93-180 Notary Law: Fees, Criminal Penalties, and Enforcement

North Carolina notary law is set out in Chapter 10B of the General Statutes, and it governs who can become a notary, how they must identify signers, what they can charge, how they may advertise, and what happens when they break the rules. The Secretary of State issues every commission, investigates complaints, and can warn, restrict, suspend, or revoke a notary’s commission. Serious misconduct is also a crime, ranging from a Class 1 misdemeanor up to a Class G felony.

Getting Commissioned

No one can perform a notarial act in North Carolina without first meeting the qualifications in Section 10B-5 and receiving a commission from the Secretary of State. The Secretary will commission any qualified applicant who submits the required application, but may deny the application for reasons that include prior criminal history, a prior commission revocation, or false or misleading advertising about what a notary can do.¹

Once the commission is granted, the appointee has 45 days to appear before the register of deeds in the commissioning county and take the general oath of office. Miss that window and the register of deeds returns the commission to the Secretary, and the appointee has to start the application over. If the reapplication comes within one year, the Secretary may waive the educational course requirement.²

The oath can be taken remotely by video conference if the register of deeds personally knows the appointee or receives satisfactory evidence of identity during the session.²

What You Can Charge

Section 10B-31 caps notary fees. Charging more than the statutory maximum is itself a violation.

Standard acknowledgments, jurats, verifications, or proofs: $10 per principal signature.
Oaths or affirmations without a signature: $10 per person, except when the oath is administered to a credible witness vouching for identity.
Electronic acknowledgments or jurats: $15 per electronically notarized principal signature.
Electronic oaths or affirmations without a signature: $15 per person.
Remote online notarization: $25 per principal signature.
Travel: actual mileage at the federal business mileage rate, and only if the principal agreed to it in writing before the notary traveled.

Those are the ceilings, not suggested rates.³

The Personal Appearance Rule

The core duty of a North Carolina notary is simple: the signer must be physically present. Chapter 10B defines personal appearance as the notary and the individual being close enough to see each other, communicate freely, and pass documents back and forth. The only exception is remote electronic notarization performed under the specific procedures in Article 2, Part 4A.⁴

A notary who notarizes without the principal present commits a Class 1 misdemeanor. If the notary skipped personal appearance with intent to commit fraud, the charge becomes a Class I felony. Most disciplinary cases trace back to this one rule.⁵

Advertising Rules and Immigration-Related Limits

A notary cannot claim to have powers, qualifications, or privileges the office does not actually provide. That includes claiming the ability to counsel on immigration matters.⁴

The point of these rules is to prevent exploitation of immigrant communities. In many Latin American countries, a “notario publico” is a high-level legal professional with much broader authority than an American notary. To close that gap, any North Carolina notary who advertises in a language other than English must include a conspicuous disclaimer, written in both English and the advertising language, stating that the notary is not a licensed attorney and cannot give legal advice or accept fees for legal advice.⁴

A notary who is not also a licensed attorney cannot advertise as an immigration consultant or expert on immigration matters unless the notary is a federally accredited representative recognized by the Board of Immigration Appeals. Notaries advertising in a non-English language must also post their fee schedule prominently at the place of business, in both English and the language used to solicit the business.⁴

Criminal Penalties

Chapter 10B sorts notary crimes by severity, and the charges rise sharply when fraud is involved.

Class 1 Misdemeanors

A person who is not a notary commits a Class 1 misdemeanor by holding themselves out as one, performing notarial acts after a commission has expired or been suspended, or acting before taking the oath of office.⁵

A commissioned notary faces the same Class 1 misdemeanor charge for notarizing without the principal physically present, notarizing without verifying identity through personal knowledge or satisfactory evidence, or taking a verification or proof without the subscribing witness present and properly identified.⁵

Class I Felonies

Fraud and knowing deception push the offense to a Class I felony. A notary who performs any notarial act while knowing the information is false or fraudulent commits a Class I felony, as does a notary who skips personal appearance with specific intent to commit fraud.⁵

