The Louisiana notary exam is widely reported to contain 100 questions, though the Secretary of State does not publish the exact count in its public exam materials. What the office does confirm is the format, the length, and the rules around what you can bring, and those matter as much as the raw number when you sit down to take it.
What the Questions Look Like
The test uses a mix of multiple-choice questions and scenario-based items. A scenario section lays out a detailed fact pattern and then asks several questions tied to that same set of facts. The point is to see whether you can reason through a transaction the way a working notary would, not just recall isolated rules.
The Secretary of State’s office describes the exam as measuring “the applicant’s practical comprehension of Louisiana notarial law, including specific notarial acts and related instruments.”1Louisiana Secretary of State. Get Examination Information A single scenario can pull in several areas of law at once. A married couple selling inherited property, for example, brings matrimonial regimes, successions, and sales law into one fact pattern.
How Long You Have and What You Can Bring
The exam runs five hours. You manage your own time inside that window, and any breaks you take come out of the same clock.2Louisiana State University. Notary Exam Information
It is open-book, but “open-book” is narrow. The only reference you may bring is the current edition of the official study guide, Fundamentals of Louisiana Notarial Law and Practice. Bringing any other reference is treated as cheating and gets you dismissed. The 2026 edition costs $100 and is sold directly by the Secretary of State.3Louisiana Secretary of State. Prepare for the Notary Exam
You can highlight, annotate, and tab your copy, but the tab rules are specific. Only self-adhesive, permanently attached, clear plastic tabs are allowed, one per page, no longer than two inches. Post-its, sticky tabs, and sheet protectors are prohibited. No loose paper, nothing stapled or glued in. Cell phones, smart watches, timers, and all electronic devices must be off before testing starts. If your phone rings, vibrates, or sounds an alarm at any point, including during a break, your test will not be scored.1Louisiana Secretary of State. Get Examination Information
What Score You Need and What Happens If You Miss
You need 75% to pass. The Secretary of State’s published statistics apply the same cutoff to every administration.4Louisiana Secretary of State. Notary Exam Statistics Scores are typically emailed four to six weeks after the exam date.2Louisiana State University. Notary Exam Information
The exam is known for being hard. Historical pass rates have sometimes fallen below 20%. That difficulty traces back to the scope of a Louisiana notary’s authority, which is far broader than in other states and includes drafting and executing legal documents that only attorneys handle elsewhere.
If you do not pass, there is no cap on retakes. The Secretary of State’s office states that applicants “are not prohibited from taking the state notary exam any time it is administered and as many times as they wish to take the exam.”1Louisiana Secretary of State. Get Examination Information A failed attempt has no effect on a commission you already hold. You do pay the registration fee again for each try.
Subjects the Questions Cover
Every question comes from the material in the official study guide. A prep course at Loyola University New Orleans outlines the core transaction types the exam works through: mortgages, property conveyances, motor vehicle transfers, leases, contracts, successions, wills, trusts, and community property regimes.5Loyola University New Orleans. Notary Public Preparatory The major legal areas:
- Successions, meaning how property and rights transfer when someone dies, including the distinction between testate and intestate succession.
- Obligations, the rules governing contracts and agreements between parties, from formation through enforcement.
- Sales and mortgages, including the requirements for transferring immovable property and securing debt against it.
- Matrimonial regimes, which is the legal framework for property ownership between spouses, particularly Louisiana’s community property system.
- Property, meaning classifications of property and the various rights of ownership, use, and enjoyment.
These subjects overlap constantly in practice, and the scenario questions are built to reflect that. A notary handling a home sale needs to know whether the seller has authority to sell (property and matrimonial regimes), whether the act of sale meets formal requirements (obligations), and whether any mortgage has to be addressed at closing. The exam is written to test that same layered thinking across the full five hours.