CT Notary Public Manual: Eligibility, Exam, and Notarial Acts

The Connecticut Notary Public Manual is the official guide from the Secretary of the State that tells you how to become a notary, what a notary is allowed to do, and how to stay in compliance once you are commissioned. It sets out eligibility rules, the application and exam process, the four types of notarial acts, identification standards, and conduct that can cost you your commission. The current edition also incorporates Public Act 23-28, which authorized remote online notarization starting October 1, 2023.¹

Where to Download the Manual

The manual is a free PDF on the Secretary of the State’s website. Download the current edition directly from that source rather than a copy posted on a town clerk’s page or a third-party site, because the manual is updated when the legislature changes the law and older copies circulate online. You need it before you apply. The notary exam pulls its questions straight from the material inside.¹

Who Can Become a Connecticut Notary

The qualifications sit in CGS § 3-94b. To apply you must be at least 18, live in Connecticut or maintain your principal place of business here at the time of application and appointment, pass the written exam, and provide a personal recommendation from someone who has known you for at least one year and is not a legal relative.

The Secretary of the State can deny an application based on a felony conviction, a conviction for a crime involving dishonesty, revocation or suspension of a notary commission or professional license in any state, or official misconduct. The application asks character and fitness questions covering those areas, and a false or incomplete answer is itself grounds for denial.²

Applying and Passing the Exam

All new applications go through the Secretary of the State’s eLicense online portal. Create an account with a valid email, complete the application, and pay the non-refundable statutory fee of $120 by credit or debit card (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover) or ACH from a checking account. Have your recommender’s contact information ready before you start, because the application asks for it.¹

The exam is built into the application itself and is open-book. You can reference the manual and the statutes while you take it. Do not treat that as license to skim, though. The system will not let you submit until every question is answered correctly, so there is no partial passing score. Questions cover prohibited acts, proper identification, the different notarial acts, and recording requirements. Reading the manual through before you sit down saves real time.¹

Recording Your Commission With the Town Clerk

Approval brings a certificate of appointment by email, but you cannot perform any notarial acts until you take the oath of office and record both the oath and the certificate with your local town clerk. Residents file with the clerk of the town where they live. Non-residents whose principal place of business is in Connecticut file with the clerk of that town. If your residence and principal place of business are in different Connecticut towns, you may also record with the second clerk.³

You have 30 days from receiving your certificate to complete recording. Town clerks are authorized to administer oaths, so most new notaries take the oath and file the paperwork in the same visit.¹ The statute does not say that missing the 30-day window voids the commission or invalidates acts you perform afterward. Recording is still required, and without it, town clerks cannot certify your authority when someone needs to verify a document you notarized.³

Commission Term and Renewal

A Connecticut commission runs five years. Your term begins on the appointment date and ends on the last day of the month five years later.³ It ends early if the Secretary suspends or terminates it, you resign, or you stop being a Connecticut resident without keeping a principal place of business in the state.

About 90 days before expiration, the Secretary’s office sends a renewal notice with a PIN for fast-track renewal through eLicense. You can renew in the 90 days before expiration or up to 90 days after. Renewals do not require retaking the exam. If your commission has been expired for more than 90 days, you need to contact the Secretary’s office to request reinstatement. Even on renewal you still take a new oath and record the certificate with your town clerk within 30 days.¹

The Four Notarial Acts

Connecticut law recognizes four types of notarial acts under CGS § 3-94a. The wording on the certificate has to match the act you actually performed, because using the wrong form can cause a court or recording office to reject the document.

Acknowledgment. The signer appears before you and confirms they signed the document voluntarily for its stated purpose. You verify identity but do not administer an oath. Standard for deeds and powers of attorney.
Jurat. The signer appears, signs in your presence, and swears or affirms that the contents are true. Typical for affidavits and sworn statements.
Oath or affirmation. You certify that a person made a vow on penalty of perjury in your presence. An oath invokes a Supreme Being; an affirmation does not, as allowed under CGS § 1-23.
Copy certification. You compare a copy to the original and certify that the copy is complete and accurate. This cannot be used for vital records such as birth certificates, documents that state or local employees are required to record, or federal documents that are prohibited from being copied.

