State of Illinois Notary Public: Bond, Seal, and Renewal

To become a notary public in Illinois, you need to meet the state’s eligibility rules, complete a certified three-hour course and pass an exam, post a $5,000 surety bond, file an application with the Secretary of State, and record your commission with your county clerk. The commission runs four years. Once active, Illinois notary public requirements also govern how you identify signers, what you can charge, the seal and journal you must keep, and how you handle electronic or remote work.

Who Qualifies

You must be at least 18, a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, and able to read and write English. Illinois residents need to have lived in the state for at least 30 days before applying. If you live in a bordering state, you can still qualify as long as your principal workplace or business has been in Illinois for at least 30 days.¹

Any felony conviction is disqualifying. The application requires you to affirm you have not been convicted of a felony, and unlike some states, Illinois does not distinguish among felony types.¹

Course and Exam

First-time applicants must complete a Secretary of State-certified course of study before applying. The course runs a minimum of 180 minutes, is offered in person or online, and must be finished within 30 days of starting. After the course, you take an examination and need at least 85% to pass.²

Renewing an existing commission exempts you from both the course and the exam. The education requirement is for new applicants only.

Application, Bond, and Fee

You can apply through the Secretary of State’s notary portal online or by paper. Either way, the application form, a surety bond, and the filing fee must come together.

Surety Bond

Every applicant must buy a surety bond from a company licensed in Illinois. For a traditional commission, the bond is $5,000 and covers the full four-year term.³ The bond protects the public: if someone is harmed by a notarial mistake, they can claim against it, and you then owe the bonding company for any payout. It is not insurance for you.

Electronic and remote notarization authority requires a much larger bond: $25,000 in addition to the $5,000 traditional bond, or a single combined bond of $30,000.⁴

Filing Fees

The filing fee is $15 for a traditional commission. If you apply for both traditional and electronic commissions at the same time, the combined fee is $40. Adding electronic authority to an existing traditional commission costs $25.⁵

Sworn Oath

The application includes a sworn oath under penalty of perjury that everything in the application is true, that you have read the Illinois notary law, and that you will perform notarial acts faithfully.⁶ On a paper application, an existing notary must notarize the oath. Online applicants affirm it electronically, with the same legal force.

Recording Your Commission With the County Clerk

Issuance by the Secretary of State does not activate you. The commission is forwarded to the county clerk where you live, or, for bordering-state residents, the Illinois county where you work. The clerk notifies you, and you either appear in person or request the commission by mail.⁷

The recording fee is $5 in person and $10 by mail. A mail-in request must include a specimen of your signature. Once the clerk records the commission and delivers it, you are authorized to perform notarial acts.⁷

Seal and Journal

Official Seal

After recording, you obtain an official rubber stamp seal. It must include the words “Official Seal,” your official name, the words “Notary Public” and “State of Illinois,” and your commission expiration date. The impression must be clear enough to reproduce on document copies.⁸ You buy it yourself from a stamp vendor; the state does not issue one.

Notarial Journal

You must keep a journal of every notarial act you perform.⁹ It can be paper or electronic, and you may keep more than one. Each journal must show your name as it appears on your commission, your commission number and expiration date, your office address on file with the Secretary of State, and your signature.¹⁰

Every journal must also carry a statement that if you die or become incapacitated, whoever possesses it must deliver it to the Secretary of State. That statement is easy to overlook and required in each journal you maintain.

What You Can and Cannot Do

An Illinois notary witnesses signatures, administers oaths and affirmations, and takes acknowledgments. Under Section 3-102, the fee cap for those acts is $25; any other notarial act is capped at $5.

The most important prohibition: you cannot notarize a document in which you are named as a party or have a financial interest.¹¹ This comes up often with family real estate or business documents.

You also cannot give legal advice, draft legal documents, or represent someone in court unless you are separately licensed as an attorney. For immigration-related work by non-attorneys, fees are capped at $10 per form, $10 per page for translations, $5 for notarizing, and no more than $75 for a complete application. The Attorney General or any State’s Attorney can seek a court injunction against a notary engaged in unauthorized practice of law.¹²

Verifying a Signer’s Identity

Illinois recognizes three ways to establish identity: your personal knowledge of the signer; a credible witness personally known to you who identifies the signer under oath; or a current, valid government-issued ID from a state agency, federal agency, or consulate bearing the signer’s photograph and signature.¹³

Most notarizations rely on the third method. A current driver’s license, state ID, U.S. passport, or permanent resident card will satisfy it. Expired IDs do not qualify, no matter how recently they expired. If a signer arrives without acceptable ID, you must refuse. Performing the notarization anyway exposes you to misconduct charges.

