Wisconsin Notary Rules: Duties, Fees, and Penalties

Wisconsin notary rules live mainly in Chapter 140 of the Wisconsin Statutes, and they govern who can hold a commission, what acts a notary can perform, how to confirm a signer’s identity, what fees are allowed, and what happens when something goes wrong. A commission runs four years, requires a passing score of 90 percent or better on the state’s online exam, and depends on a $500 surety bond staying in force the whole time.¹ The Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) issues commissions and enforces the rules.

Who Can Become a Notary

You must be at least 18, reside somewhere in the United States, and have at least the equivalent of an eighth-grade education.² Wisconsin residency is not required, but a permanent U.S. dwelling is. Wherever you live, you have to be physically located in Wisconsin at the moment you perform any notarial act, in person or remote.³

Criminal history is a hard gate. A state or federal felony conviction disqualifies you, as does a misdemeanor involving a violation of the public trust, unless you have been pardoned. A general restoration of civil rights does not clear the bar; a pardon does.²

If you qualify, the application has five pieces:

Complete DFI’s online tutorial and pass the open-book exam with 90 percent or better, within one year of applying.¹
Buy a $500 surety bond from a company licensed in Wisconsin, kept active for the full four-year term.¹
Get a seal or rubber stamp that includes “Notary Public,” “State of Wisconsin,” and your current legal last name in full.⁴
File the application with DFI and pay the $20 fee, by mail or through the online portal.
Take the oath of office.

Attorney Permanent Commission

Licensed Wisconsin attorneys can bypass the exam and apply for a permanent commission for a $50 fee, with a Certificate of Good Standing from the Wisconsin Supreme Court. If your law license has ever been suspended or revoked for any reason, you lose the permanent option and must apply for a standard four-year commission instead, even if the license was reinstated.⁵

What a Wisconsin Notary Can Do

Wisconsin recognizes four main notarial acts, and the signer chooses which one applies. A notary who is not a licensed attorney cannot recommend an act or suggest certificate wording.⁶

Acknowledgments

The signer appears, is identified, and confirms the signature is theirs and was given willingly. This is the workhorse act for real estate and business documents. The notary completes a certificate of acknowledgment, signs, and seals it. Wisconsin publishes approved certificate language, and recording offices reject documents with nonstandard wording.³

Jurats

A jurat adds an oath. The signer swears aloud under penalty of perjury that the document’s contents are true, the notary administers the oath, and the signer answers verbally. Affidavits, depositions, and court filings use jurats.³

Signature Witnessing

Witnessing confirms that the signer actually signed in the notary’s presence. No verbal statement of intent, no oath. It fits less formal documents where authenticity of the signature is all that is needed.³

Copy Certifications

A notary can certify that a copy of certain documents is a true reproduction of the original. Vital records are off limits. Copying or certifying a birth certificate, death certificate, marriage certificate, or divorce record can bring a fine of up to $10,000, imprisonment up to three years and six months, or both.⁶ Vital record copies have to come from the state or county vital records office.⁷

How to Verify a Signer’s Identity

Section 140.05 requires identity to come from personal knowledge of the signer or from satisfactory evidence.⁸ Personal knowledge means prior dealings sufficient to give reasonable certainty of who the person is. Most notarizations rely on an ID instead. Wisconsin accepts:⁹

A passport, driver’s license, or government-issued ID card that is current or expired no more than three years before the notarial act.
Another government-issued ID that is current or expired no more than three years and bears the person’s signature or photograph.

If the signer has no qualifying ID, a credible witness can appear and vouch for them under oath. The witness has to be known to the notary personally or produce qualifying ID of their own. A notary can always demand more identification when not satisfied.

What You Can Charge

Section 140.02(9) caps in-person notary fees:

Acknowledgment of a deed or other authorized service: no more than $5 per document.
Drawing and copying a protest: no more than $5.
Drawing an affidavit or other document: no more than $5 per folio, plus 12 cents per folio for copying.¹⁰

Those caps apply to standard in-person notarizations. Section 140.27 authorizes DFI to set different maximum fees for remote online notarizations, which generally run higher.¹¹

Remote and Electronic Notarization

Chapter 140, as built out by 2019 Wisconsin Act 125, allows both electronic notarization and remote online notarization (RON).¹² Electronic notarization applies a digital signature and electronic seal to an electronic document while the signer still appears in person. The technology must be tamper-evident so any alteration shows up.

RON lets the signer appear by live audio-video communication from anywhere. No separate commission is required. A commissioned Wisconsin notary who wants to perform RON completes training with an approved technology provider and notifies DFI; the provider also notifies DFI, and the notary’s public record is updated.¹³ During a RON session the notary must:

Use sight-and-sound technology approved by DFI and the Remote Notary Council.
Confirm the record before the notary matches the record the signer executed.
Verify identity through at least two different types of identity proofing.
Record the entire session on audio-video and keep that recording for at least seven years.
Note on the certificate that communication technology was used.