It is also a Class I felony to perform notarial acts in North Carolina while knowing you are not commissioned, and to obtain, use, conceal, deface, or destroy a notary’s seal or notarial records without authorization.⁵

Class G Felony

The most serious offense in the chapter is knowingly creating, manufacturing, or distributing a notary seal to let someone act as a notary without being properly commissioned. That is a Class G felony and carries far more prison exposure than the other offenses.⁵

Aiding and Abetting

Anyone who knowingly solicits, coerces, or materially influences a notary to commit official misconduct is treated as an aider and abettor and is punished at the same level as the notary.⁵

How Enforcement Works

The Secretary of State’s Department has law enforcement agents with statewide jurisdiction who can investigate suspected Chapter 10B violations, inside or outside North Carolina.⁴

Investigations start in one of two ways. The Secretary’s office can open one on its own, or any party to a transaction that required a notarization, as well as any licensed attorney involved in the transaction, can file a sworn affidavit alleging a violation. Once an affidavit is filed, the agents are required to investigate.⁴

If the evidence supports criminal prosecution, the Secretary can refer the case to the district attorney, and the district attorney can also charge independently. The district attorney can request that an attorney employed by the Secretary of State be appointed as a special prosecutor, with full district attorney powers for that case.⁴

On the administrative side, the Secretary can issue a warning, restriction, suspension, or revocation for any violation of Chapter 10B or its implementing rules. Discipline does not extend the commission’s expiration date, so time spent under suspension still counts against the five-year term.⁵

Attorney-notaries face parallel consequences. The Secretary is required to notify the North Carolina State Bar of any final disciplinary finding against a notary who is also a licensed attorney.

What Happens to Your Seal

When a commission expires, is revoked, or the notary resigns, the notary must deliver the seal to the Secretary within 45 days. Delivery has to be documented by hand delivery, courier, certified mail with return receipt, or another postal option that confirms delivery by signature. The Secretary destroys any seal received. If a commissioned notary dies, the estate must notify the Secretary in writing and surrender the seal before closing the estate.⁶

There is one practical exception. A notary whose commission simply expired and who intends to apply for recommissioning does not have to surrender the seal, as long as the recommissioning actually happens within three months of expiration and the previous commission was not revoked or denied.⁶

If your commission was revoked or suspended, Chapter 10B imposes a waiting period before you can reapply, and you will have to meet every current qualification requirement, which may include retaking the mandatory education course and the written exam. Confirm the current waiting period directly with the Secretary of State’s Notary Division before applying.

Journals, Bonds, and E&O Insurance

For standard in-person notarizations, keeping a journal is optional. Section 10B-38 says a notary “may” keep one. A journal is still one of the strongest defenses against a complaint, because it creates a contemporaneous record of who appeared, how they were identified, and what was signed.⁴

A journal becomes mandatory in two situations. A notary who performs an emergency video notarization must record the details in a journal, retain it for at least 10 years, keep it secure, and allow no one else to make entries. An electronic notary who performs remote electronic notarizations must maintain a separate electronic journal under similar security requirements. The journal is the notary’s exclusive property, though it may be surrendered to an employer upon termination of employment as long as the notary keeps an accurate copy.⁴

Applicants must also obtain a surety bond as part of the commissioning process. The bond protects the public, not the notary. If a notarization error causes someone financial harm, that person can file a claim against the bond and recover from the bonding company, and the bonding company will then seek reimbursement from the notary.

Errors and omissions insurance works in the opposite direction. It covers the notary’s legal defense costs and any judgment if a client sues over a notarization mistake. E&O insurance is not required by North Carolina law, but it fills the gap the bond does not cover. Notaries who handle real estate closings or large transaction volumes are the ones most likely to benefit, since a single mistake on a deed or mortgage can generate substantial liability.

1
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 10B-5 – Qualifications
2
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 10B-10 – Commission and Oath of Office
3
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 10B-31 – Fees for Notarial Acts
4
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code Chapter 10B – Notaries
5
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 10B-60 – Enforcement and Penalties
6
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 10B-55 – Disposition of Seal and Death of Notary