Georgia Notary Laws: Requirements, Fees, and Penalties

Georgia notary laws sit in Title 45, Chapter 17 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, and they cover every stage of the job: who can be commissioned, what a notary is allowed to do, how identities must be verified, what records must be kept, what fees can be charged, and what happens when the rules are broken. The penalties climb quickly, from misdemeanor on a first violation to a felony carrying one to five years in prison on a third.

What a Georgia Notary Can and Cannot Do

A Georgia notary commission is statewide. You can act anywhere in Georgia, not only in your county of appointment. The statutory powers are witnessing or attesting signatures on deeds and other written instruments, taking acknowledgments, administering oaths and affirmations, witnessing affidavits, taking verifications under oath, and making certified copies of original documents that aren’t available from a public records office.¹

Two boundaries catch people out. Georgia notaries are not authorized to take depositions, despite a widespread assumption otherwise. And the certified-copy power is narrow: it only applies to originals that aren’t public records and aren’t available from another official source, and the notary must personally supervise the photocopying.

A non-attorney notary also cannot give legal advice, counsel on immigration matters, or advertise as a “legal consultant.” Any advertising by a non-attorney notary must carry a prominent disclaimer, in every language used in the ad: “I am not an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of Georgia, and I may not give legal advice or accept fees for legal advice.”²

Who Can Become a Notary in Georgia

To qualify, you must be at least 18, a U.S. citizen or legal resident, a legal resident of the county where you apply, able to read and write English, and able to provide a working telephone number.³ Georgia does not require a surety bond.⁴

Residents of states that border Georgia can be commissioned if they carry on a business, profession, or regular employment in a Georgia county. Nonresidents apply through the clerk of superior court in the county where they work, not where they live.⁵

Application, Training, and Oath

Applications go to the clerk of superior court and require endorsements from character references who live in the same county, have known you at least 30 days, and are not related to you. Since January 1, 2025, every applicant must complete an educational training course on notary duties before an initial appointment.⁶ The application fee runs between $40 and $55 depending on the county.⁴

Before you can perform any notarial acts, you take an oath before the clerk of superior court. The oath goes into the clerk’s minutes and includes a sworn commitment to faithfully perform the duties of the office and a declaration that you hold no unaccounted-for public money belonging to the state.⁷

Term and Renewal

Commissions run for four years and are issued by the clerk of superior court in your county of residence. The clerk can revoke a commission at any time.⁸ You can file a renewal application up to 30 days before your current term expires, and since January 1, 2025 you must also complete the training course again within the 30 days before each renewal appointment.⁶ Some clerks allow renewal by mail at their discretion. Acting as a notary after your commission has expired is unlawful.

Verifying a Signer’s Identity

Before performing any notarial act, you have to confirm the identity of the person signing, swearing, or affirming. Georgia allows two methods: a government-issued photo ID, or personal knowledge of the individual.¹ Acceptable IDs include a valid driver’s license, a state-issued personal identification card, or a military ID such as a Veterans Health Identification Card.

Georgia also permits credible witnesses. If a signer lacks acceptable identification, someone the notary personally knows can vouch for the signer’s identity. The credible witness must take an oath or affirmation, must personally know the signer, and should have no financial interest in the transaction. This is meant for genuine situations, not for convenience.

The Seal

Every official notarial act must be documented with the notary’s seal. For anyone commissioned or renewed after July 1, 1985, the seal must show the notary’s name, the words “Notary Public,” the state name, and the county of appointment.⁹ It can be a metal embosser or a rubber ink stamp.

You cannot buy a seal without presenting your duplicate original certificate of appointment from the clerk of superior court to the supplier.⁸ If you renew and the details on your existing seal still match your new certificate exactly, you can keep using it.

If your seal is lost or stolen, send written notice to the appointing clerk of superior court within ten days, with a copy to the Georgia Superior Court Clerks’ Cooperative Authority.¹⁰ A missing seal in the wrong hands can be used to forge notarizations, and the ten-day window is a firm statutory requirement.

