A Maryland electronic notary is a commissioned Maryland notary who has notified the Secretary of State of an intent to perform electronic or remote online notarizations and uses an approved technology vendor to do so. The authority comes from Senate Bill 678, effective October 1, 2020, and lives in Title 18 of the State Government Article.1Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Senate Bill 678 The notary must be physically located in Maryland during the act. The signer can be anywhere, including outside the country, subject to added conditions.
Remote notarizations carry the same legal weight as in-person ones. The electronic certificate must state that the act was performed remotely, and every standard duty still applies: verifying identity, confirming the signer is acting willingly, and recording the act in a journal.
Who Can Become an Electronic Notary in Maryland
You need a standard Maryland notary commission first. Under Section 18-102, applicants must be at least 18, be of good moral character and integrity, and either live or work in Maryland; those living in the state must reside in the senatorial district from which they are appointed.2Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code State Government 18-102 – Qualifications A felony conviction or a conviction involving fraud, dishonesty, or deceit can be grounds for the Governor to deny a commission.3Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code State Government 18-104
New applicants complete a course of study and pass an exam. The application fee to the Secretary of State is $25.4Maryland Secretary of State. Renewal Applicant Info Once approved, the applicant appears at the Clerk of the Circuit Court in their county of residence, takes the oath of office, and pays an additional $11 for commission and registration.5Maryland Secretary of State. Frequently Asked Questions A commission runs four years. Renewals also require the course of study and a certificate of completion.
Adding Remote Authority
To perform remote notarizations, a commissioned notary files a separate notification with the Secretary of State, identifying the communication technology they plan to use. The Secretary maintains a list of authorized RON vendors, and notaries who select an approved vendor receive email confirmation.6Maryland Secretary of State. Authorized Remote Notary Information You also need an electronic signature and seal that meet state regulations; a traditional ink seal is not valid for digital acts. Any change to your name, home address, phone, email, or county of residence must be reported to the Secretary of State within 30 days.7Code of Maryland Regulations. COMAR 01.02.08.09
What You Can Charge
Maryland caps notary fees, with a higher ceiling for remote acts that reflects the technology cost.
- Traditional notarial act: up to $8 per original notarial act.
- Remote notarial act: up to $30 per original notarial act.
- Additional copies: $8 for each signature on the original or first copy, and $4 for each signature on each additional copy of the same record signed at the same time.
- Travel: up to $5 plus mileage at the IRS standard business rate, which is 72.5 cents per mile for 2026.8IRS. Notice 2026-10 – Standard Mileage Rates
The caps apply regardless of document type or complexity, and charging more than the maximum is grounds for discipline.9Maryland Secretary of State. Notary Public
Verifying the Signer
Section 18-206 lets a notary establish identity in one of three ways: personal knowledge of the signer, a current government-issued ID (passport, driver’s license, consular ID, or nondriver ID card), or a credible witness who is personally known to the notary or who presents acceptable identification. The notary may require additional identification beyond these methods.10Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code State Government 18-206
The Extra Step for Remote Acts
When a remote signer is neither personally known to the notary nor identified through a credible witness, the signer must complete two additional checks: credential analysis of a government-issued ID and identity proofing through knowledge-based authentication (KBA).11Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code State Government 18-214 Credential analysis uses software to inspect security features like watermarks and holograms. The KBA quiz draws from public and private data sources and follows set parameters:
- At least five questions related to the signer’s personal history or identity.
- At least five answer choices per question.
- An 80% correct-answer threshold to pass.
- A two-minute time limit for the full quiz.
- One retake allowed within 24 hours if the first attempt fails, with at least 40% of the questions replaced.
- A 24-hour lockout after two failed attempts with the same notary.
The notary cannot see or record the KBA questions or answers.12Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Senate Bill 317 Facial recognition and other biometric methods are permitted but not required; any notary using them must comply with the Maryland Personal Information Protection Act.13Attorney General of Maryland. Guidelines for Businesses to Comply with the Maryland Personal Information Protection Act
Signers Outside the United States
A Maryland notary can notarize for someone in another country, but Section 18-214 adds two conditions. The document must fall into one of these categories: filed with a U.S. government entity, related to a matter before a U.S. court, involving property located in the United States, or involving a transaction substantially connected with the United States. The notary must also have no actual knowledge that the signing or the statement is prohibited by the laws of the country where the signer is located.11Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code State Government 18-214
In practice, the technology can be the bottleneck. Foreign-issued IDs may not be compatible with the vendor’s credential analysis software, and KBA databases draw primarily from U.S. records. Confirm with the platform before scheduling a session.
Electronic Wills: Allowed, but Not the Usual Way
Maryland does not exclude wills from electronic execution, but it does not let a testator simply join a video call with two witnesses and a notary. Section 4-102 of the Estates and Trusts Article allows witnesses to attest and sign in the electronic presence of the testator only if the will satisfies additional safeguards, including involvement of a supervising attorney and creation of a certified will that is then treated as the original for all purposes.14Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Estates and Trusts 4-102 The attorney requirement is the guardrail.
Journals and Session Recordings
Every notarial act goes in a journal. Under Section 18-219, the entry must be made at the time of the act and include the date and time, a description of the document and the type of notarial act, the signer’s full name and address, and the identity verification method used.15Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code State Government 18-219 – Journal Notaries keep one journal for paper acts and one or more journals for electronic acts.
Electronic journals must be permanent and tamper-evident, and journals and audio-visual recordings must be stored on devices protected by password or cryptographic process.16Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Senate Bill 735 A state-approved third-party vendor can host the storage as long as it meets the Secretary of State’s encryption and access standards.
Remote notaries carry one more obligation. Each session’s audio-visual recording, capturing the signer’s appearance, the ID presented, and the interaction throughout, must be retained for at least ten years. It is one of the longest retention periods in the country and is the primary defense against fraud claims raised long after the transaction closes.
Losing the Commission and Criminal Exposure
The Governor can deny, refuse to renew, revoke, suspend, or impose conditions on a commission, and may delegate that authority to the Secretary of State or Deputy Secretary of State. The notary is entitled to notice and a hearing first.3Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code State Government 18-104 Grounds include any act or omission showing a lack of honesty, integrity, competence, or reliability, failure to comply with Title 18 or its regulations, a felony conviction, a conviction for fraud or dishonesty, and failure to discharge any duty required by federal or state law.
Criminal liability is separate. Under Section 8-606 of the Criminal Law Article, making a false entry in a public record or willfully altering, defacing, destroying, or concealing one is a misdemeanor punishable by up to three years in prison, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.17Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Criminal Law 8-606 Individuals harmed by an improper notarization can also sue for damages, and tampering with electronic records or failing to maintain required recordings creates added exposure under Maryland’s data protection laws. Complaints against a notary go to the Secretary of State’s office.18Maryland Secretary of State. Concern Notary