Pennsylvania Notary Rules: Commission, Acts, and Penalties

Pennsylvania notary rules come from the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (RULONA) and the Department of State regulations that implement it. They cover who can hold a commission, what equipment you must use, which acts you can perform, how much you can charge, how you verify a signer’s identity, and what you must do when something changes or ends. Four-year terms, a $25,000 surety bond, a specific stamp format, a chronological journal, and a $1,000-per-violation penalty ceiling are the fixed points everything else sits around.¹

Who Can Become a Notary

Section 321 of Title 57 sets the baseline. You must be at least 18, a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident, able to read and write English, and either a Pennsylvania resident or someone who works in the state regularly.²

The statute does not list specific convictions that automatically disqualify you. It points instead to the sanctions section, which lets the Department deny a commission based on felony convictions or offenses involving fraud, dishonesty, or deceit, with no fixed lookback period.³ Applications are evaluated case by case.

First-time applicants must complete a three-hour, Department-approved notary education course within the six months before filing.⁴ After the Department reviews the application, you receive instructions to schedule an exam through Pearson VUE.⁵ Only applicants without a current, unexpired commission take the exam, which makes renewal timing important later on.

Getting Commissioned and Staying Commissioned

You file the application electronically with a $42 fee.⁶ Once the Department issues the appointment notice, a 45-day clock starts. Within that window you must obtain a $25,000 surety bond, take the constitutional oath of office, register your signature with the prothonotary or recorder of deeds in the county where your office sits, and record the bond, commission, and oath with the recorder of deeds. Miss any step and the commission is void; there is no extension, and you start the application over.⁷

Commissions run four years with no cap on consecutive terms. Renewal requires a fresh three-hour education course within six months of filing and the same $42 fee. The Department recommends filing two to three months before expiration. If your commission lapses before the Department receives the reappointment application, you are treated as a new applicant and must retake the Pearson VUE exam.⁷

Stamp and Journal Requirements

The stamp is governed by 57 Pa. C.S. § 317 and the specifications are strict. It must be a rubber stamp, not an embosser, no larger than one inch by three and a half inches, with a plain border. In order, it must display “Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” “Notary Seal,” your name as commissioned followed by “Notary Public,” the county of your office, and the commission expiration date. The impression has to photocopy cleanly.⁸

You are responsible for keeping the stamp secure. If it is lost, stolen, or destroyed, you must notify the Department of State within 15 days of discovery, confirming you no longer possess it and stating when you discovered the loss.⁹

The journal is equally non-negotiable. Every notarial act goes into a chronological journal, entered at the time it is performed, with:

The date and time of the act
A description of the document and the type of notarial act
The signer’s full name and address
How you identified the person (personal knowledge or the specific ID credential with its issuance and expiration dates)
The fee charged

If a document is later challenged, the journal entry is your evidence that you followed procedure.¹⁰

Acts You Can Perform

Pennsylvania law authorizes a specific set of notarial acts. Using the wrong certificate can invalidate the document, so the distinctions matter.

Acknowledgment: the signer appeared voluntarily, is who they claim to be, and signed the document. Most common for recorded instruments such as deeds.
Oath or affirmation: a spoken pledge of truthfulness, typically for affidavits.
Verification on oath or affirmation: the signer swears the contents of a written statement are true.
Witnessing or attesting a signature: you watch the person sign in your presence and confirm their identity.
Certifying a copy: you verify that a reproduction is a faithful copy of the original.
Noting a protest: formal documentation that a negotiable instrument has been dishonored.

You cannot perform a notarial act in which you or your spouse hold a direct or pecuniary interest; the act is voidable. Ordinary employment compensation and holding shares in a publicly traded company that is party to the document do not count as a disqualifying interest.¹¹

Fee Limits

The Department sets maximum fees per act. You can charge less, but not more:

Acknowledgment: $5.00, plus $2.00 for each additional name
Oath or affirmation: $5.00 per individual
Verification on oath or affirmation: $5.00 regardless of how many signatures
Witnessing or attesting a signature: $5.00 per signature
Certifying a copy: $5.00 per copy
Noting a protest: $3.00 per page

Separate clerical or administrative charges, such as travel, copying, or postage, are allowed if customary and reasonable for your area. Tell the client before the act, itemize them on the receipt, and record them in the journal. If you charge any fees, you must either post a schedule where it is visible at your place of business or provide one on request.¹²

Identifying the Signer

Every person appearing before you must be identified. The statute offers two paths. Personal knowledge means you know the individual through prior dealings well enough to be reasonably certain of their identity. Satisfactory evidence covers everything else:

A current, unexpired passport, driver’s license, or government-issued non-driver ID card
Another form of current government ID bearing the person’s signature or photograph, if satisfactory to you
A credible witness who personally knows the signer and is personally known to you, who takes an oath or affirmation to the signer’s identity

You can always request additional ID if something feels off.¹³ If none of these methods works, you must refuse to notarize. Proceeding without proper identification exposes you to sanctions.