Maximum Fees

Fees are capped by statute: up to $5 per notarial act generally, up to $25 for acts under Section 3-102, and up to $25 for electronic notarial acts.¹²¹⁴ You cannot charge any fee for notarizing an Illinois Secretary of State Homeless Status Certification form. Travel fees are separate from the regulated notary fee, though excessive charges can raise professional conduct concerns.

Electronic and Remote Notarization

Illinois allows electronic notarization and remote online notarization by audio-video communication. This authority requires a separate electronic notary commission (or the addition to an existing traditional commission) and the larger $30,000 bond.⁴ You must use an electronic notarization system from a provider certified by the Secretary of State; uncertified platforms are not permitted. The provider notifies the Secretary of State within five days after you enroll.¹⁵

For remote sessions, the signer and notary must connect through two-way audio-video allowing real-time conversation. The full session must be recorded and preserved for at least three years. The signer must state on the record that they are physically located in Illinois and identify the document being signed aloud, and each page must be shown clearly enough for the notary to read on screen.¹⁶

The notary must be physically in Illinois during a remote session. The signer does not have to be.

Keeping the Commission in Good Standing

Reporting Changes

If your legal name, home address, business address, or email address changes, you must notify the Secretary of State’s Index Department in writing within 30 days. Miss that window and your commission automatically ceases to be in effect. Electronic notaries have a similar 30-business-day window for changes to their registration information. The penalty for noncompliance is severe: you are barred from obtaining a new commission for at least five years.⁶

Misconduct and Revocation

A notary who knowingly and willfully commits official misconduct faces a Class A misdemeanor. Reckless or negligent misconduct is a Class B misdemeanor.¹⁷

The Secretary of State can revoke a commission outright for material misstatements on the application, a felony or certain misdemeanor convictions during the term, or, for licensed attorneys, discipline by the Illinois Supreme Court or the ARDC. Beyond those automatic triggers, the Secretary of State can reprimand, suspend, or revoke for any official misconduct, any prohibited act, failure to meet application requirements, or a violation of any provision of the general statutes. Refusing to cooperate with an investigation is treated as failure to discharge your duties and results in suspension or revocation on its own.¹⁸

A notary whose commission is revoked for violating the Act cannot obtain a new commission for at least five years.

Renewal

Illinois commissions run four years.³ You can begin renewal through the online notary portal up to 90 days before expiration.¹⁹ Renewal requires a new surety bond and the $15 filing fee, but no new course or exam. If you let the commission lapse before renewing, you have to reapply as a new applicant, retake the course and exam, and go through the county recording process again.

1
Illinois General Assembly. 5 ILCS 312/2-102 – Application
2
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Administrative Code Title 14, Section 176.225 – Notary Public Course of Study and Examination
3
Illinois General Assembly. 5 ILCS 312/2-105 – Bond
4
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Administrative Code Title 14, Section 176.340 – Bond
5
Illinois Secretary of State. Notary Public or Notary Public and Electronic Notary Public Application Instructions
6
Illinois Secretary of State. Illinois Notary Public Handbook
7
Illinois General Assembly. 5 ILCS 312/2-106 – Appointment Recorded by County Clerk
8
Illinois General Assembly. 5 ILCS 312 – Illinois Notary Public Act, Article III
9
Illinois General Assembly. 5 ILCS 312/3-107 – Journal
10
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Administrative Code Title 14, Section 176.900 – Journal Requirements
11
Illinois General Assembly. 5 ILCS 312 – Illinois Notary Public Act
12
Illinois General Assembly. 5 ILCS 312/3-104 – Fees
13
Illinois General Assembly. 5 ILCS 312 – Illinois Notary Public Act, Section 6-102
14
Illinois Secretary of State. Illinoisans Can Now Get Documents Notarized Without Leaving Home
15
Justia Law. Illinois Code 5 ILCS 312 – Illinois Notary Public Act, Article VI-A
16
Illinois General Assembly. 5 ILCS 312/6-102.5 – Remote Notarial Acts
17
Illinois General Assembly. 5 ILCS 312 – Illinois Notary Public Act, Sections 7-104 and 7-105
18
Illinois General Assembly. 5 ILCS 312/7-108 – Grounds for Revocation or Suspension
19
Illinois Secretary of State. Notary Commission Application