The notary still has to be physically in Wisconsin during the session, even when the signer is somewhere else.³

Seal and Records

Every notarized document carries your seal. Any size or shape works, but it must read “Notary Public,” “State of Wisconsin,” and your name with your full legal last name. Initials or a shortened first name are allowed; the last name cannot be abbreviated. Including the commission expiration date is optional, not required.⁴ You are responsible for keeping the seal secure, and unauthorized use can lead to suspension.

Wisconsin does not require a journal for standard in-person notarizations, but keeping one is strong defensive practice. Useful entries record the date, type of act, signer’s name, how the signer was identified, and any fee charged. For RON, the mandatory audio-video recording is itself the record of the transaction.¹³

What Notaries Are Forbidden to Do

A handful of prohibitions account for most discipline cases.

Do not notarize without the signer present. The signer must appear before you in person or through approved RON technology at the time of notarization. Notarizing a pre-signed document is the single most common violation.

Do not notarize blank or incomplete documents. If fields are empty that should be filled in before signing, decline.

Do not touch vital records. Birth, death, marriage, and divorce records cannot be copied or notarized. The penalty reaches $10,000 and three and a half years.⁶

Do not practice law. Non-attorney notaries cannot help prepare wills, contracts, deeds, or powers of attorney, and cannot advise a signer which notarial act to request. Describing the difference between an acknowledgment and a jurat is fine; choosing for the customer is not. Point legal questions to an attorney or the agency that will receive the document.⁶

Do not notarize when you have a stake in the transaction. Wisconsin does not list prohibited family relationships as explicitly as some other states, but conflict-of-interest principles apply. A notary should not act on a document naming the notary as a party or giving the notary a direct financial interest beyond the notary fee. Notarizing your own signature is never allowed.

Penalties, Suspension, and Revocation

DFI can deny, refuse to renew, suspend, condition, or revoke a commission for any act or omission showing a lack of the competence, reliability, or integrity the role demands. The administrative code lists specific triggers, including failure to comply with Chapter 140, fraud or deceit, and misconduct touching the public trust.¹⁴ Common examples: letting the surety bond lapse, failing to verify identity, certifying false information, or being convicted of a crime of dishonesty. You get an administrative hearing before any final action, and outcomes range from a warning to permanent revocation.

Statutory penalties on top of discipline:

Civil liability for all damages caused by misconduct or neglect of duty.¹⁵
First criminal violation: fine up to $10,000, imprisonment up to nine months, or both.¹⁶
Second or subsequent violation: fine up to $10,000, imprisonment up to six years, or both.
Confidentiality breach by a notary or technology provider: forfeiture up to $500 per violation.
Failure to deposit records after leaving office within three months, or knowingly destroying or concealing them: forfeiture of $50 to $500 plus damages.¹⁷

An improperly executed notarization can also invalidate the underlying document, which unwinds real estate closings, derails court filings, and exposes employers that relied on the flawed notarization.

Renewal and Leaving Office

You can start renewing up to six months before expiration. DFI recommends filing at least three weeks out to avoid a gap.⁴ Renewal means retaking the online tutorial exam, filing a new application, and paying the $20 fee. A lapsed commission puts you through the full new-applicant process.

When a commission ends for any reason, the notary or the notary’s personal representative must deposit all official records and papers with DFI. Failing to do so within three months triggers the $50 to $500 forfeiture noted above.¹⁸

1
Wisconsin State Legislature. Notary Application Fee Increases
2
Department of Financial Institutions. Chapter 1 – General Information
3
Department of Financial Institutions. Notary Public Handbook
4
Department of Financial Institutions. Notary Public Frequently Asked Questions
5
Justia. Instructions for Wisconsin Attorneys Permanent Commission
6
Department of Financial Institutions. Chapter 2 – Powers and Liabilities
7
Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Vital Records – Requesting a Vital Record
8
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Statutes 140.05 – Requirements for Certain Notarial Acts
9
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Statutes 140.07 – Identification of Individual
10
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Statutes 140.02(9)
11
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Statutes 140.20 – Notification Regarding Performance of Notarial Act for Remotely Located Individuals
12
Wisconsin State Legislature. 2019 Wisconsin Act 125 – Notaries Public and Remote Notarization
13
Department of Financial Institutions. Remote Online Notary Guide
14
Legal Information Institute. Wisconsin Admin Code DFI-CCS 25.06 – Investigations, Suspensions and Revocations of Notary Public Commissions
15
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Statutes 140.02(8) – Misconduct
16
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Statutes 140.02(1)(k)
17
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Statutes 140.02(7)
18
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Statutes 140.02(8)