Maine Notary Handbook: Qualifications, Oath, and Renewal

To become a notary in Maine, you file an application with the Secretary of State, pay a $50 fee, pass an exam, and take an oath of office before a Dedimus Justice within 30 days of appointment. The commission lasts seven years and is governed by Maine Revised Statutes Title 4, Chapter 39, the state’s version of the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts.

Who Qualifies

Maine’s baseline requirements are short. You must be at least 18, live in Maine or work primarily in the state, and be able to read and write English.¹ You also have to pass an examination before the Secretary of State will issue a commission.

Criminal and disciplinary history can end the application before it starts. The Secretary of State can deny a commission based on any conviction for a crime punishable by a year or more in prison, or any crime involving fraud, dishonesty, or deceit.² A false statement on your application, a civil finding based on dishonesty, or a notary commission that was denied or revoked in another state can all disqualify you. The standard the Secretary of State applies is whether you show the honesty, integrity, and reliability the role requires.

Maine does not require a surety bond or errors and omissions insurance. Some notaries buy E&O coverage voluntarily to protect against honest mistakes, but it is not part of getting or keeping a commission.

Filing the Application

New applicants submit the “Application for a Notary Public Commission” to the Secretary of State’s office in Augusta with a $50 filing fee.³ The form asks for your full legal name, residential address, and contact information. Every personal detail has to match your official government records exactly, or the application will stall.

You also need signatures from other people. Maine residents who are not related to you must endorse your application, vouching for your character and fitness for a position of public trust. A municipal official, typically a town clerk or registrar of voters, has to certify your residency and voter registration status. Collecting those signatures before filling out the form is the fastest way through. Missing endorsements or inaccurate information will delay processing or trigger a rejection.

Taking the Oath Before a Dedimus Justice

Approval does not make you a notary. Once the Secretary of State approves your application, you receive a certificate of qualification and a notice of appointment. From the date of that appointment, you have 30 calendar days to appear before a Dedimus Justice and take the official oath of office.⁴ The oath itself is prescribed by statute: you swear or affirm to support the U.S. Constitution and the Constitution of Maine and to faithfully carry out your duties.¹

The Dedimus Justice signs the certificate, and it has to be back in the Secretary of State’s hands within 45 calendar days of your appointment. If it arrives late, or if it shows you took the oath after the 30-day deadline, the Secretary of State will notify you that you failed to qualify. You then have 90 days from that notice to request reappointment.⁴ Miss that 90-day window and you start the whole application over. Your seven-year commission begins only when the state records your sworn oath.

What Your Commission Lets You Do

Once commissioned, Maine law authorizes you to perform several categories of notarial acts:⁵

Take acknowledgments, where a signer declares they signed voluntarily and for the purpose stated.
Administer oaths and affirmations, a verbal pledge of truthfulness.
Take verifications on oath or affirmation, where a signer swears the contents of a document are true.
Witness or attest signatures made in your presence.
Certify that a copy of a document matches the original.
Note a protest on a dishonored negotiable instrument, such as a returned check.

Every one of those acts requires you to confirm the signer’s identity through either personal knowledge or satisfactory evidence, such as a current government-issued photo ID.⁶ Skipping identity verification is one of the fastest ways to lose a commission.

Maine also allows commissioned notaries to perform remote notarizations for signers who are not physically present, using audio-visual technology, but you have to notify the Secretary of State before your first remote act and follow a separate set of identity, recording, and retention rules.⁷

Setting Up Your Stamp and Journal

For paper documents, the statute says a notary’s official stamp may be affixed to or embossed on the certificate.⁸ The word is permissive, but in practice nearly every institution receiving a notarized document expects to see a stamp or embossed seal, so getting one is effectively required. Rubber ink stamps and metal embossers are available from notary supply vendors.

A journal is required if you perform any electronic or remote notarization. For traditional in-person paper notarizations, a journal is optional, though the Secretary of State strongly recommends keeping one for every notarial act.⁴ It can be a bound register with numbered pages or a tamper-evident electronic format that meets the Secretary of State’s rules. For in-person paper acts, you may keep only one journal at a time; for remote and electronic acts, multiple journals are permitted. All journals must be kept for 10 years after the last entry.

What Can Cost You the Commission

Maine statute lists things a notary commission does not authorize you to do:⁹

Practice law, draft legal documents, or give legal advice.
Act as an immigration consultant or charge for immigration-related services.
Use the title “notario” or “notario publico” unless you are also a licensed Maine attorney. In many Latin American countries a notario is a high-ranking legal professional, and the title misleads people about what a U.S. notary can do.
Advertise notarial services without a prominent disclaimer, in every language used in the ad, stating that you are not a lawyer.
Keep a person’s original document after the notarial act is complete.

Beyond those statutory bars, the general rule is that you should never notarize your own signature, notarize a document in which you or your spouse has a direct financial interest beyond the notary fee, or notarize any transaction where your impartiality could reasonably be questioned.

Violating the prohibited acts is a civil violation carrying a fine of up to $5,000, plus potential exposure to actual damages, triple damages, and attorney’s fees in a private lawsuit.¹⁰ Separately, the Secretary of State can revoke, suspend, or place conditions on your commission for failing to comply with notary statutes, making a dishonest statement on your application, committing a crime involving dishonesty, using misleading advertising, or having a commission revoked in another state.² You have the right to notice and a hearing before any action.

Renewing After Seven Years

When your seven-year term ends, you renew online through the Secretary of State’s Total Notary Solution portal. The renewal fee is $50, and unlike the initial application, renewal includes an online exam based on a Course of Study covering notary laws, procedures, and ethics.¹¹ You cannot advance past a section until you answer correctly.

You can start renewing within 45 days before your commission expires. If it has already lapsed, you have up to 20 days after expiration to renew while keeping your original expiration cycle, or 21 to 90 days after expiration with a new expiration date assigned. After 90 days, the renewal window closes and you would need to apply as a new notary. After the online portion and payment, you print the renewal documents, appear before a Dedimus Justice to retake the oath, and mail the signed oath to the Secretary of State to finalize.¹¹

1
Maine Legislature. Maine Code Title 4 Section 1922 – Notary Public Commission; Qualifications; No Immunity or Benefit
2
Maine State Legislature. Maine Code Title 4 Section 1924 – Grounds to Deny, Refuse to Renew, Revoke, Suspend or Condition Commission of Notary Public
3
Maine Secretary of State. I Want to Apply/Renew a Notary
4
Maine Secretary of State. Notaries Public Frequently Asked Questions
5
Maine State Legislature. Maine Code Title 4 Section 1902 – Definitions
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Maine State Legislature. Maine Code Title 4 Section 1905 – Requirements for Certain Notarial Acts
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Maine Legislature. Maine Code Title 4 Section 1915 – Notarial Act Performed for Remotely Located Individual
8
Maine State Legislature. Maine Code Title 4 Section 1916 – Certificate of Notarial Act
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Maine State Legislature. Maine Code Title 4 Section 1926 – Prohibited Acts
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Maine State Legislature. Maine Code Title 4 Chapter 39 – Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts
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Maine Secretary of State. Notary Public Resources