SC Notary Application: Endorsement, Oath, and Seal Steps

To become a notary in South Carolina, you must be a registered voter in the state, submit a paper application endorsed by your county legislative delegation, and pay a $25 filing fee to the Secretary of State.¹ After the Governor appoints you, you have 15 days to take the oath and enroll your commission with the Clerk of Court in your county. The commission then lasts ten years.

Who Qualifies

South Carolina law sets three qualifications. You must be a registered voter in the state, you must be able to read and write English, and your application must contain no significant misstatement or omission of fact.¹ The statute does not separately list a minimum age, but voter registration in South Carolina already requires you to be at least 18, so that threshold is built in.

Your voter registration also serves as your proof of residency. The application asks for the home address tied to that registration, and the county on both records has to match.² If you recently moved, update your voter registration before you apply.

Filling Out the Application

The Secretary of State’s office publishes a single Notary Public Application and Renewal form as a downloadable PDF.³ It asks for your full legal name, home address, county of residence, and voter registration number.²

Sign in pen and ink. Someone authorized to administer oaths must acknowledge the signature as yours.¹ Every piece of information should match your voter registration exactly. Mismatches between the two are one of the most common reasons applications get delayed.

Getting Your Legislative Delegation Endorsement

South Carolina is unusual in requiring a legislative endorsement before the state will commission a notary. Each county’s delegation chooses how to handle endorsements, and the law gives them two options.¹

Under the first option, at least half of the delegation members representing your county sign the application. Under the second, your state senator and state representative sign individually, listing their district numbers. Some delegations also accept the delegation chair’s or secretary’s signature as an alternative.² If the senator or representative seat for your district is vacant, a majority of the county delegation can endorse you instead.¹

You do not have to chase down individual legislators. The form has a dedicated section for delegation use, and the delegation office coordinates the signatures once you mail the form in. Contact information for each county’s delegation office is listed on the last page of the application.

Submitting the Application and Paying the Fee

Mail all pages of the completed application, with original signatures, to your county legislative delegation office. If your county does not have a delegation office, mail it to the House of Representatives.³ The delegation reviews your materials and then forwards the endorsed application to the Secretary of State for final processing.

The filing fee is $25, payable to the SC Secretary of State.¹ You have three payment options:

Check or money order is the most straightforward option when mailing the application.
Credit or debit card: select this on the form, and the Secretary of State’s office will email you a payment link once the application arrives.³
Cash is technically accepted, but the Secretary of State discourages mailing it because it cannot be traced, and some delegation offices refuse cash entirely.²

Once the Secretary of State processes the approved application, the Governor formally appoints you and your commission is mailed to you.¹ Expect several weeks between submission and receipt.

Taking the Oath and Enrolling With the Clerk of Court

Getting the commission in the mail does not mean you can start notarizing. Within 15 days of the commission date, you must bring the commission to the Clerk of Court in your county of residence and be enrolled.¹ This is not a soft deadline. Missing it can void the appointment and force you to restart the entire process.

You also take the constitutional oath of office, and a certified copy of the written oath is recorded with the Secretary of State.¹ The Clerk of Court usually administers the oath at the same visit when you enroll. Call the clerk’s office in advance to confirm any recording fee and whether you need an appointment.

Getting Your Seal

After the Clerk of Court records your commission, you can order a notary seal or stamp. South Carolina requires every seal to include three things: your name exactly as it appears on your commission, the words “Notary Public,” and the words “State of South Carolina.”¹ The commission expiration date is optional.

The seal can be an ink stamp or an embosser. Most notaries pick an ink stamp because embosser impressions can be hard to photocopy. Whichever you buy, make sure the name matches your commission exactly, including middle names or initials.

Renewing Your Commission

A South Carolina notary commission lasts ten years. The Secretary of State recommends submitting a renewal eight to twelve weeks before your commission expires. Renewal uses the same application form, requires a fresh legislative delegation endorsement, and costs the same $25 fee.¹ If your commission lapses, you cannot notarize again until the new one is processed and recorded.

Adding Electronic Notarization

South Carolina allows electronic notarization, which lets you use a digital signature and electronic seal instead of ink and paper. It is not the same as remote online notarization. South Carolina has not legalized remote notarization, and even with an electronic commission the signer must still appear before you in person.⁴⁵

To register as an electronic notary, you must first hold an active traditional commission. From there, you register through the Secretary of State’s electronic notary portal, watch a required educational video, pass a statutory test, and select an approved technology vendor.⁴ Electronic notarization is an add-on to your existing commission, not a replacement.

1
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code of Laws – Title 26 – Chapter 1 – Notaries Public
2
South Carolina Secretary of State. Application/Renewal for Notary Public
3
South Carolina Secretary of State. Notaries
4
South Carolina Secretary of State. Registration Now Open for Electronic Notaries Public
5
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Electronic Notary Public Act