A credible witness is not charged a separate fee for the oath, but you must record the witness’s name and address in your journal alongside the signer’s entry.

Personal appearance is required whenever a notarial act involves a signature or a statement made in a record. You cannot notarize a document pre-signed outside your presence, with the acknowledgment exception where the signer acknowledges a previously made signature in front of you.¹⁴

Remote Online Notarization

Pennsylvania permits remote online notarization (RON) for remotely located signers using live, two-way audio-visual technology. The personal appearance requirement is satisfied through the video connection. You must be physically present in Pennsylvania when performing the act; the signer can be anywhere.¹⁵

Identity verification is more involved than in-person work. The process requires credential analysis and identity proofing through knowledge-based authentication or another multi-factor method. You keep an electronic journal for remote acts, and the technology platform must create an audio-visual recording of the entire session. That recording must be retained for at least ten years.¹⁶

What a Notary Cannot Do

A commission does not make you a lawyer. Unless you are separately licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania, you cannot draft legal documents, give legal advice, act as an immigration consultant, or charge for those services.¹⁷ You cannot use the term “notario” or “notario público” unless you are also an attorney, because in many Latin American countries that title designates a trained legal professional and the comparison misleads consumers.

If you advertise notarial services, the ad must include a specific disclaimer stating that you are not an attorney, cannot draft legal documents, and cannot give legal advice, including advice on immigration. The disclaimer must appear prominently and in every language used in the ad. When space does not allow (a small sign or business card), the statement must be posted in at least 10-point type at the location where you perform acts.¹⁷

You also cannot withhold a person’s original document. Any record brought to you for notarization must be returned.

Reporting Changes and Ending a Commission

You have 30 days to notify the Department of State of any change to your legal name, home address, office address, or email address. If your office moves to a different county, re-register your signature with the prothonotary or recorder of deeds in the new county within the same 30 days.¹⁸

When your commission ends by expiration, resignation, or revocation, two things happen within 30 days. Deliver all journals to the recorder of deeds in the county where your office was located; journals are permanent public records and should not be discarded. Destroy your stamp so it cannot be misused, by scraping the rubber face off and cutting it into pieces rather than tossing it intact.

Penalties for Getting It Wrong

The Department of State can deny, refuse to renew, suspend, revoke, or condition a commission for any conduct showing a notary lacks the honesty, integrity, competence, or reliability the office requires. The statute spells out nine grounds, including:

Conviction of a felony or any offense involving fraud, dishonesty, or deceit
Fraudulent statements on the commission application
Failure to maintain the surety bond
Misleading advertising or claiming powers a notary does not have
Failure to comply with any provision of RULONA or Department regulations
Having a notary commission denied, suspended, or revoked in another state

On top of commission discipline, the Department can assess administrative penalties up to $1,000 per violation. Performing notarial acts without a proper commission carries the same $1,000 ceiling. Most RULONA violations are summary criminal offenses punishable by fines up to $1,000 on conviction.³

The $25,000 surety bond protects the public, not you. It compensates people harmed by your error or misconduct. Errors and omissions insurance is not required by Pennsylvania law, but many notaries carry it because the bond does not cover their own legal defense costs.

1
Pennsylvania Department of State. Notaries
2
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 57 Section 321 – Appointment and Commission as Notary Public Qualifications No Immunity or Benefit
3
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 57 Section 323 – Sanctions
4
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Mandatory Education Requirement
5
Department of State. Examination Requirement
6
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Apply to Be a Notary
7
Pennsylvania Department of State. Application Information
8
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 57 Section 317 – Official Stamp
9
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Notary Public Equipment
10
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 57 Section 319 – Journal
11
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 57 – Notaries Public
12
Department of State, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Notary Public Fees
13
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 57 Section 307 – Identification of Individual
14
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 57 Section 306 – Personal Appearance Required
15
Pennsylvania Department of State. Electronic or Remote Notarization
16
Pennsylvania Department of State. Frequently Asked Questions about Electronic and Remote Notarization in Pennsylvania
17
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 57 Section 325 – Prohibited Acts
18
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Update Your Information