What a Notary Can Charge

Fees are capped by statute. You may charge $2 for administering an oath, $2 for each attendance on a person to make proof and certify the same, and $2 for every other certificate. The maximum for any single service is $4, covering the notarial act plus attendance and certification when applicable.¹¹

You don’t have to charge anything, but you do have to tell the person requesting the service what fees are permitted before you perform the act. Non-attorney notaries who advertise must also prominently post the statutory fee schedule at their place of business, in English and in any other language used in the advertising.²

Journal Entries for Self-Filers

As of January 1, 2025, Georgia notaries must keep a written or electronic journal with an entry for each notarial act performed at the request of a “self-filer,” meaning someone who brings a document directly to the notary rather than through a title company, law office, or similar intermediary.¹² Each self-filer entry must include:

The self-filer’s name, address, and telephone number
The date, time, and location of the notarization
The type of government-issued photo ID presented, unless identity was confirmed by personal knowledge
Identifying details from the ID, such as the ID number
The self-filer’s signature
The type of document presented for notarization

Even for acts that fall outside the self-filer mandate, keeping detailed records protects you if a notarization is later challenged.

Conduct That Will Get a Notary in Trouble

A notary is disqualified from performing a notarial act if the notary is a signer on the document, a party to it, or a party to the underlying transaction.¹ Notarizing for a family member is not expressly prohibited, but any financial interest in the transaction disqualifies you.

A notary must never sign a notarial certificate containing a statement the notary knows to be false, and must never act with intent to deceive or defraud. That rules out backdating, notarizing when the signer isn’t physically present, and certifying an identity you haven’t actually verified.

Penalties for Violating Georgia Notary Laws

Executing a notarial certificate the notary knows to be false, or acting with intent to deceive, is a misdemeanor.¹³

Performing notarial services without complying with the Notary Public Code carries a separate, escalating penalty:

First or second conviction: misdemeanor.
Third or subsequent conviction: felony, punishable by one to five years in prison, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.¹³

Misrepresentation violations, such as falsely claiming to be a legal consultant, can also trigger enforcement under Georgia’s deceptive trade practices statute, and the Attorney General or a prosecuting attorney can seek an injunction.² The clerk of superior court can also revoke a commission at any time.⁸

Criminal penalties are only part of the exposure. A notary whose errors or misconduct harm someone can be sued civilly for damages. Failing to verify identity, for instance, can enable a fraudulent transaction and leave the notary personally on the hook. Georgia does not require errors and omissions insurance, but with the statutory fee cap at $4 per service, a single claim can easily dwarf whatever you were paid to perform the act that produced it. An E&O policy covers legal defense costs and potential settlements or judgments from honest mistakes.

Remote Online Notarization

Georgia still generally requires the signer to appear in person for standard notarial acts. The General Assembly has considered multiple bills to authorize remote online notarization using audio-video technology, and has introduced language defining the term and proposing frameworks for secure communication and identity verification, but the status of those proposals has shifted across sessions. If you need a remote notarization, confirm the current rules with the GSCCCA or the clerk of superior court in your county before relying on any online service.

1
Justia. Georgia Code 45-17-8 – Powers and Duties Generally
2
Justia. Georgia Code 45-17-8.2 – Misrepresentation Prohibited
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Justia. Georgia Code 45-17-2 – Qualifications of Notaries
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Georgia Superior Court Clerks’ Cooperative Authority. General Notary Information
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Justia. Georgia Code 45-17-7 – Commissioning of Nonresidents as Notaries Public
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Georgia Superior Court Clerks’ Cooperative Authority. Notary Public Application
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Justia. Georgia Code 45-17-3 – Oath of Office
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Justia. Georgia Code 45-17-5 – Term of Office; Revocation
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Justia. Georgia Code 45-17-6 – Seal of Office
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Justia. Georgia Code 45-17-14 – Notice of Loss or Theft of Notarial Seal
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Justia. Georgia Code 45-17-11 – Fees of Notaries
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Georgia Superior Court Clerks’ Cooperative Authority. Georgia Notary Law
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Justia. Georgia Code 45-17-20 – Penalty; Prosecution of Violations of Article