⁴

Verifying a Signer’s Identity

Every act requires that you confirm the signer is who they claim to be. Connecticut recognizes two methods: personal knowledge of the person or satisfactory evidence of identity.⁴ Personal knowledge means enough prior interaction that you have no reasonable doubt about identity. For acknowledgments, CGS § 1-32 makes the same point: the officer taking the acknowledgment must know or have satisfactory evidence that the signer is the person described.⁵

In practice that usually means a current government-issued photo ID such as a driver’s license or passport. If the signer has no acceptable identification, a credible witness who personally knows the signer and has valid ID may vouch under oath. The credible witness cannot have a financial interest in the document and cannot be named in it.

Seal, Certificate, and Journal

Connecticut does not require notaries to use a seal. If you use one, it must include your name, the words “Notary Public,” and “Connecticut”; a commission expiration date is optional but common. If you do not use a seal, you must legibly print or type “Notary Public” and your commission expiration date near your signature on every notarized document.

Every notarial act needs a certificate showing the venue (state and county), the date, your signature, and either your seal or the printed information described above. The certificate wording has to match the act. An acknowledgment certificate on a document that needed a jurat, or the reverse, can get the document rejected by a court or recorder.⁶

Connecticut does not require a journal either, but keeping one is a strong protection if a notarization is ever challenged. A useful entry records the date and time, the type of document, the signer’s name and address, the type of identification presented along with its serial number and expiration date, and any fee charged. Years later, that record may be your only defense against a claim that the signer never appeared before you.

Fees and Conduct That Can Cost You Your Commission

Connecticut caps the fee for a notarial act at $5. A 2025 legislative proposal sought to raise the cap to $10; confirm the current figure with the Secretary of the State’s office before you charge more than $5.

Notaries serve the public and cannot unreasonably refuse to perform an act for someone who requests one and pays the fee. Beyond that general duty, the statutes and manual identify conduct that can lead to suspension or revocation:

Notarizing your own documents or any transaction to which you are a party.
Notarizing documents in which you have a financial interest or that benefit you personally.
Giving legal advice if you are not a licensed attorney, including advice on the legal effect of a document or on immigration matters. Non-attorney notaries serving communities where “notario público” implies attorney-level authority need to be especially careful here.
Making false or incomplete statements on your original application or a renewal.

Official misconduct under CGS § 3-94a covers performing a prohibited act, failing to perform a required act, or carrying out duties negligently or against the public interest.⁴

Remote Online Notarization

Since October 1, 2023, Connecticut notaries have been able to perform remote online notarizations under Public Act 23-28. The signer is not physically present. Instead, both of you appear through live audio-video technology and must be able to see and hear each other in real time, with accommodations for signers who have vision, hearing, or speech impairments.

Remote acts carry additional obligations, including identity verification through the platform and secure recording of the session. Platform approval, recording retention, and electronic signature rules each have their own requirements. If you plan to offer remote notarizations, review the current manual and the Secretary of the State’s remote-notarization guidance in full before you start.

If You Move

Notify the Secretary of the State in writing within 30 days of any address change in Connecticut, providing both old and new addresses with a $15 fee. If your move takes you to a different municipality, the Secretary issues a replacement certificate, which you must record with the new town clerk within 30 days of receiving it.² Moving out of Connecticut ends your commission unless you maintain a principal place of business in the state.³

1
Connecticut Secretary of the State. Notary Public Licensing
2
Connecticut General Assembly. Connecticut General Statutes Chapter 33 – Secretary
3
Justia. Connecticut Code 3-94c – Term of Office of Notary, Recording of Certificate and Oath
4
Justia. Connecticut Code 3-94a – Notaries Public, Definitions
5
Connecticut General Assembly. Connecticut Code Chapter 6 – Uniform Acknowledgment Act
6
Justia. Connecticut Code 1-34 – Certificate of Officer