New Kansas Notary Rules: Stamp, Journal, and Penalties

To serve as a notary public in Kansas, you must be at least 18, a U.S. citizen, a Kansas resident (or work regularly in Kansas from a bordering state), able to read and write English, and free of disqualifying criminal or professional history. You then apply through the Secretary of State, pay a $25 fee, file a $12,000 surety bond, and obtain an official stamp and journal. The Kansas notary requirements below cover eligibility, the application, your recordkeeping duties, remote and electronic notarizations, and the penalties for getting it wrong.

Who Qualifies

Kansas sets five baseline qualifications for a commission:

You are at least 18 years old.
You are a United States citizen.
You are a Kansas resident, or you live in a bordering state and maintain a regular place of work or professional practice in Kansas.
You can read and write English.
You have no disqualifying history under K.S.A. 53-5a24.

The citizenship rule is strict. Lawful permanent residents who have not yet naturalized do not qualify, even if they meet every other criterion.¹

Disqualifying history is broader than a felony record. The Secretary of State can also deny a commission for a material misstatement in your application, revocation of a notary commission in another state, or loss of a professional license for fraud-related conduct.²

How to Apply and What It Costs

Applications go to the Kansas Secretary of State, either by mailing Form NO or completing the online electronic version. Either route requires the same supporting items: an impression of your stamping device, a completed notary oath, and proof of your surety bond.³

The filing fee is $25, payable by credit card for online submissions.⁴ You must also buy a $12,000 surety bond that runs the length of your four-year commission. The bond protects members of the public who suffer financial harm from a notary’s error or misconduct. Bond premiums vary by insurer but are modest relative to the bond amount.³

A commission lasts four years. To continue serving after that, you submit a renewal application and keep a valid surety bond on file throughout the commission period.⁴

Stamp and Journal You Must Keep

The Stamping Device

Your stamp must show your name exactly as it appears on your application, the words “notary public,” and “State of Kansas” or equivalent language showing statewide authority. It can be a seal press or a rubber stamp used with permanent ink, and it must produce a legible, photocopy-ready impression. Before performing any notarial acts, file an impression of the stamp with the Secretary of State. Every document you notarize must also carry your commission expiration date next to your official signature.⁵

For paper records, the stamp is affixed to or embossed on the notarial certificate. For electronic records, it must be attached to or logically associated with the certificate under standards set by the Secretary of State.⁶

The Journal

Every Kansas notary must keep a journal of all notarial acts, not just electronic ones, and retain it for 10 years after the last entry. A physical journal must be a permanent, bound register with numbered pages. An electronic journal must be in a tamper-evident format that meets the Secretary of State’s regulations.⁷

Record each entry at the time you perform the act. Every entry needs:

The date and time of the notarial act.
A description of the record and the type of act performed.
The full name and address of each person involved.
The basis for identity verification: personal knowledge, or the identification documents you examined along with their issuance and expiration dates.
The fee charged, if any.

If your journal is lost or stolen, notify the Secretary of State promptly. When your commission ends, either retain the journal for the full 10-year period and tell the Secretary of State where it is kept, or transmit it to an approved repository.⁷

Verifying Identity for In-Person Notarizations

Kansas gives you two ways to satisfy yourself that a signer is who they claim to be. You can rely on personal knowledge if prior dealings make you reasonably certain of their identity. Otherwise, you examine satisfactory evidence, which means one of the following:

A government-issued photo ID such as a passport, driver’s license, or state-issued non-driver ID card that is current or expired no more than three years before the notarization.
A credible witness who appears before you in person, is personally known to you or identifiable through a qualifying government ID, and swears under oath to the signer’s identity.

You may require additional information or credentials if what you have been shown does not satisfy you.⁸ If an ID looks altered, the photo does not match, or something feels wrong, decline the notarization. Proceeding despite genuine doubt about identity is one of the fastest routes to discipline.

