Arizona Notary Rules: Requirements, Fees, and Journal Duties

Arizona notary rules cover who can hold a commission, how to verify signers, what your seal and journal must contain, what you can charge, what you’re forbidden from doing, and what happens when you break the rules. As of July 1, 2025, every new and renewing notary must also pass a competency exam before being commissioned.¹ The requirements below come from the Arizona Revised Statutes and the Secretary of State’s administrative rules.

Who Can Become an Arizona Notary

You must be at least 18, an Arizona resident who claims the state as your primary residence on tax returns, able to read, write, and understand English, and either a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.² A felony conviction disqualifies you unless your civil rights have been restored, and a lesser offense involving dishonesty or conduct incompatible with notary duties can also be grounds for denial.³

Everyone, new or renewing, must now pass a competency exam administered through Prometric before submitting an application. You register with Prometric, receive a Candidate ID Number, and include it with your application.² The application, a signed and notarized surety bond with the oath of office, and a $43 filing fee all go to the Secretary of State’s Phoenix office together. Incomplete submissions are not processed.⁴

The Surety Bond and Your Personal Liability

Arizona requires every notary to file a surety bond before the commission takes effect.⁵ The bond protects the public, not you. If a signer suffers financial harm from your error or misconduct, they can claim against the bond, and if the bonding company pays, you owe that money back to the bonding company.⁴ Errors and omissions insurance, which covers you personally, is not required but is what many notaries carry to offset that exposure.

What Your Notary Seal Must Show

Your official seal must be a rubber stamp that produces a legible, photographically reproducible image in dark ink. An embossed seal alone does not satisfy Arizona law.⁶ The stamp must contain all six of the following:

Your name exactly as it appears on your commission certificate
The words “Notary Public”
Your commission county
The Great Seal of Arizona
Your commission number
Your commission expiration date

You are personally responsible for keeping the seal secure. If it is lost, stolen, or compromised, notify the Secretary of State’s office within 10 days.⁶

Maximum Fees You Can Charge

Arizona caps notarial fees per act. The maximums are $10 per notary signature for an acknowledgment, $10 per page for a copy certification, and $10 for an oath or affirmation. Jurats are capped lower, at $2 per signature.⁷ You can charge less or nothing at all, but you must be consistent and post your fee schedule where signers can see it. Charging more than the authorized fee is grounds for discipline.³

Verifying a Signer’s Identity

Before any notarial act, you must have “satisfactory evidence” of the signer’s identity. That means either your own personal knowledge of the signer or a government-issued, current ID with a photograph, such as an Arizona driver’s license, U.S. passport, or military ID.⁸ If the signer has no acceptable ID, a credible witness can vouch for them. For remote notarizations, that witness must have personal knowledge of the signer, and you must either know the witness personally or verify them through multi-factor authentication.⁹

Identity isn’t the whole check. You also have to assess whether the signer appears willing and aware. If someone seems coerced, confused, or impaired, refuse to proceed.

Signers Who Can’t Sign or Don’t Speak English

Signatures by Mark and Directed Signatures

Arizona lets you notarize a thumbprint or an “X” as a valid signature, even if the signer is physically able to write. No witness is needed, and the signer’s name doesn’t need to be written near the mark. If someone cannot sign at all, they can direct another person to sign for them, and you add a notation such as “Signature affixed by [name] at the direction of [name of signer].”⁶

Translators and Foreign-Language Documents

Arizona expressly allows you to communicate with a signer through a translator. The translator must be physically present with you and the signer and must communicate directly with each of you in languages the translator understands. The notarial certificate itself must always be in a language you can read and write. You can also notarize a translation of a foreign-language original, but only if the translator signs an affidavit swearing the translation is accurate and complete, and the notarized translation and affidavit are attached to the original.¹⁰

Keeping Your Journal

A paper journal is required for all notarial acts on tangible records. For acts on electronic records, either a paper or electronic journal is allowed. You may keep only one paper journal at a time, and entries must appear in chronological order.⁸ Each entry must include:

