee

Before applying, you must obtain a $5,000 surety bond from a licensed insurance company. The bond protects the public from errors or misconduct during your term, and its effective and expiration dates must be exactly four years apart minus one day.³ Bond premiums typically run $50 to $100.

Once you have passed the exam and secured the bond, you submit three items together to the Secretary of State:

The original signed notary application
The original notarized bond
A $43 filing fee

The $43 is a single flat fee, not a split of separate charges.² Processing takes roughly four weeks, after which the commission certificate arrives by mail.

Your Seal

Every Arizona notary must obtain an official rubber stamp before performing any notarial act. The stamp can be any shape but must produce an impression no larger than one and a half inches tall by two and a half inches wide.⁴ It must show the words “Notary Public,” your name as it appears on the application, your commission county, the Great Seal of the State of Arizona, your commission number, and your expiration date.

Ink must be dark enough to reproduce clearly on copiers, faxes, and scanners. Black, dark blue, dark purple, and dark brown are acceptable. Red, green, and novelty inks containing glitter or other foreign objects are not. An embossing seal is allowed only as an addition to the rubber stamp, never as a replacement for it.⁴

Your Journal

Arizona law requires every notary to keep a journal recording all notarial acts in chronological order. Paper notarizations must be logged in a paper journal. Electronic notarizations may use either a paper or electronic journal.⁵

Each entry must include, at minimum, the date of the act, a description of the document and the type of act performed, the signer’s signature in a paper journal, and the fee charged, if any. The statute requires the date but does not specifically require the time, though the Reference Manual encourages recording it. The journal is a public record and can be inspected or subpoenaed, so entries must be accurate.⁵

Identifying Signers and Performing Acts

Before performing any notarial act, you must verify the signer’s identity with satisfactory evidence: an unexpired government-issued identification document containing a photograph and signature. Acceptable options include a driver license or non-operating ID from any U.S. state or territory, a U.S. passport, or another unexpired ID issued by the federal government, a state, or a tribal government that carries a photograph, signature, and physical description.

If the signer has no qualifying ID, Arizona allows identification through a credible witness. The witness must appear in person, be someone whose own identity you can confirm by ID or personal knowledge, and swear to the signer’s identity.⁶ Note the credible witness in your journal entry.

For traditional notarizations, the signer must be physically present. Video appearance is not permitted for a traditional act. If the signer is not in the room, refuse the notarization.¹ The only lawful path for remote appearance is remote online notarization, discussed below.

Maximum Fees

Arizona caps what a notary may charge, and exceeding the caps is grounds for revocation.⁷ The limits are:

Acknowledgment or jurat: up to $10 per notary signature
Copy certification: up to $10 per page
Certified oath or affirmation: up to $10 per act

Charging nothing is also permitted, and many employer-sponsored notaries provide the service free.⁸

What You Cannot Do

An Arizona notary acts as an impartial witness, and the law draws firm lines around conflicts. You may not notarize a document to which you are a party, one where you are an officer of a named party, or one that would give you a direct financial benefit beyond your lawful notary fee. You also cannot notarize a document in which your spouse is a party or holds a direct beneficial interest.

Notarizing for other family members is not banned outright, but the Secretary of State recommends against it. A court that later finds the notarization lacked impartiality can declare the document voidable, which becomes a serious risk with deeds, wills, and powers of attorney.

The other line non-attorney notaries often cross is the unauthorized practice of law. You cannot advise a signer on which document they need, recommend a type of notarization, explain a document’s legal effect, or help fill out legal paperwork. Arizona also specifically prohibits non-attorney notaries from advertising as, or using the title, “Notario Publico,” which can mislead Spanish-speaking clients into believing the notary is a licensed legal professional.

Remote Online Notarization

A.R.S. § 41-263 and the Secretary of State’s administrative rules allow notaries to perform notarizations remotely with audio-visual technology. You must hold a traditional commission first, then register separately as a remote online notary.⁹ Registration requires identifying each technology platform you will use and providing an exemplar of your electronic signature and a description of your electronic seal, which carries the same information as your physical stamp but is embedded in the digital file.

Remote sessions must be recorded, and the audio-visual recording must be retained for at least five years. Recordings and any electronic journal entries must be stored so that unauthorized access or tampering is prevented. Identity verification and record-keeping standards match those for in-person work, with the platform handling credential analysis and knowledge-based authentication.

Discipline and Losing Your Commission

Under A.R.S. § 41-271, the Secretary of State can deny, revoke, suspend, or place conditions on a commission. Grounds include:⁷

Fraudulent or dishonest statements on the application
A felony conviction, or a conviction for a crime involving fraud, dishonesty, or deceit
Failing to perform any duty required by statute or Secretary of State rule
Misleading advertising or claiming powers you do not have
Charging above the statutory fee caps
Failing to maintain the surety bond
Refusing to cooperate with a Secretary of State or Attorney General investigation

A revoked notary cannot reapply for one year. You are entitled to notice and a hearing before any adverse action takes effect, and a denial or revocation is an appealable agency action. The surety bond is not personal protection: if a claim is paid, the bonding company reimburses the injured party and then seeks reimbursement from you.

Renewing Your Commission

Renewal opens up to two months before the current commission expires and follows the same steps as the initial application: pass the exam, buy a new four-year bond, submit the signed application with the original notarized bond, and pay the $43 filing fee.¹⁰

One trap catches renewing notaries. If you changed your mailing, home, or business address more than 30 days ago and never reported it, you owe a $25 civil penalty with the renewal application. Without that payment, processing stalls.¹⁰

When Your Commission Ends

When a commission expires without renewal, or when a notary resigns or is revoked, the physical stamping device, the notarial journal, and all related records must be sent to the Secretary of State by certified mail or another method that provides a delivery receipt.¹¹

If a notary dies, the same obligation falls on the personal representative of the estate. Failing to turn over these materials within three months carries a statutory penalty of $50 to $500, which becomes a real problem if someone later needs journal records for a legal proceeding.¹¹

1
Arizona Secretary of State. Arizona Notary Public Reference Manual
2
Arizona Secretary of State. Notary
3
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 41-269 – Commission as Notary Public; Confidential Information; Qualifications; Assurance; No Immunity or Benefit
4
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 41-321 – Obtaining a Seal; Violation; Classification
5
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 41-319 – Journal
6
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 41-255 – Identification of Individual
7
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 41-271 – Grounds for Denial, Refusal to Renew, Revocation, Suspension, or Conditioning of Commission
8
Arizona Secretary of State. Notary Public Services
9
Arizona Secretary of State. Arizona Administrative Code Title 2, Chapter 12 – Remote Online Notarization
10
Arizona Secretary of State. Existing Notaries
11
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 41-317 – Resignation; Delivering Notary Seal, Notarial Journal and Records