Remote and Electronic Notarizations

Holding a Kansas commission does not, by itself, let you notarize for signers who appear by audio-visual technology. You must separately notify the Secretary of State that you intend to perform notarial acts for remotely located individuals.⁹

During a remote notarization, verify the signer’s identity by one of three methods: personal knowledge, a sworn statement from a credible witness who appears before you, or at least two different types of identity proofing. Identity proofing means a third-party service verifies the signer using personal information drawn from public or private data sources.¹⁰

The technology must allow simultaneous sight-and-sound interaction and accommodate signers with vision, hearing, or speech impairments where applicable. You or someone acting on your behalf must record the entire notarial act and keep the recording for at least 10 years. The recording must confirm that the signer completed identity proofing and credential analysis and must include visual confirmation of the credential used. The notarial certificate must state that communication technology was used, and your electronic signature must be attached in a way that is independently verifiable and makes any later change to the record detectable.⁹

Before you perform your first notarial act involving an electronic record, you must complete a training course and pass an examination administered by the Secretary of State or an approved provider. The exam covers the laws, rules, procedures, and ethics relevant to electronic notarizations.¹¹ If you only perform paper notarizations, the statute does not require this course, though the Secretary of State’s office offers approved training you can take voluntarily.³

What You Cannot Do as a Kansas Notary

The most common trap is a conflict of interest. You cannot notarize a document if you or your spouse is a party to the transaction or has a direct financial or beneficial interest in it. A direct financial interest exists if you are named as a principal in the transaction or, for real estate, named as a grantor, grantee, mortgagor, or similar party. A notarial act performed in violation of this rule is voidable, meaning other parties can challenge it in court.¹²

Kansas notaries are also prohibited from:

Practicing law: drafting legal documents, giving legal advice, or assisting in legal proceedings unless you are a licensed attorney.
Acting as an immigration consultant or representing anyone in immigration proceedings.
Using the terms “notario” or “notario publico” unless you are a licensed Kansas attorney. The title carries lawyer-like connotations in many Latin American countries, and using it to market notary services in Kansas is treated as deceptive.
False or deceptive advertising about your authority, duties, or capabilities, which is also a deceptive act under the Kansas Consumer Protection Act.
Refusing to return an original record provided by someone seeking a notarial act.

Violating the advertising or “notario” prohibitions is a Class B nonperson misdemeanor and a deceptive practice under the Kansas Consumer Protection Act, which opens the door to civil remedies as well.¹³ Willfully failing to include your commission expiration date on a notarized document is a separate Class C misdemeanor.¹²

Penalties for Breaking the Rules

Administrative Action

The Secretary of State can deny, refuse to renew, revoke, suspend, or impose conditions on a commission. Grounds include failure to comply with any notary statute, fraud or misstatements in your application, a felony conviction, failure to keep your surety bond in force, false advertising, and loss of a professional license for dishonesty-related conduct.²

The wait to reapply depends on the violation. For most grounds, including felony convictions, failure to keep a journal, and neglecting identity verification requirements, a revoked notary cannot reapply for four years. For violations of the advertising, “notario,” and unauthorized-practice-of-law prohibitions under K.S.A. 53-5a25, the ban is permanent.²

Criminal Charges

Administrative discipline does not shield you from prosecution. A notary who knowingly performs a fraudulent notarization, such as falsifying a signature or backdating a document, can face forgery charges under K.S.A. 21-5823. Forgery is a severity level 8, nonperson felony. On a first conviction, the fine is the lesser of the forged instrument’s value or $500. A second conviction carries at least 30 days of mandatory imprisonment as a condition of probation plus a fine up to $1,000. A third or later conviction raises the mandatory imprisonment to at least 45 days and the fine ceiling to $2,500.¹⁴

Civil Liability

Because the statute preserves other remedies, one incident of notary misconduct can trigger administrative discipline, criminal prosecution, and a civil suit by anyone harmed, all at once. That is the point of the $12,000 surety bond: it gives an injured member of the public a source of recovery separate from your personal assets.²

1
Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 53-5a22 – Commission as Notary Public; Qualifications
2
Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 53-5a24 – Grounds to Deny, Refuse to Renew, Revoke, Suspend or Impose a Condition on a Commission of Notary Public
3
Kansas Secretary of State. About Kansas Notary Services
4
Kansas Secretary of State. Kansas Notary Public Appointment Form Instructions
5
Kansas State Legislature. Kansas Code 53-105 – Seal; Statement of Date of Expiration of Appointment
6
Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 53-5a16 – Certificate of Notarial Act
7
Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 53-5a20 – Journal
8
FindLaw. Kansas Code 53-5a07 – Personal Knowledge; Satisfactory Evidence
9
Kansas Secretary of State. Kansas Administrative Regulations 7-43-20 – Notarial Acts for Remotely Located Individuals
10
Kansas State Legislature. Kansas Code 53-5a15 – Notarial Act Performed for Remotely Located Individual
11
Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 53-5a23 – Examination of Notary Public
12
Kansas Secretary of State. Kansas Notary Handbook
13
Kansas State Legislature. Kansas Code 53-5a25 – Prohibited Acts
14
Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 21-5823 – Forgery