The date of the notarial act
A description of the document and the type of act performed
The signer’s full name and address
The type of identification used, including issuing agency and expiration date, or a note that personal knowledge was used
The signer’s signature, if the journal is paper

A thumbprint is optional. Arizona does not require it, though some notaries collect one as an added safeguard.⁶ You must keep all journal records for at least five years after the date of each notarial act.¹¹

Impartiality and Conflicts of Interest

A notary is an impartial witness. You cannot notarize your own signature or the signature of anyone related to you, and you cannot have any financial or beneficial interest in the transaction, no matter how small.⁶ If you stand to gain anything from the document, decline the act and refer the signer elsewhere.

Remote Online Notarization

Arizona allows remote online notarization, where the signer appears by audio-video rather than in person. RON requires separate approval from the Secretary of State, including specialized training and an additional exam beyond the general competency exam.¹² Sessions must run on an approved platform with multi-factor authentication and tamper-evident protections, and the full audio-video recording must be retained for at least five years.¹³ Electronic journals for remote acts must also be kept for at least five years after the last recorded act.

Identity verification is stricter for remote acts. The signer must pass credential analysis of a government-issued ID and, if you lack satisfactory evidence of identity, multi-factor authentication as well.⁹ RON applies only to electronic documents. You cannot use it for a paper record.

What You Can’t Do

A commission does not authorize you to draft legal documents, give legal advice, or practice law. Those prohibitions carry extra weight in immigration matters: you cannot act as an immigration consultant, represent anyone in immigration proceedings, or accept payment for either.¹⁴

If you advertise notary services in any form and are not a licensed attorney, you must prominently display this disclaimer in every language used in the advertisement: “I am not an attorney licensed to practice law in this state. I am not allowed to draft legal records, give advice on legal matters, including immigration, or charge a fee for those activities.”¹⁴

Penalties for Breaking the Rules

The Secretary of State can deny, refuse to renew, suspend, revoke, or place conditions on a commission for any act showing you lack competence or reliability. If your commission is revoked, you cannot reapply for one year.³

Immigration-related violations are the harshest. Performing unauthorized immigration law services triggers a civil penalty of up to $1,000 and permanent revocation. Violating the advertising disclaimer requirements is a class 6 felony with permanent revocation.¹⁴ The underlying conduct of giving immigration advice is punished with a fine; failing to post the required disclaimer when advertising is a felony.

Administrative action does not block separate criminal charges or civil lawsuits. If your negligence causes financial harm, the injured party can claim against your surety bond and, if the loss exceeds the bond, sue you personally for the difference.³

When Your Commission Ends

When your commission expires, you resign, you choose not to renew, or your commission is revoked, you must deliver your physical stamping device, journal, and records to the Secretary of State by certified mail or another method that provides a receipt.¹¹ Holding onto a seal after your authority has lapsed creates a risk of unauthorized use, which is exactly what the turn-in requirement is meant to prevent.

1
Arizona Secretary of State. Notary
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Arizona Secretary of State. Become a New Arizona Notary
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Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 41-271 – Grounds to Deny, Refuse to Renew, Revoke, Suspend or Condition Commission of Notary Public
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Arizona Secretary of State. Notary Resources
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Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 41-315 – Bond
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Arizona Secretary of State. Arizona Notary Public Reference Manual
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Legal Information Institute. Arizona Admin Code R2-12-1102 – Notary Public Fees
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Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 41-319 – Journal
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Legal Information Institute. Arizona Admin Code R2-12-1305 – Standards for Identity Verification
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Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 41-313 – Duties
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Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 41-317 – Resignation, Delivering Notary Seal, Notarial Journal and Records
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Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 41-376 – Remote Online Notarization Procedures
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Arizona Secretary of State. Remote Online Notary Rules
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Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 41-273 – Prohibited Acts, Civil Penalty, Violation, Classification