The Arizona notary search is a free public lookup run by the Arizona Secretary of State that lets you confirm whether a notary holds a valid commission. You can search by name, commission number, or county, and the result tells you immediately whether that person is authorized to perform notarial acts in Arizona and whether the commission was active on the date they signed your document.
Where to Run the Search
The Secretary of State’s office commissions every notary in Arizona and keeps the public database of active and past commissions.1Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes Title 41-312 – Appointment; Term; Oath and Bond; Training Courses; Fee The tool lives on the Secretary of State’s website at azsos.gov, inside the Notary section. Look for the “Notary Public Search” link under Notary Resources. There’s no login, no account, and no fee.
The database updates as new commissions are issued and as commissions expire, get suspended, or get revoked. A commission issued in the past few days may not show up yet, but for almost every search the results reflect current status.
What to Type In
Searching by commission number is the most reliable approach. Every Arizona notary has a unique commission number, and that number must appear on the notary’s official seal along with the notary’s full name, the county of commission, and the commission expiration date.2Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes Title 41-313 – Duties The seal also carries the words “notary public” and the Great Seal of Arizona.3Arizona Secretary of State. Arizona Notary Public Reference Manual
If you’re verifying a document that’s already been notarized, pull the commission number and name straight off the seal impression. That stamp holds exactly the data the database expects. You can also search by name alone, but common names return multiple matches. Adding the county of commission narrows the list fast.
Reading the Status in Your Results
The results page lists the notary’s name, commission number, effective dates, and current commission status. The status is the field that answers your question.
- Active. The notary holds a valid commission and can perform notarial acts anywhere in Arizona, not just the county of commission.1Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes Title 41-312 – Appointment; Term; Oath and Bond; Training Courses; Fee
- Expired. The four-year commission term ran out and was not renewed. The notary has no authority to notarize.
- Resigned. The notary voluntarily gave up the commission before it expired.
- Revoked. The Secretary of State terminated the commission, typically for fraud, dishonesty, or charging over the legal fee cap.4Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes Title 41-330 – Grounds for Refusal
The record also shows whether the notary is authorized for Electronic Notarization or Remote Online Notarization. Not every active notary has that authorization, so check for the designation if remote service is what you need.
Check the Date on the Document Against the Expiration
An Arizona notary commission lasts exactly four years.1Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes Title 41-312 – Appointment; Term; Oath and Bond; Training Courses; Fee A notary whose commission has expired must stop notarizing until a new commission certificate arrives, even if a renewal application is already pending.5Arizona Secretary of State. Services for Existing Notaries Any notarization performed after the expiration date is invalid.
When you’re verifying a signed document, don’t just check whether the notary is active today. Compare the notarization date on the document to the commission’s effective and expiration dates in the database. If the signing fell outside that window, the notarization carries no legal weight and the document may need to be re-executed with a currently commissioned notary.
What a Revoked or Suspended Commission Means
The Secretary of State can suspend a commission for 30 to 180 days or revoke it entirely. Grounds include fraud, dishonesty, felony convictions, and charging fees above the legal maximum.4Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes Title 41-330 – Grounds for Refusal A notary whose commission is revoked cannot reapply for at least a year, and the Secretary of State can refuse to reappoint them indefinitely. If the search shows the commission was already revoked or suspended on the day your document was signed, that notarization has no legal effect, regardless of how the seal looks on the page.
Confirming Remote Online Notarization Authority
Arizona allows qualifying notaries to perform notarizations entirely over a live video call. The notary must be physically in Arizona during the session, though the signer can be anywhere.6Arizona Secretary of State. Remote Online Notary Rules
Remote Online Notarization authority is separate from a standard commission. The notary has to apply to the Secretary of State, name the technology platform they plan to use, and get written approval before performing any remote notarizations. The notary database shows whether that authorization is in place. If you need a remote notarization or you’re verifying one that already happened, check the RON flag on the record, not just the commission status. A notary with a valid commission but no RON authorization can still notarize in person; they cannot do it over video.
If the Search Returns Nothing
A name that produces no match deserves a second pass before you conclude the person isn’t commissioned. Try the commission number from the seal directly, since names on commissions sometimes differ from the name a notary uses day to day. Drop the county filter if you added one; a notary commissioned in one Arizona county can work statewide, and a mismatch there won’t block their authority but can block your search. If a very recent commission still doesn’t appear, give the database a few days to catch up.
If none of that produces a result, treat the absence as meaningful. The Arizona Secretary of State’s database is the authoritative list of commissioned notaries in the state. A notary who isn’t in it isn’t commissioned here.