How to Renew Your Notary Commission in Kentucky: Bond, Fee, Deadline

To renew your notary commission in Kentucky, submit the Secretary of State’s reappointment application within the 60 days before your current commission expires, pay the $10 state filing fee, obtain a new $1,000 surety bond, and then visit your county clerk within 30 days of approval to take the oath and file the bond. Kentucky commissions run for four years, and if you let yours expire before renewing, you cannot reappoint at all — you have to start over as a new applicant.¹

Timing: The 60-Day Window

Kentucky lets you file for reappointment up to 60 days before your expiration date, and the application form warns against sending it any earlier. That window is the whole game. File inside it and you renew; miss it and let the commission lapse, and the Secretary of State’s own instructions direct you to check “new appointment” instead of “reappointment.”²

The practical cost of a lapse: any notarial act performed during the gap carries no authority, and you go through the full initial process again. Mail delivery and processing eat into the window too, so leaving it to the final two weeks is risky.

What You Need Before You File

Renewal applicants have to meet the same qualifications as first-time notaries. You must be at least 18, a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident, able to read and write English, and either a Kentucky resident or employed or practicing in the Kentucky county where you’re applying.¹ The Secretary of State can deny a renewal for a felony conviction, a crime involving fraud or dishonesty, past failure to perform notary duties, misleading advertising about your authority, or a revoked commission in another state.³

Kentucky does not require any training course or exam for renewal.

A New Surety Bond

Every renewal needs a fresh $1,000 surety bond covering the new four-year term. The bond has to come from an insurance company authorized to do business in Kentucky. Since January 1, 2020, property owners can no longer serve as surety.¹ The premium you actually pay is a small fraction of the $1,000 face value, typically running $25 to $50 for the whole term.

The $10 State Fee

The Secretary of State charges $10 for a commission or renewal.⁴ This is separate from what you’ll pay the county clerk after approval.

Submitting the Application

The form is the “Application for Appointment & Reappointment for Notary State at Large,” available through the Secretary of State’s Notary Portal at sos.ky.gov. Fill in your full legal name as you want it on the certificate, your date of birth, your home address, and the Kentucky county where you reside or are principally employed. Because you’re renewing, check “reappointment” and enter your current commission’s expiration date.²

You can submit online through the portal and pay the $10 fee electronically, or mail the completed form and payment to:

Secretary of State, Division of Corporations, Notary Commissions
P.O. Box 821
Frankfort, KY 40602⁵

The County Clerk Step and the 30-Day Deadline

Once the Secretary of State approves your renewal, you get a notice by mail or email, and your Certificate of Appointment goes to the county clerk in the county where you applied. From the date of that notice, you have 30 days to appear at the clerk’s office and finish the process.⁶

At the clerk’s office you need to:

Take the oath of office, which Kentucky requires of every appointed officer before entering their duties.⁷
File the original surety bond paperwork from your insurance company.
Pay a $19 county fee, which covers recording the bond ($10), preparing the bond ($4), and administering the oath ($5).⁸
Bring a government-issued ID.

Missing the 30-day window voids the commission entirely, and you’d have to start over with a new application and new fees.⁹ Put the deadline on your calendar the day the approval notice lands.

What It Costs

Most Kentucky notaries spend between $55 and $100 to renew. The pieces:

State application fee: $10⁴
Surety bond premium: roughly $25 to $50 for the four-year term, depending on the provider
County clerk fees: $19⁸
New stamp, if you use one: optional, typically $15 to $30 from notary supply vendors

Order a New Stamp If You Use One

Kentucky doesn’t require notaries to use a stamp. If you do use one, it must show your name as it appears on your commission, your title, your jurisdiction, your commission number, and your expiration date.¹⁰ Your commission number stays the same across renewals, but the expiration date changes, so a new stamp is needed if you want to keep stamping documents.¹

Remote Online Notarization Renews With Your Commission

If you were already registered to perform remote online notarizations, you don’t need to file a separate renewal for that. Renewing your standard notary commission automatically renews the online registration.⁵ You still have to be physically located in Kentucky whenever you perform an online notarization, regardless of where the signer is.

If you’ve never registered for remote online notarization and want to add it now, that’s a separate application through the Secretary of State’s website, and you must already hold an active commission before applying.⁵

1
Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Revised Statutes 423.390 – Commission as Notary Public Requirements Oath and Bond
2
Kentucky Secretary of State. Application for Appointment and Reappointment for Notary State at Large
3
Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Revised Statutes 423.395 – Denial Revocation or Limitation of Commission Other Remedies
4
Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Revised Statutes 423.430 – Fees
5
Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. 30 KAR 8:005 – Notary Public Application Requirements for Notarial Acts
6
Boone County Clerk’s Office. Notary Public
7
Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Revised Statutes 62.010 – Oath of Office When to Be Taken
8
Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Revised Statutes 64.012 – Fees of County Clerks
9
Lincoln County KY Clerk. Notary Bonds
10
Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Revised Statutes 423.370 – Stamp