State notary law guide
Texas
Guide liveEvery claim below carries its citation, and the source it was checked against or why there is none. Sections still in verification say so rather than guess.
Fees
4 verified facts$10 for the first signature on an acknowledgment, then $1 for each additional signature.
A ceiling, not a set price. Administering an oath or affirmation is a separate $10. These amounts are inflation-adjusted by the Secretary of State every five years.
§Tex. Gov't Code §406.024(a)(5)Cross-checked · Texas SOS published fee schedule
Administering an oath or affirmation is its own $10 fee, separate from the acknowledgment tiers.
No first/additional structure here — every oath is $10, however many are administered. The same §406.024 schedule is CPI-adjustable every five years, so re-check these figures after 2028.
§Tex. Gov't Code §406.024(a)(6)Cross-checked · Texas SOS published fee schedule
Texas caps what a notary may charge for the notarial act itself, and neither the fee statute nor the Secretary of State's published fee materials address travel.
The statute prices the acts and says a notary may charge a fee only for them. It does not set a travel rate, and the state's own fee page doesn't mention travel at all — so anything charged for a trip is between you and the notary, and worth agreeing in writing before the appointment.
§Tex. Gov't Code §406.024(b)Cross-checked · Texas SOS Notary Public Educational Information (fee schedule)
An online notarization may add up to $25 on top of the regular fee.
The $25 stacks rather than replaces: the Secretary of State's own example puts a one-signature online notarization at $35. Online notaries need not charge it at all.
§Tex. Gov't Code §406.111Cross-checked · Texas SOS online notary materials
Notarial acts
2 verified factsA notary may certify a copy only of a document that isn't recordable in the public records.
Birth and death certificates, marriage licences, divorce decrees and judgments are recordable, so certified copies of those come from the issuing agency, not a notary.
§Tex. Gov't Code §406.016(a)(5)Cross-checked · Texas SOS notary materials
A Texas notary has the same authority as the county clerk to take acknowledgments, administer oaths and protest instruments.
A notary who isn't a lawyer can't give legal advice, charge for it, or pick which notarial certificate your document needs — choosing one is practicing law, so the notary completes the certificate already on the page. They also can't issue an identification card.
§Tex. Gov't Code §406.016(a), (c), (d)Cross-checked · Texas SOS, Notary FAQs
Signer ID
1 verified factA signer is identified by personal knowledge, a government ID or U.S. passport, or an introduction.
If someone introduces the signer, the notary records that person's name and mailing address. Texas sets no separate oath or personally-known requirement for the introducer.
§Tex. Gov't Code §406.014(a)(5)Cross-checked · Texas SOS notary materials
Journal & seal
2 verified factsTexas notaries keep a record book, and its entries are public information.
On payment of the copying fee a notary must provide a certified copy of any record in the book to anyone who asks. Texas requires no thumbprint, and the book may be kept electronically.
§Tex. Gov't Code §406.014(a)–(c)Cross-checked · Texas SOS notary materials
The Texas seal shows a five-point star, and it stays the notary's even if an employer paid for it.
It carries "Notary Public, State of Texas" around the star, plus the notary's name, ID number and expiry date. A notary may never give a copy of the seal to anyone. When the commission ends the seal is destroyed and the record book goes to the county clerk.
§Tex. Gov't Code §406.013Cross-checked · Texas SOS, Notary FAQs (Tex. Atty. Gen. Op. GA-0723)
Online (RON)
2 verified factsA Texas online notary must be in Texas; the signer can be anywhere.
Identity is confirmed over two-way video and audio, either from the notary's personal knowledge or by remote presentation of a photo ID plus credential analysis and identity proofing.
§Tex. Gov't Code §406.110Cross-checked · Texas SOS online notary materials
A Texas online notary keeps the record of each online notarization — including the video — for five years.
The record holds the date and time, the act, the document, each signer's name and address, how identity was established, and the fee if any was charged. The audio-video conference that established identity is part of the record, so the session is retained too.
§Tex. Gov't Code §406.108(a), (c)Cross-checked · Texas SOS, Notary FAQs
Apostille
1 verified factApostilles for Texas documents come from the Texas Secretary of State.
Texas issues a universal Apostille that works as both an authentication and an apostille. Countries outside the Apostille Convention need further authentication from the U.S. State Department.
§Texas Secretary of StateCross-checked · Texas SOS apostille guidance
Becoming a notary
5 verified factsYou must be 18, a Texas resident, and free of felony or moral-turpitude convictions — and since September 2025 you must complete the Secretary of State's own education course.
The course can only be the Secretary of State's — no private course counts toward it. A $10,000 bond goes to the Secretary of State, and the term is four years.
§Tex. Gov't Code §406.004(a); §406.006; §406.023(d); §406.010(a)Cross-checked · Texas SOS, Notary Public Eligibility Requirements
A Texas commission runs four years from the date the notary qualifies, and is good in every county.
Statewide jurisdiction, even though the county shows up everywhere else — the bond is filed with the county and the record book goes back to the county clerk at the end. The commission is the notary's for those four years regardless of who paid the fees.
§Tex. Gov't Code §406.002; §406.003Cross-checked · Texas SOS, Notary FAQs
A Texas notary may apply for reappointment no earlier than 90 days before the commission expires.
That's the earliest the state will take the application, not a deadline — nothing forces a renewal, and nothing happens at day 91 except that it's too soon to file.
§Tex. Gov't Code §406.011(a)Statute only · The Secretary of State's published notary pages and application guides explain how to renew but never state when reappointment opens. The statute is unambiguous and quoted in full.
Every Texas notary applying for reappointment must first complete the Secretary of State's continuing education course — including notaries commissioned before September 1, 2025.
The pre-2025 exemption is narrower than it's usually reported: it covers the education required for a first appointment, not the continuing education required to be reappointed. No private course satisfies either one.
§Tex. Gov't Code §406.011(c); §406.023(d)(1), (3), (4)Cross-checked · Texas SOS, Submit or Renew a Traditional Notary Application (Rev. 12/16/2025)
A Texas notary who isn't reappointed by the expiration date is appointed for a new term running four years from the new qualification date.
The cost of lapsing is the gap, not a harder path — same application, same education either way. But the old term ends on its expiration date, and nothing in Chapter 406 lets anyone notarize past it.
§Tex. Gov't Code §406.011(b); §406.002Cross-checked · Texas SOS, Submit or Renew a Traditional Notary Application (Rev. 12/16/2025)
Complaints
1 verified factThe Secretary of State enforces notary law in Texas and takes complaints through its Notary Portal.
It can reprimand, suspend or revoke a commission — it can't award damages, obtain restitution, or rule on whether your document is valid. Complaints can't be anonymous.
§Tex. Gov't Code §406.009; 1 TAC §87.32Cross-checked · Texas SOS, Notary Complaints and Notary Complaint FAQs
Straight answer · What these guides are
Reference, not legal advice.
These guides explain how notarization works: the fees, the acts, the process. They won't tell you which document your situation needs, and neither will any notary. Notaries public are not attorneys and cannot give legal or immigration advice. For that, talk to a lawyer.
The same rule that governs our directory governs these pages: we publish what the state publishes, cite it, and stop there.