How to Become a Notary in Hawaii — Requirements & Fees

How to become a notary public in Hawaii: a surety bond, an exam, remote online notarization — verified from official sources.

Source-verified

Requirements below are drawn from State of Hawaii, Department of the Attorney General, Notary Public Office (official site) and last verified August 12, 2026. Boards change fees and rules often — confirm before acting.

Requirements at a glance

In the order the Attorney General publishes them (ag.hawaii.gov Notaries Public page; 'Information and Instructions on Applying for a Notary Public Commission', updated 3/23/22; Notary Public Manual 2023): (1) Meet the general commission requirements - see eligibility. (2) Obtain two letters. A LETTER OF JUSTIFICATION 'should state in detail the reasons for applying for a commission with the estimated number of notarial acts, the type of documents being notarize, and state that the notary public will serve the general public', and 'should be prepared by an officer of the corporation or a partner of the organization of which the applicant is an employee'; a self-employed applicant 'may prepare a letter of justification for one's self'; a government-notary application must carry a letter of justification 'from the head of every department... where the applicant is employed'. A LETTER OF CHARACTER must be 'written by a reputable resident of Hawaii, other than an employer or relative, who from past association can attest to the applicant's honesty, trustworthiness, financial integrity, and moral character as well as a contact number and/or email address'. (3) Create an eHawaii.gov account at login.ehawaii.gov and file the application online at notary.ehawaii.gov with the $20 non-refundable application fee (no fee for government notaries) and both letters. (4) Wait for Attorney General approval - 'the Attorney General shall take the following actions within six months after the filing of a complete application' (HAR 5-11-22(a)), and an application not completed within ninety days of first filing 'may be considered abandoned' and destroyed (HAR 5-11-22(b)). (5) Log in to the notary account and schedule the examination with the Notary Exam Scheduler; the exam is held 'at designated locations in the county in which the applicant resides'. (6) Pass the written closed-book examination at 80 percent. (7) On being notified of passing, 'the applicant shall pay to the Attorney General, for the issuance of the original commission, a fee of $100.00', and take and subscribe an oath for the faithful discharge of duties, which is filed with the Department of the Attorney General (HRS 456-2). (8) Have a rubber-stamp seal of office made. (9) Execute a $1,000 official surety bond at the notary's own expense, have it approved by a judge of the circuit court, and have it deposited with the clerk of the circuit court of the judicial circuit of residence - 'forthwith and before entering upon the duties' (HRS 456-5). (10) 'Forthwith file a literal or photostatic copy of one's commission, an impression of one's seal, and a specimen of one's official signature with the clerk of the circuit court in which the notary resides' - optionally with any other circuit court clerk as well; the clerk charges a filing fee set by the Supreme Court. This filing is what later lets a clerk authenticate the notary's acts.

Legal basis

State of Hawaii, Department of the Attorney General, Notary Public Office commissions notaries public in Hawaii. Every figure below is verified against the commissioning authority’s own official pages and dated.

What it’s called

The statutory noun is a notary public COMMISSION - HRS 456-1 is titled ‘Commission; renewal’ and the Attorney General ‘commission[s]’ notaries; the document is a ’notary public commission certificate’ (there is a $10 ‘Replacement of notary public commission certificate’ fee and a dedicated AG form for it). Folk terms, named as folk terms: ‘Hawaii notary license’ and ’notary certification’ are the common searches; Hawaii issues neither a licence nor a certification - it issues a commission by the Attorney General after an examination and an oath. The record book has two official names used interchangeably in Hawaii’s own materials - the statute and Manual say ’notarial record book’, while HRS 456-9(c)(6) and HAR chapter 5-11 say ‘journal’; they are the same object, which matters when searching the rules. ‘Government notary’ is Hawaii’s own shorthand for a notary public in government service. Terms that name a private product rather than a Hawaii credential: ’notary signing agent’ and ’loan signing agent’ are vendor-sold designations, and no Hawaii source read on 2026-08-12 mentions either; the Attorney General commissions no such officer. Hawaii’s public directory does recognise ‘Mobile’ and ‘Remote Online’ as notary TYPES for search purposes - ‘Mobile type means the Hawaii notary can provide notary services at the location of your choice’ - but only the remote online notary is a separate commission; ‘mobile’ is a self-declared service attribute, not a credential.

Types of notary commission

Notary public commission — A Hawaii resident, at least 18, who submits a letter of justification and a letter of character, is approved by the Attorney General, and passes the closed-book written examination Commissioned by the Attorney General, not a Secretary of State - Hawaii has no Secretary of State. Four-year term. The Attorney General’s discretion is explicit and unusual: HRS 456-1(a) - ‘The attorney general may, in the attorney general’s discretion, commission the number of notaries public for the State that the attorney general deems necessary for the public good and convenience’, and a commission may be revoked if a change in the notary’s ‘commission, occupation, residence, or employment’ makes it ’no longer necessary for the public good and convenience’. This is why a LETTER OF JUSTIFICATION is required at application - Hawaii screens for need, not merely for fitness.
Notary public in government service (‘government notary’) — A subordinate designated by the head of a department, board, commission, bureau or establishment of the United States, the State, or any political subdivision Same commission, different economics and a narrower remit. A government notary is ‘authorized to perform the duties of a notary public in one or more of the judicial circuits of the State as the Attorney General shall designate’ and must ‘perform, without charge, the services of a notary public in all matters of business pertaining to the State, any political subdivision thereof, or the United States.’ Not required to pay the circuit-court filing fee, not required to pay the Attorney General’s commission or renewal fee (‘There is no-fee for Government notaries public’), and not required to furnish an official bond ‘unless that bond is required by the head of the department’. In exchange the government notary may not demand or receive fees, except in matters of ‘urgent necessity and convenience’ (fees then go to the State) or with the Attorney General’s prior written approval after paying the ordinary fees and filing the bond at the notary’s own expense. The application must carry a letter of justification from the department head.
Remote online notary public (RON) - a SEPARATE, ADDITIONAL commission — Only a person who already holds an active Hawaii notary public commission HAR 5-11-62(a): ‘Only a notary public with an active commission may apply for a remote online notary public commission.’ It is an add-on, not a substitute: the RON commission ‘shall expire on the same date as the notary public’s commission’ (HAR 5-11-66). Separate application, separate fee, a required digital certificate from a qualified certificate authority, and a required disclosure of the technology vendors to be used. Authorized by Act 54, Session Laws of Hawaii 2020, effective January 1, 2021.

