DEFINITIONS OF A NOTARY PUBLIC:

A Notary Public is a public officer whose function it is

1. To administer oaths; and
2. To attend and certify, by his or her signature and official seal, certain classes of documents, in order to give them credit and authenticity; and
3. To take acknowledgement of deeds and other conveyances and certify the same; and
4. To perform certain official acts, chiefly in commercial matters, such as the posting of notes and bill, the notice of foreign drafts, and marine protests in cases of damage.

REQUIREMENTS TO BE APPOINTED A NOTARY PUBLIC IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY

1. Must be a resident of Montgomery County; and
2. Must be capable of posting bond in the required amount; and
3. Must be capable of posting a bond for $50,000.

STEPS TO BE APPOINTED A NOTARY PUBLIC

1. Complete a notary public application;
2. Submit the application with the non-refundable $10.00 application fee (check or money order) to: Judge of Probate of Montgomery County;
3. Complete the required notary training within thirty (30) days of the date of application;
4. Probate Judge will send the applicant an appointment letter;
5. Applicant must take the appointment letter to an insurance company to obtain a notary public bond in the amount of $50,000;
6. Applicant must record the bond and present the Completion of Training Certificate within forty (40) days of the date of the letter of appointment;
7. At the time of recording the bond, the Applicant must pay a $59.00 filing fee (check or money order), which includes a $25.00 fee to issue the notary commission (Ala. Code § 36-20-70(a)), a $15.00 fee for proceedings appointing notary public and recording (Ala. Code § 12-19-90(b)(39)), a $10.00 fee for approving bond (Ala. Code § 12-19-90(b)(13)), a $3.00 fee for certificate without seal (stamp fee) (Ala. Code § 12-19-90(b)(19)) and other applicable local fees ($5.00 index, $1.00 certification)

Download Notary Application

You will need to complete the form and mail it to:

Montgomery County Probate Court
Records and Recording Division
101 South Lawrence Street
Montgomery, Alabama 36104

SUMMARY OF ALABAMA’S NEW NOTARY PUBLIC LAW – EFFECTIVE SEPTEMBER 1, 2023

NOTARY PUBLIC ACT (Ala. Act. 2023-548) (PDF)

            Alabama revised its notary public law to mandate training before becoming a notary public and specified civil and criminal penalties for notary public misconduct.  The new law went into effect on September 1, 2023.  It amends Ala. Code §§ 36-20-71-75 (1975). 

Key features of the new law are:

Notary public’s term of office remains 4 years
● Alabama’s judges of probate continue to appoint notaries public
● continues to require Alabama judges of probate to report appointments to the office of the Alabama Secretary of State
● Requires a uniform application form be utilized statewide, which will be developed by the Alabama Law Institute and the APJA
● Establishes a $10.00 application fee to be paid to the judge of probate at the time application is submitted
● Increases the fee for issuance of a notary commission from $10.00 to $25.00
● Requires all applicants (except lawyers) to successfully complete a training program prepared by the Alabama Law Institute and the APJA, that will be hosted on the APJA’s Internet website
● Increases the notary bond amount from $25,000.00 to $50,000.00
● Affords Alabama’s judges of probate sole discretion to accept or deny applications
● Creates specific grounds to deny an application:
   ▸  Applicant is not a resident of Alabama
   ▸ Applicant makes the application to a judge of probate who is not the judge of probate of the county in which the applicant resides
   ▸ Applicant has been convicted of a felony or crime involving moral turpitude
   ▸ Applicant is currently a debtor in a bankruptcy proceeding
   ▸ Applicant is under a current order adjudicating the applicant to be incapacitated
   ▸ Applicant provides false information on the application
   ▸ Applicant is unable or unwilling to successfully complete the required training program within 30 days of submission of application (judge of probate may extend for good cause shown)
● Any signature acknowledged by a notary public shall be physically executed within Alabama and in the physical presence of the notary public at the time of acknowledgment
● Maintains the process for electronic notarization established in 2021
● Requires the notary public to positively identify the prospective signatory via personal knowledge of the affiant or the examination of photo   identification issued by a governmental entity or agency
● Remote notarization may not be used to notarize an absentee ballot application or absentee ballot affidavit or for any purpose relating to voting
● Increases the authorized notarization fee from $5.00 to $10.00 for each notarization act performed
● A notary public shall not perform an acknowledgment in any transaction where he or she has a pecuniary interest.
● Specifies that no fee may be charged by a state, county, or municipal employee for a notarial act performed during, and as a part of, his or her public service, unless otherwise provided by law.
● The commissioning judge of probate may issue a warning to a notary public or restrict, suspend or revoke a notarial commission for a violation of the Notary Public Act and on any ground for which an application for a commission may be denied under the Notary Public Act.  A period of restriction, suspension, or revocation does not extend the expiration date of a notary commission.

● Criminal penalties:

Class C Misdemeanor
   ▸ Holding one’s self out to the public as a notary public without being commissioned
   ▸ Performing a notarial act with an expired, suspended, or restricted commission
   ▸ Performing a notarial act before taking an oath of office
   ▸ Charging a fee for a notarial act in excess of the maximum fee allowed by the Notary Public Act ($10.00)
   ▸ Taking an acknowledgment or administering an oath or affirmation without the principal appearing in person before the notary public or following the procedures for remote notarization
   ▸ Taking an acknowledgment or administering an oath or affirmation without personal knowledge or satisfactory evidence of the identity of the principal
   ▸ Taking a verification or proof without personal knowledge or satisfactory evidence of the identity of the subscribing witness

Class D Felony AND with intent to commit fraud or to intentionally assist in the commission of a fraudulent act
   ▸ Takes an acknowledgment or a verification or a proof or administers an oath or affirmation he or she knows or reasonably believes to be false
   ▸ Takes an acknowledgment or administers an oath or affirmation without the principal appearing in person before the notary public or without following the procedures for remote notarization
   ▸ Takes a verification or proof without the subscribing witness appearing in person before the notary, or without following the procedure for remote notarization
   ▸ Performs notarial acts in Alabama with the knowledge that he or she is not properly commissioned

● Reporting Suspected Violations
Any party to a transaction requiring a notarial certificate for verification and any lawyer licensed in Alabama who is involved in such a transaction, in any capacity, may execute an affidavit and file it with either the Alabama Secretary of State or the commissioning judge of probate who issued the notary commission in question, setting forth the actions that the affiant alleges were violations of the Notary Public Act.

● Investigation Of Complaints
The revised Notary Public Act creates a procedure for investigation of allegations of violations of the Notary Public Act by the Alabama State Law Enforcement Agency.  Founded investigations shall be referred to the appropriate district attorney for prosecution.

Resignation or expiration of a notary commission does not terminate or preclude an investigation into the conduct of a notary public by the Alabama Secretary of State, the commissioning judge of probate who issued the notary commission in question, or a law enforcement agency.

The commissioning judge of probate who issued the notary commission may order injunctive relief against an individual who violates the Notary Public Act, including, but not limited to, ordering the surrender and destruction of a notary commission and a notary seal.

● Criminal Liability Of Others
Any individual who knowingly solicits, coerces, or in any material way influences a notary to commit official misconduct is guilty as an aider and abettor and is subject to the same level of punishment as the notary public.

● Civil Liability
A notary public is not an insurer, but under a duty to act honestly, skillfully, and with reasonable diligence.