Who can be commissioned

THIS FIELD CONTAINS A LIVE CONFLICT BETWEEN THREE OFFICIAL SOURCES AND IS RECORDED ALL THREE WAYS. (A) The Attorney General’s live Notaries Public page (fetched 2026-08-12) states the general commission requirements as: ‘A United States citizen, or a national or permanent resident alien of the U.S. who diligently seeks citizenship upon, becoming eligible to apply for U.S. Citizenship; A Hawaii resident; and At least 18 years old.’ (B) The current statute, HRS 456-2 as amended by Act 54, Session Laws of Hawaii 2020, says something narrower and self-referential: ‘Every person commissioned as a notary public shall, at the time of the person’s commission, be a resident of the State, possess the other qualifications required of a notary public and be at least eighteen years of age. Every person, prior to being commissioned as a notary public, shall take and subscribe an oath for the faithful discharge of the person’s duties, which oath shall be filed in the department of the attorney general.’ It no longer references public-officer qualifications and states no citizenship test of its own. (C) The Attorney General’s own application instruction sheet, updated 3/23/22 and still linked from the live page, quotes the PRE-Act-54 text and draws the citizenship rule from it: ‘According to Section 456-2, Hawaii Revised Statues, every person appointed as a notary public shall, at the time of one’s appointment, be a resident of the State of Hawaii, possess the other qualifications required of public officers, and be at least eighteen years of age. Public Officers in the State are required to be United States citizens.’ READ THAT CAREFULLY: the instruction sheet describes a version of 456-2 that the legislature has already replaced, and the live web page states a citizenship-or-national-or-permanent-resident-alien standard that the current statutory text does not contain. Hawaii’s own notice on the page acknowledges the lag - ‘Act 54, Session Laws of Hawaii 2020 has become effective as of January 1, 2021. Notaries public should read and educate themselves as to the most recent updates to the Notaries Public statute. Revisions to the administrative rules will be forthcoming.’ The safe statement for a reader: Hawaii residency and age 18 are common to all three sources; the Attorney General’s currently published legal-presence standard is citizenship, U.S. national, or permanent resident alien diligently seeking citizenship. NOT PUBLISHED IN ANY TIER SEARCHED: any criminal-history bar, background check or fingerprinting requirement for the initial commission (tiers searched on 2026-08-12: HRS 456-1, -2, -3, -5, -9, -17, -23; HAR ch. 5-11 as compiled Feb. 27, 2022; the 2023 Notary Public Manual; the application instruction sheet; the live AG page). What Hawaii screens instead is need and character - the justification letter and the character letter - plus the Attorney General’s standing discretion over how many notaries the public good requires.

Requirements

In the order the Attorney General publishes them (ag.hawaii.gov Notaries Public page; ‘Information and Instructions on Applying for a Notary Public Commission’, updated 3/23/22; Notary Public Manual 2023): (1) Meet the general commission requirements - see eligibility. (2) Obtain two letters. A LETTER OF JUSTIFICATION ‘should state in detail the reasons for applying for a commission with the estimated number of notarial acts, the type of documents being notarize, and state that the notary public will serve the general public’, and ‘should be prepared by an officer of the corporation or a partner of the organization of which the applicant is an employee’; a self-employed applicant ‘may prepare a letter of justification for one’s self’; a government-notary application must carry a letter of justification ‘from the head of every department… where the applicant is employed’. A LETTER OF CHARACTER must be ‘written by a reputable resident of Hawaii, other than an employer or relative, who from past association can attest to the applicant’s honesty, trustworthiness, financial integrity, and moral character as well as a contact number and/or email address’. (3) Create an eHawaii.gov account at login.ehawaii.gov and file the application online at notary.ehawaii.gov with the $20 non-refundable application fee (no fee for government notaries) and both letters. (4) Wait for Attorney General approval - ’the Attorney General shall take the following actions within six months after the filing of a complete application’ (HAR 5-11-22(a)), and an application not completed within ninety days of first filing ‘may be considered abandoned’ and destroyed (HAR 5-11-22(b)). (5) Log in to the notary account and schedule the examination with the Notary Exam Scheduler; the exam is held ‘at designated locations in the county in which the applicant resides’. (6) Pass the written closed-book examination at 80 percent. (7) On being notified of passing, ’the applicant shall pay to the Attorney General, for the issuance of the original commission, a fee of $100.00’, and take and subscribe an oath for the faithful discharge of duties, which is filed with the Department of the Attorney General (HRS 456-2). (8) Have a rubber-stamp seal of office made. (9) Execute a $1,000 official surety bond at the notary’s own expense, have it approved by a judge of the circuit court, and have it deposited with the clerk of the circuit court of the judicial circuit of residence - ‘forthwith and before entering upon the duties’ (HRS 456-5). (10) ‘Forthwith file a literal or photostatic copy of one’s commission, an impression of one’s seal, and a specimen of one’s official signature with the clerk of the circuit court in which the notary resides’ - optionally with any other circuit court clerk as well; the clerk charges a filing fee set by the Supreme Court. This filing is what later lets a clerk authenticate the notary’s acts.

Training

Hawaii does not require a training course.

SOURCED NEGATIVE - Hawaii requires no course, but it does require a hard exam, so ’no training’ does not mean ’no preparation’. No mandatory education course, approved-provider rule, hour count or pre-appointment class appears in any tier searched on 2026-08-12: HRS 456-1 through 456-23 (the appointment, qualification, seal, bond, fee and RON sections read directly at capitol.hawaii.gov); HAR chapter 5-11 as amended and compiled February 27, 2022, including subchapter 2 (Applications) and subchapter 3 (Examinations); the Attorney General’s 2023 Notary Public Manual; the application instruction sheet; and the live Notaries Public page. What the Attorney General recommends instead is self-study of named materials: ‘To prepare for the exam, please review the following: Notary Public Manual, HAR 5-11: Notaries Public, HRS 456 Hawaii Revised Statutes.’ The Manual is free online, and HAR 5-11-46(11) prices a paper copy at ‘$3 if the manual is picked up at the notary public office or $5 if the manual is to be mailed’. There is no continuing-education requirement at renewal either (see ce_hours).

Exam

Hawaii requires an exam.

REQUIRED FOR EVERY NEW COMMISSION, and it is a real exam, not a course quiz. Administered by the Department of the Attorney General after the application is approved. FORMAT: ‘a written, closed-book examination covering such statutory laws and rules that specifically apply to notaries public in Hawaii, as well as practical aspects of a notary’s practice, and a notary’s duties and responsibilities’ (AG Notaries Public page and application instruction sheet). PASSING SCORE: 80 percent - the 2023 Notary Public Manual states ‘The passing score is 80 percent’, and HAR 5-11-31 provides ‘The minimum passing score is eighty per cent. Failure to obtain a passing score shall result in failure of examination, and no commission shall be issued.’ SCOPE, as published by the AG: ‘An applicant should, for example, have a thorough understanding and knowledge of the following sections of the Hawaii Revised Statutes, as amended: 456-1 to 456-21, 502-41 to 502-46, 502-48 to 502-84, 603-1, 621-12, and 621-13.’ FEE: $10 per examination (HAR 5-11-46(a)(7); AG Notary Fee Schedule; 2023 Manual). WHERE AND WHEN: ‘The notary examination is given on Oahu at least once a month, and on the neighbor islands periodically. Examination dates and locations are subject to change’; ‘The examination will be held at designated locations in the county in which the applicant resides.’ Applicants schedule it themselves after approval, through the Notary Exam Scheduler in their notary account. MISSING OR RESCHEDULING IT COSTS MONEY: rescheduling more than 48 hours ahead, $15; rescheduling with less than 48 hours’ notice, $20; failing to appear without notice, a $25 no-show fee AND - per the rule - ’the applicant shall submit a new application for a notary public commission with updated supporting letters’. FAILING IT: the applicant must request, pay for and reschedule a reexamination within fourteen calendar days of being notified of the failure, or must file a new application and pay the application and examination fees again; ‘An applicant who fails the examination twice shall wait ninety days from the date of the last examination to reapply for a notary public commission.’ Note that the exam is required for the initial commission; no source read states that a timely renewal requires re-examination, and none states that it does not - see renewal_cycle for what is and is not published.

Your surety bond

$1,000 SURETY BOND, COURT-APPROVED, COURT-FILED - an unusual filing chain worth stating precisely. HRS 456-5: ‘Each notary public forthwith and before entering upon the duties of the notary public’s commission shall execute, at the notary public’s own expense, an official surety bond which shall be in the sum of $1,000. Each bond shall be approved by a judge of the circuit court.’ The obligee is the State; the condition is faithful performance of all duties of the commission. THE SURETY MUST BE A COMPANY: ‘The surety on each bond, or bond continuation certificate, shall be a surety company authorized to do business in the State’ - no personal sureties. WHERE IT LIVES: ‘After approval, the bond or bond continuation certificate shall be deposited and kept on file in the office of the clerk of the circuit court of the judicial circuit in which the notary public resides’, and the clerk maintains a ‘bond record’ book of the data the Attorney General directs. WHAT IT DOES: for official misconduct, neglect, or breach of the bond’s conditions, ’the notary and the surety on the notary’s official bond shall be liable to the party injured thereby for all the damages sustained’, and the injured party may sue on the bond in the party’s own name. Separately, HRS 456-5.5 as summarised in the Manual limits liability in the performance of a notarial act ’to a failure by the notary to perform properly the actions required for the jurat, acknowledgment, or other notarial act’. GOVERNMENT NOTARIES ARE EXEMPT unless their department requires a bond, ‘in which event, the expense of furnishing any such bond shall be borne by the department concerned’. ERRORS AND OMISSIONS INSURANCE IS NOT REQUIRED: no E&O, professional-liability or minimum-coverage provision appears in HRS 456-1 through 456-23 as read, in HAR chapter 5-11 as compiled February 27, 2022, in the 2023 Notary Public Manual, in the application instruction sheet, or on the live AG page. Hawaii requires a bond and permits (but does not mention) E&O - the bond-plus-E&O shape that signals vendor provenance does NOT hold here.

Fees

TWO OFFICIAL SOURCES CONFLICT ON THE COMMISSION FEE AND BOTH ARE RECORDED. The STATUTE, HRS 456-9(a), still reads: ‘The attorney general shall charge and collect the following fees for: (1) Issuing the original commission, $40; (2) Renewing the commission, $40; and (3) Electronic processing service fees of up to ten per cent of the amount of the transaction’ - but the same subsection then says ‘These fees may be adjusted, and any other fees may be established and adjusted, by adopting rules pursuant to chapter 91.’ The RULE has done exactly that. HAR 5-11-46(a), as amended and compiled February 27, 2022, sets: application for notary public commission $20; application for renewal $20; application for restoration of a forfeited commission $10; application for reinstatement of a suspended commission $10; ISSUANCE of the commission $100; RENEWAL of the commission $100; each examination $10; administrative fee to process and catalogue notary journals $10; restoration of a forfeited commission $80; change of name, employer, residential or business address, telephone number or judicial circuit $10; notary public manual $3 picked up or $5 mailed; certification of each notarial transaction from a journal in the Attorney General’s disposition $5 per transaction; copying 25 cents per printed page; replacement commission certificate $10; reschedule an examination more than 48 hours ahead $15. The Attorney General’s published Notary Fee Schedule (effective January 1, 2020) and the 2023 Notary Public Manual both carry the same $20/$100 figures, and the application instruction sheet states the $20 application fee ‘as required by Sec. 5-11-46, Hawaii Administrative Rules, amended March 12, 2015’ and the ‘$100.00’ issuance fee. SO: the code’s $40 is superseded in practice by the rule’s $100, by a mechanism the code itself authorises. Quote the $100 as what you pay and name the $40 as the unamended statutory figure - do not silently pick one. WHAT A NEW HAWAII NOTARY ACTUALLY PAYS: $20 application + $10 examination + $100 issuance = $130 to the Attorney General, plus the $1,000 surety bond premium (paid to a surety company, amount not state-set), plus the seal (bought privately, price not state-set), plus the circuit-court fee for filing the copy of the commission - ‘The court fees for filing a copy of a commission and for each certificate of authentication shall be specified by the Supreme Court’ (HRS 456-9(b)), an amount no Attorney General source states. GOVERNMENT NOTARIES: ‘There is no-fee for Government notaries public’, and they pay no circuit-court filing fee. RENEWAL: $20 renewal application + $100 renewal. RESTORATION of a forfeited commission: $10 application + $80 restoration. REMOTE ONLINE NOTARY: application $20, new RON commission $100, ‘Remote Online Notary Renewal application and commission’ $120, application and restoration of a forfeited RON commission $90 (AG Notary Fee Schedule effective January 1, 2020; identical list in the 2023 Manual). PENALTY FEES ARE REAL AND ITEMISED - rescheduling an exam $15/$20, no-show $25, failure to pick up the commission certificate within 60 days $40 (the AG’s fee-schedule PDF lists this line among fees and HAR 5-11-46(b)(5) lists it as a fine), failure to notify the AG of a change within 30 days $25, a change of address that misdirects renewal forms $50, failure to report a lost or stolen seal or journal within 10 days $20-$25, possessing more than one rubber stamp seal at a time $200, and failure to surrender the seal or certificate within 90 days of expiry or revocation $200 each. LIMIT OF THIS RECORD: the live checkout screens at notary.ehawaii.gov sit behind an eHawaii.gov login and were not exercised, so the amount actually charged at the cart - including HRS 456-9(a)(3)’s ’electronic processing service fees of up to ten per cent of the amount of the transaction’ - was not observed. That processing surcharge is authorised by statute and may sit on top of the figures above.

How long the commission lasts, and renewing it

4 Four years from the date of the commission - HRS 456-1(a): ‘The term of commission of a notary public shall be four years from the date of the notary public’s commission, unless sooner removed by the attorney general for cause after the opportunity for hearing.’ The term runs from the commission date, not from the oath or the bond filing, both of which follow. RENEWAL IS THE NOTARY’S OWN DUTY AND FAILURE FORFEITS THE COMMISSION: HRS 456-1(b) - ‘Each notary public shall be responsible for renewing the notary public’s commission on a timely basis and satisfying the renewal requirements provided by law. The failure to renew a commission in a timely manner shall cause the commission to be forfeited; provided that a forfeited commission may be restored by the attorney general within one year after the date of forfeiture upon compliance with the commission renewal requirements provided by law and upon written application and payment of all applicable fees.’ The 2023 Manual adds the knowledge element and the one-year cliff: forfeiture follows if the notary ‘knowingly fails to submit a completed renewal application, pay the renewal fee, or complete the processing and filing of a commission for renewal by the date of expiration’, a failure is deemed knowing if the renewal notice went to the last address on file, and ‘Any notary seeking to restore the notary’s forfeited commission more than one year from the date of expiration of the commission shall reapply as a new applicant for a notary public commission’ - which means a fresh application, fresh letters and the examination again. COST: $20 renewal application + $100 renewal; restoration within the year, $10 + $80. ONGOING DUTY DURING THE TERM: ‘Each notary public shall, upon any change in the notary public’s commission, occupation, residence, or employment, forthwith report the change to the attorney general’ (HRS 456-1(a)); the Manual states thirty days, and HAR 5-11-46(b)(1) fines a late notice $25 per occurrence and $50 if the lapse misdirects the renewal forms. Because the Attorney General may revoke where such a change makes the commission ’no longer necessary for the public good and convenience’, this is a substantive duty, not paperwork. NOT PUBLISHED IN ANY TIER SEARCHED: whether a timely renewal requires re-examination. The exam is stated as a condition of the original commission; HAR subchapter 3 and the Manual describe examination in the application context; no source read either imposes or excuses a renewal exam. Tiers searched on 2026-08-12: HRS 456-1, -2, -9; HAR ch. 5-11 (subchapters 2, 3, 5 read); the 2023 Notary Public Manual; the AG application instruction sheet; the live AG page. None. No continuing-education, refresher-course or periodic-retesting requirement is published for Hawaii notaries in any tier searched on 2026-08-12: HRS 456-1 (commission and renewal), 456-2 (qualifications), 456-9 (fees), and the other chapter 456 sections read; HAR chapter 5-11 as amended and compiled February 27, 2022, including subchapter 2 (Applications, incl. renewal) and subchapter 3 (Examinations); the Attorney General’s 2023 Notary Public Manual; the application instruction sheet; and the live Notaries Public page. Renewal as published consists of the renewal application, the fees, and timely processing - HRS 456-1(b) speaks only of ‘satisfying the renewal requirements provided by law’ and of forfeiture for failing to ‘submit a completed renewal application, pay the renewal fee, or complete the processing and filing of a commission for renewal’. Whether a timely renewal also requires re-examination is not stated either way in those tiers; a commission forfeited for more than a year unambiguously does, because the person ‘shall reapply as a new applicant’.

Your seal or stamp

A RUBBER STAMP - AND ONLY A RUBBER STAMP, AND ONLY ONE OF THEM. HRS 456-3: ‘Every notary public shall constantly keep a rubber stamp notary seal which shall clearly show, when stamped or impressed upon a tangible document or when attached to or logically associated with an electronic document, only the notary public’s name, the notary public’s commission number, and the words, ’notary public’ and ‘State of Hawaii’.’ The word ‘only’ is doing work: HRS 456-9(c)(1) fines $20 for failure to ‘Maintain an official seal of a single rubber stamp notary seal, on which shall be inscribed the name of the notary public, the commission number of the notary public, and the words ’notary public’ and ‘State of Hawaii’ only’, and HAR 5-11-46(b)(9) fines $200 for ‘Possessing more than one rubber stamp notary seal at a time’. An embosser is not the Hawaii instrument. COPYABILITY: ‘The notary seal shall be capable of being copied together with the document to which it is stamped, impressed, or attached, or with which it is logically associated.’ PHYSICAL SPECIFICATION - FROM THE MANUAL, NOT FROM THE CURRENT STATUTE: the 2023 Notary Public Manual describes the seal as one ‘which shall be circular, not over two inches in diameter, with a serrated or milled edge border’. That circular/two-inch/serrated description does NOT appear in the text of HRS 456-3 as read at capitol.hawaii.gov on 2026-08-12; it is the administrative-rule specification as restated by the Attorney General. Both are recorded; do not attribute the shape rule to the statute. WHAT MUST ACCOMPANY THE SIGNATURE: the notary ‘shall authenticate all the notary public’s official acts, attestations, certificates, and instruments therewith, and shall always add to an official signature the typed or printed name of the notary public and a statement showing the date that the notary public’s commission expires’ (HRS 456-3). The official signature must be signed ‘in the same manner as it appears on the notary’s seal’. EVERY ACT NEEDS A CERTIFICATE: HAR 5-11-8 requires a notary to evidence every acknowledgment or jurat with a certificate, and HRS 456-9(c)(4) fines $500 for failing to ‘Authenticate every acknowledgment or jurat with a certificate that shall be signed and dated by the notary public, include the printed name and official stamp or seal of the notary public, and identify the jurisdiction in which the notarial act is performed.’ SURRENDER, NOT DESTRUCTION BY THE NOTARY: ‘Upon resignation, death, expiration of term of commission without renewal, or revocation or abandonment of commission, the notary public, or in the case of the death of the notary public, the notary public’s personal representative, shall immediately deliver the notary public’s seal to the attorney general who shall deface or destroy the same.’ Failure within ninety days costs $200 (HRS 456-9(c)(2); HAR 5-11-46(b)(6)) and the Manual also describes a court-recoverable forfeiture of up to $200. ELECTRONIC STAMPING DEVICE: if one was used, on the same events the notary ‘shall disable the electronic stamping device by destroying, defacing, damaging, erasing, or securing it against use in a manner that renders it unusable and shall submit a declaration to the attorney general’ saying how and when - $200 for failing to do so within ninety days. LOSS OR THEFT: notify the Attorney General within ten days, inform law enforcement if stolen, and deliver a copy of the police report to the Attorney General; $20 fine under HRS 456-9(c)(6), $20-$25 in the rule and fee schedule.

Keeping a journal

Hawaii requires a notary journal.

UNIVERSAL AND EXACTING - Hawaii’s ’notarial record book’ (the statute and rules also call it a journal) must record EVERY official act, not just real-estate or remote ones. The 2023 Notary Public Manual, restating HRS 456-15: ‘Every notary public shall record at length in a book of records all acts, protests, depositions, and other things, by the notary noted or done in the notary’s official capacity.’ EACH ENTRY MUST CONTAIN: (1) ‘The type, date, and time of day of the notarial act’; (2) ‘The title or type and date of the document or proceeding’; (3) ‘The signature, printed name, and address of each person whose signature is notarized and of each witness, other parties to the instrument’; (4) if identity rests on personal knowledge, ‘a statement to that effect’; (5) if identity rests on satisfactory evidence, ‘a brief description of the method of identification and the identification credential presented, if any including the identification number and date of expiration of any identification credentials’; and (6) ‘The fee, if any, charged by the notary public.’ PHYSICAL SPECIFICATION: ‘The record book shall be bound with a soft cover and shall not exceed eleven inches in height and sixteen and one-half inches in width when fully opened. The pages of the record book shall be consecutively numbered.’ The information page of each book must carry, legibly printed, the notary’s name, business address, commission number, commission expiration date, the book number, and the beginning and ending dates of the acts recorded in it; and every set of transaction pages must carry the notary’s name at the top left and commission number at the top right. Hawaii’s Notary Public Office supplies record books on request (there is a ‘Notarial Record Book Request’ form on the AG site) and HAR 5-11-46(a)(8) charges a $10 ‘administrative fee to process and catalogue notary public journals’. EVIDENTIARY EFFECT: ‘All copies or certificates granted by the notary shall be under the notary’s hand and notarial seal, and shall be received as evidence of such transactions.’ RETENTION - TEN YEARS, AND THE ATTORNEY GENERAL CAN AUDIT: ‘The records of each notary public shall be maintained by the notary for 10 years upon the resignation, death, expiration of each term of office, or revocation of commission subject to audit or inspection by AG.’ Failure to comply within ninety days exposes the notary or the personal representative to a forfeiture of ’not less than $50 nor more than $500’ recoverable by the Attorney General. The rule mirrors it with fines of $50-$500 each for failure to retain the journal ten years after the last act chronicled, failure to comply with an audit or inspection, failure to inform the Attorney General of the journal’s location, and failure to transmit the journal to the Attorney General or an approved repository on the notary’s death. HRS 456-9(c)(5) separately fines $200 for failure to ‘Chronicle all of the notary public’s notarial acts as prescribed by section 456-15 and applicable rules’. REMOTE ONLINE NOTARIES KEEP TWO: ‘In addition to the tangible journal required of all notaries public, a remote online notary public shall retain an electronic journal and any audiovisual recording’ - see ron_detail.

Online (remote) notarization

Hawaii authorizes remote online notarization, and it requires a registration separate from your commission.

AUTHORIZED, AND IT REQUIRES A SECOND COMMISSION ON TOP OF THE ORDINARY ONE. AUTHORIZING LAW: Act 54, Session Laws of Hawaii 2020, which the Attorney General announces at the top of its Notaries Public page - ‘Please be informed that Act 54, Session Laws of Hawaii 2020 has become effective as of January 1, 2021.’ The operative statute is HRS 456-23, ‘Notarial act performed for remotely located individual’: ‘(a) A remotely located individual may comply with any law requiring the individual to appear personally before, or be in the presence of, a notary public at the time of the performance of a notarial act by using communication technology to appear before a remote online notary public.’ The implementing rules are HAR chapter 5-11 subchapter 7, sections 5-11-61 to 5-11-73, added and compiled February 27, 2022. WHO MAY APPLY: ‘Only a notary public with an active commission may apply for a remote online notary public commission’ (HAR 5-11-62(a)). TERM: the RON commission ‘shall expire on the same date as the notary public’s commission’ (HAR 5-11-66) - it never outlives the underlying commission. WHAT THE APPLICATION MUST CONTAIN (HAR 5-11-62(b)): a non-refundable application fee; the applicant’s email address; the applicant’s notary public commission number; ‘A description of the communication technologies and devices that the applicant intends to use’; ‘The name, address, and website address of any vendors or other persons that will directly supply’ those technologies; ‘A description of the data storage methods to maintain a secure backup of electronic journals and audiovisual recordings’; ‘A statement certifying that the applicant has obtained a digital certificate from a qualified certificate authority or a trusted service provider to be used by the applicant in performing remote online notarizations’; and a statement that the named technologies are fully compliant with chapter 456, HRS, and the rules. NOTE THE VENDOR RULE’S SHAPE: Hawaii does not publish an approved-vendor list that the notary must choose from - the notary names the vendor and certifies compliance, which puts the compliance burden on the notary. FEES: application for a new Remote Online Notary Commission $20; new RON commission $100; ‘Remote Online Notary Renewal application and commission’ $120; application and restoration of a forfeited RON commission $90 (AG Notary Fee Schedule effective January 1, 2020, and the identical list in the 2023 Notary Public Manual). IDENTITY OF THE REMOTE SIGNER: under HRS 456-23(b)(1) the RON must have personal knowledge, or satisfactory evidence by oath or affirmation from a credible witness, or ‘satisfactory evidence… by using at least two different types of identity proofing’. The rule specifies the two: credential analysis using automated software and an authenticity test against issuing- or authoritative-source data with a real-time visual comparison, plus knowledge-based authentication in which ‘The remotely located individual shall answer a quiz consisting of a minimum of five (5) questions related to the remotely located individual’s personal history or identity formulated from public or private data sources’. RECORDING IS MANDATORY: the RON ‘or a person acting on behalf of the remote online notary public, creates an audiovisual recording of the performance of the notarial act’, retained ‘for a period of no less than 10 years’ (HRS 456-23; the Manual states the RON ‘shall retain the remote online notary public’s electronic journal and audiovisual recording for ten years after the performance of the last notarial act chronicled in the journal’), stored ‘in a computer or other electronic storage device that protects the journal and recording against unauthorized access by password or cryptographic process’, maintained in an industry-standard format, subject to inspection, and transmissible to the Attorney General or an approved repository. The RON must tell the Attorney General where the electronic journal is on resignation. CERTIFICATE WORDING: ‘If a notarial act is performed under this section, any certificate of notarial act required by this chapter or other laws of this State shall indicate that the notarial act was performed using communication technology.’ SIGNERS OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES ARE ALLOWED ONLY UNDER CONDITIONS: the document must be filed with or relate to a matter before a U.S. public official, court or governmental entity, or involve U.S. property or a transaction substantially connected with the United States, or involve a transaction with an FDIC-insured bank (including such banks located in the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, or the Republic of Palau), AND ‘The act of making the statement or signing the record is not prohibited by the foreign state in which the remotely located individual is located’ - a Pacific-jurisdiction carve-out that appears in few other states’ RON statutes. FEE FOR A REMOTE ACT: $25, versus $5 for the same act in person (HRS 456-17(8)). THE PUBLIC CAN FILTER FOR IT: the AG’s public notary search has a ‘Remote Online only’ notary-type filter.

What you may charge

STATUTORY PER-ACT SCHEDULE, NOT A SINGLE CAP. HRS 456-17, read directly at capitol.hawaii.gov on 2026-08-12: ‘Subject to section 456-18, every notary public is entitled to demand and receive the following fees: (1) For noting the protest of mercantile paper, $5; (2) For each notice and certified copy of protest, $5; (3) For noting any other protest, $5; (4) For every notice thereof and certified copy of protest, $5; (5) For every deposition or official certificate, $5; (6) For the administration of oath, including the certificate of the oath, $5; for affixing the certificate of the oath to every duplicate original instrument beyond four, $2.50; (7) For taking any acknowledgment, $5 for each party signing; for affixing to every duplicate original beyond one of any instrument acknowledged before the notary public, the notary public’s certificate of the acknowledgment, $2.50 for each person making the acknowledgment; and (8) For any of the foregoing notarial acts performed for a remotely located individual under section 456-23, other than affixing a notary public’s certificate to a duplicate original, $25.’ Two figures do most of the work: $5 per party signing for an acknowledgment or for an oath, and $25 for the same act done remotely. The 2023 Manual adds one act priced at nothing: ‘For administration of an oath of loyalty… No charge.’ THE CAP IS A HARD ONE: ‘The charges for official services must be limited to the prescribed fees. An overcharge is deemed to be a violation of law. The notary may make further charges for unofficial services, but the charging of a round sum for notarial and other services together is not permissible. A notary may charge less than the statutory fees for the notary’s acts.’ TAX CONSEQUENCE HAWAII PUBLISHES AND MOST STATES DO NOT: ‘A notary who charges for the notary’s official services must secure a State gross income tax license. Fees collected by the notary are subject to the State general excise tax.’ GOVERNMENT NOTARIES generally may not charge at all (HRS 456-18(3) and the Manual’s Notaries in Government Service section). TRAVEL OR MOBILE FEE: not addressed. No travel, mileage or convenience-fee provision appears in HRS 456-17 or 456-18 as read, in HAR chapter 5-11 as compiled February 27, 2022, in the 2023 Manual’s ‘Fees Notaries May Charge’ section, or on the live AG page - yet the Attorney General’s own public search offers a ‘Mobile only’ filter and explains ‘Mobile type means the Hawaii notary can provide notary services at the location of your choice.’ So Hawaii recognises mobile notaries in its directory while publishing no separate travel charge; the prohibition on ‘charging of a round sum for notarial and other services together’ is the nearest published constraint. Recorded as searched-and-unpublished, not as permitted or forbidden.

Who does NOT need a commission — exemptions

WHAT HAWAII PUBLISHES, AND WHAT IT DOES NOT. The clearly published category is not an exemption from commissioning but a distinct commission with waived costs: the NOTARY PUBLIC IN GOVERNMENT SERVICE. ’the head of every department (which, as used in HRS Chapter 456, includes any department, board, commission, bureau, or establishment of the United States, or of the State, or any political subdivision thereof) may designate one or more subordinates to be a notary public who, upon duly qualifying and receiving a commission as a notary public in government service, shall perform, without charge, the services of a notary public in all matters of business pertaining to the State, any political subdivision thereof, or the United States.’ Such a notary still qualifies and is still commissioned - but pays no circuit-court commission-filing fee, pays no Attorney General commission or renewal fee, and need not file the official bond ‘unless that bond is required by the head of the department’. In exchange the notary may not demand or receive fees, except where the department head deems the occasion ‘one of urgent necessity and convenience’ - in which case the prescribed fees are collected as government realizations and paid into the notaries public special fund - or where the Attorney General gives prior written approval and the notary pays the ordinary fees and files the bond at personal expense. Also relevant to who else can do notarial work: authentication of a notary’s acts is performed by the circuit court clerks with whom the notary filed a copy of the commission, seal impression and signature specimen, and ‘Authentication is also done by the Office of the Lieutenant Governor’ - so the apostille/authentication function sits outside the notary system. NOT PUBLISHED IN ANY TIER SEARCHED, and therefore not asserted: a list of ex officio officials (judges, court clerks, county officers) empowered to take acknowledgments without a notary commission; and anything about military notarial powers under 10 U.S.C. 1044a. Tiers searched on 2026-08-12: HRS 456-1, -2, -3, -5, -9, -17, -23 read directly; HAR chapter 5-11 as compiled February 27, 2022 (43 pages, subchapters 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 examined); the 2023 Notary Public Manual (24 pages, read end to end for these questions); the AG application instruction sheet; and the live Notaries Public page. Note that HRS chapter 502 (conveyances) - which the notary exam itself covers, sections 502-41 to 502-46 and 502-48 to 502-84 - governs who may take acknowledgments of conveyances in Hawaii and was NOT read for this record; a reader looking for the full list of officers authorised to take an acknowledgment should start there.

How to apply

Applications are handled by State of Hawaii, Department of the Attorney General, Notary Public Office. Start at the official application page .

Verify a license in Hawaii

Hawaii Department of the Attorney General, Notary Public Office, via the eHawaii.gov Online Notary Public service (platform operated by Tyler Technologies) publishes a public license search , searchable by Name, city, or ZIP code (a single free-text field; ‘Separate multiple entries by a comma’), Notary type: ALL types / Mobile only / Remote Online only / Mobile & Remote Online only or Languages spoken: English, ASL, Chinese, Filipino, French, German, Japanese, Micronesian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Hawaiian, Other. It covers Hawaii’s public ‘Find a Notary Public’ directory. Results columns are Name, Phone, City/Zip Code, Language, Mobile, Remote and a More Info link. It is built as a FIND-A-NOTARY service first and a verification lookup second - the state’s own framing is ‘Use this service to find a notary’ - and it is the only place a member of the public can confirm from the state that a given person holds an active Hawaii commission, including whether that person also holds the separate remote online notary commission.

Records come from Hawaii Department of the Attorney General, Notary Public Office, via the eHawaii.gov Online Notary Public service (platform operated by Tyler Technologies)’s own system. LicensingAtlas does not hold license records and cannot confirm any individual’s status — the date on this page refers to the requirements described above, not to anyone’s credential.

Frequently asked questions

Who commissions notaries in Hawaii?

The Attorney General - Hawaii has no Secretary of State. The Department of the Attorney General’s Notary Public Office at 425 Queen Street, Honolulu handles applications, the examination, commissions and discipline. The power is discretionary in a way most states’ is not: HRS 456-1(a) lets the Attorney General ‘commission the number of notaries public for the State that the attorney general deems necessary for the public good and convenience’, and lets the Attorney General revoke a commission when a change in the notary’s occupation, residence or employment makes it ’no longer necessary for the public good and convenience’. That is why the application requires a letter of justification estimating how many notarial acts you expect to perform and what documents you will notarize.

Is there a Hawaii notary exam, and how hard is it?

Yes, and it is a genuine closed-book examination with an 80 percent passing score - HAR 5-11-31: ‘The minimum passing score is eighty per cent. Failure to obtain a passing score shall result in failure of examination, and no commission shall be issued.’ It covers the statutes and rules applying to notaries plus practical duties, and the Attorney General publishes the reading list: HRS 456-1 to 456-21, 502-41 to 502-46, 502-48 to 502-84, 603-1, 621-12 and 621-13. It costs $10, is offered on Oahu at least monthly and periodically on the neighbor islands, and is held in the county where the applicant resides. You schedule it yourself after the Attorney General approves your application. Miss it without notice and you pay $25 and must file a new application with fresh letters; fail it twice and you wait ninety days before reapplying.

Does Hawaii require a notary bond?

Yes - a $1,000 surety bond, and the filing path is unusual. HRS 456-5 requires each notary ‘forthwith and before entering upon the duties’ to execute the bond at their own expense; the bond must be approved by a judge of the circuit court, and after approval it ‘shall be deposited and kept on file in the office of the clerk of the circuit court of the judicial circuit in which the notary public resides.’ The surety must be a company authorized to do business in Hawaii, and the State is the obligee. If a notary commits official misconduct, the injured party may sue the notary and the surety directly on the bond for all damages sustained. Errors-and-omissions insurance is a separate, private product and is not required by Hawaii - it appears nowhere in chapter 456, in HAR chapter 5-11, or in the Attorney General’s manual. Government notaries are excused from the bond unless their department head requires one, in which case the department pays for it.

What does a Hawaii notary commission cost?

$130 to the Attorney General for a new commission: $20 application, $10 examination, and $100 on issuance after you pass. Renewal is $20 plus $100. Restoring a commission forfeited less than a year ago is $10 plus $80. Government notaries pay no fee. On top of the state fees you buy the $1,000 surety bond from a surety company, buy your rubber stamp seal privately, and pay the circuit court’s filing fee for lodging a copy of your commission - an amount set by the Hawaii Supreme Court, not by the Attorney General. One caution about published numbers: HRS 456-9(a) still says the issuance and renewal fees are $40 each, but that same subsection lets the Attorney General adjust them by rule, and HAR 5-11-46 - together with the Attorney General’s fee schedule and 2023 manual - sets them at $100. The $100 is what you pay; the $40 is unamended statutory text.

Do Hawaii notaries have to keep a journal?

Yes, for every official act - Hawaii is not a self-filer-only or real-estate-only journal state. ‘Every notary public shall record at length in a book of records all acts, protests, depositions, and other things, by the notary noted or done in the notary’s official capacity.’ Each entry must show the type, date and time of the act; the title or type and date of the document; the signature, printed name and address of every person whose signature is notarized and of each witness and other party; how identity was established (personal knowledge, or a description of the method and the credential presented including its number and expiry); and the fee charged, if any. The book itself is specified - soft cover, no more than eleven inches high and sixteen and a half inches wide when open, consecutively numbered pages, with your name and commission number printed on every set of transaction pages. Records must be kept ten years and are subject to audit or inspection by the Attorney General, with fines from $50 to $500 for failing to retain, produce, locate or transmit them.

Can a Hawaii notary perform remote online notarizations?

Yes, but only with a second commission on top of the ordinary one. Act 54, Session Laws of Hawaii 2020, effective January 1, 2021, created HRS 456-23, and HAR subchapter 7 (sections 5-11-61 to 5-11-73, compiled February 27, 2022) implements it. Only a notary with an active commission may apply, the remote online notary commission expires on the same date as the underlying commission, and the application must describe the communication technologies and name the vendors supplying them, describe the backup storage for electronic journals and recordings, and certify that the applicant has obtained a digital certificate from a qualified certificate authority or trusted service provider. Fees are $20 to apply and $100 for the commission ($120 for the renewal application and commission together). Every remote act must be recorded on audiovisual media and kept ten years, alongside an electronic journal that is in addition to the paper record book every Hawaii notary keeps. A remote act may be charged at $25 instead of the ordinary $5.

How much can a Hawaii notary charge?

The fees are fixed by statute and an overcharge is a violation of law. HRS 456-17 allows $5 for taking an acknowledgment for each party signing; $5 for administering an oath including the certificate; $2.50 for affixing a certificate to extra duplicate originals; $5 for depositions, official certificates and protests; and $25 for any of those acts performed for a remotely located individual. Administering an oath of loyalty is free. A notary may charge less, but ‘The charges for official services must be limited to the prescribed fees’ and ’the charging of a round sum for notarial and other services together is not permissible.’ One Hawaii-specific consequence: a notary who charges for official services ‘must secure a State gross income tax license’, and the fees collected are subject to the general excise tax. Hawaii publishes no separate travel or mobile fee, even though its own public directory lets you filter for mobile notaries.

What does a Hawaii notary seal look like - can I use an embosser?

No. Hawaii requires a rubber stamp, and only one of them. HRS 456-3 requires every notary to ‘constantly keep a rubber stamp notary seal’ showing ‘only the notary public’s name, the notary public’s commission number, and the words, notary public and State of Hawaii’ - the word ‘only’ is enforced, with a $20 fine for a non-conforming seal and a $200 fine for ‘Possessing more than one rubber stamp notary seal at a time’. The Attorney General’s manual adds that the seal is circular, not over two inches in diameter, with a serrated or milled edge. The seal must be capable of being copied along with the document, and every official signature must be accompanied by the notary’s typed or printed name and the commission expiration date. When the commission ends - by resignation, expiry without renewal, revocation or death - the seal is not destroyed by the notary: it must be delivered to the Attorney General, who defaces or destroys it, within ninety days, on pain of a $200 fine.

What happens if I let my Hawaii commission expire?

It is forfeited, and the clock that matters is one year. HRS 456-1(b): failure to renew on time ‘shall cause the commission to be forfeited; provided that a forfeited commission may be restored by the attorney general within one year after the date of forfeiture upon compliance with the commission renewal requirements provided by law and upon written application and payment of all applicable fees’ - $10 to apply plus $80 to restore. Past one year, the Attorney General’s manual is explicit: ‘Any notary seeking to restore the notary’s forfeited commission more than one year from the date of expiration of the commission shall reapply as a new applicant for a notary public commission’ - new letters, new application, and the examination again. Note also that a failure to renew counts as knowing if the renewal notice went to the last address on file, which is why Hawaii fines $50 when an unreported address change causes renewal forms to be mailed to the wrong place.

See every license and certification LicensingAtlas covers in Hawaii.

Sources & verification

Last verified against these sources: August 12, 2026.

We re-fetch every cited source on a weekly schedule: see what changed at the agencies, or every correction we have ever made.

LicensingAtlas states licensing and certification requirements categorically from official sources. It is a reference, not legal or career advice, and requirements change frequently — confirm details with the issuing board before you act.