How to Become a Notary in Kentucky — Requirements & Fees

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

Source-verified

Requirements below are drawn from Kentucky Secretary of State (Michael G. Adams) — Notary Commissions / Notary Branch, with the county clerk completing the commission (official site) and last verified August 12, 2026. Boards change fees and rules often — confirm before acting.

Requirements at a glance

In order: (1) Meet the qualifications in KRS 423.390(2) — see eligibility. (2) Complete the Notary Public Application for Appointment or Reappointment (Secretary of State form, rev. 12/23), naming the COUNTY OF COMMISSION, which 'Must match county of residence or business'; the form warns 'The application will be rejected if the county of commission does not match either the residential or business address listed on the application.' (3) Sign the Declaration of Qualifications and answer the four disclosure questions (felony conviction; conviction or plea to any crime involving fraud, dishonesty or deceit; professional licence denied or disciplined for those reasons; notary commission denied or disciplined in Kentucky or any other state). A 'YES' triggers extra proof: 'you must provide a complete explanation of the circumstances, along with a criminal background check from the Administrative Office of the Courts or the Kentucky State Police', and such applications 'may not be submitted electronically and must be mailed.' A felony conviction additionally requires 'a copy of the order from the Governor restoring your civil right to hold office.' (4) Sign by hand: 'You must provide your hand-written signature in the same manner as you intend to sign when performing a notarial act with respect to a tangible record. (See KRS 423.360)' and 'Signatures applied electronically or by use of a stylus will not be accepted.' (5) File with the Secretary of State online or by mail with the $10 fee payable to the Kentucky State Treasurer (KRS 423.390(2)(i), 423.430(3)(a)). (6) Wait for the approval email from [email protected] (a postcard if no email address is given). (7) COMPLETE THE COMMISSION AT THE COUNTY CLERK WITHIN 30 DAYS: 'The notification will instruct you to contact the county clerk in the county of commission directly to make arrangements to post the required $1000 surety bond, take the oath of office, and receive your commission certificate' — statutory basis KRS 423.390(4), with clerk fees under KRS 64.012. The county clerk then records the filing and oath in the Secretary of State's database (KRS 423.400(2)). NO EXAM, NO COURSE and NO STAMP are required at any step (see those fields). To add electronic-record or online notarization, register separately with the SOS (KRS 423.385, 423.390(10); 30 KAR 8:005 §3); to notarize TANGIBLE records remotely, notify the SOS under KRS 423.455(6).

Legal basis

Kentucky Secretary of State (Michael G. Adams) — Notary Commissions / Notary Branch, with the county clerk completing the commission commissions notaries public in Kentucky. Every figure below is verified against the commissioning authority’s own official pages and dated.

What it’s called

The statutory noun is ’notary public’ and Kentucky issues a COMMISSION; the Secretary of State also uses APPOINTMENT throughout — the form is the ‘Notary Public Application for Appointment or Reappointment’ and the SOS page speaks of a notary ‘appointed by the Secretary of State.’ The full official style is ‘NOTARY PUBLIC, STATE AT LARGE’, which the SOS defines as a notary ‘appointed by the Secretary of State under KRS 423.390 to perform notarial acts within the state of Kentucky’ — ‘state at large’ describes statewide jurisdiction after county qualification, not a second class of notary; historically Kentucky also commissioned a ‘special notary public’ for out-of-state acts, and no such category appears anywhere in the current chapter contents of KRS 423.300 to 423.455 or in 30 KAR 8:005 (searched 2026-08-12). ‘Kentucky notary license’ is a folk term — Kentucky issues no notary licence. Three modes must be kept apart because Kentucky registers them separately: notarial acts on ELECTRONIC records with the signer present; ONLINE NOTARY PUBLIC electronic notarization by communication technology; and REMOTE notarial acts on TANGIBLE records under KRS 423.455, which the state handles by notification rather than registration and which vendors often market as ‘RIN’. NOTARIO PUBLICO: no Kentucky provision found in KRS 423.300 to 423.455 or 30 KAR 8:005 bars the term or requires a non-attorney advertising disclaimer — Kentucky’s only advertising rule found is the discipline ground for ‘Use of false or misleading advertising or representation by the notary public representing that the notary has a duty, right, or privilege that the notary does not have’ (KRS 423.395(1)(f)). That is an absence in the tiers searched (chapter contents, the ten sections read in full, the regulation, the application form and the SOS pages, on 2026-08-12), not proof that no such rule exists elsewhere in Kentucky law. ‘Notary signing agent’ and ’loan signing agent’ are private vendor credentials appearing in no Kentucky source read; the only third parties Kentucky registers are NOTARY TECHNOLOGY PROVIDERS, which have their own SOS registration channel.

Types of notary commission

Notary Public, State at Large (tangible/paper acts) — An individual 18 or older, a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident, who resides in or has a place of employment or practice in the Kentucky county where the application is made, and can read and write English. TWO-STEP COMMISSIONING — this is the Kentucky trap. The Secretary of State issues the commission for a four-year term (KRS 423.390(3)), but the notary is not finished: ‘Within thirty (30) days of receiving a notary public commission from the Secretary of State, the applicant shall appear in person to take an oath of office, submit an assurance in the form of a surety bond, and file the commission, all of which shall take place before the county clerk listed in the commission application’ (KRS 423.390(4)). Only then may the notary act, and then ‘in any county of the Commonwealth’ (KRS 423.390(6)). Kentucky’s own SOS page notes the commission is open to ‘a resident or non-resident of Kentucky’ — the nexus is the county of residence OR employment.
Registration to perform notarial acts with respect to ELECTRONIC records (in person) — A commissioned Kentucky notary who wants to notarize electronic records with the signer physically present. Separate registration with the Secretary of State before the first such act (KRS 423.385(1)(a), 423.390(10)). The registration package under 30 KAR 8:005 §3(1) includes the notary’s technology description, electronic signature, an X.509-compliant digital certificate, the vendors to be used, the journal method, and ‘A copy of the registrant’s surety bond in the amount of $1,000’. ’the registration … shall be approved within thirty (30) days of its submission’ (30 KAR 8:005 §3(4)(a)).
Registration as an ONLINE NOTARY PUBLIC (electronic notarization by communication technology) — A commissioned Kentucky notary who wants to perform electronic notarizations for signers appearing by audio-visual communication technology. Registered on the same form, ticked separately: the registration must indicate ‘whether the registrant is registering to perform notarial acts with respect to electronic records or electronic notarizations, or both’ (30 KAR 8:005 §3(1)(f)). Governed by KRS 423.355 — the online notary must be physically in Kentucky, must keep an ELECTRONIC JOURNAL (KRS 423.380) and must record the session and keep the recording at least ten years.
Remote notarial acts with respect to TANGIBLE records (notification only) — Any commissioned Kentucky notary who wants to notarize a PAPER record for a remotely located signer over communication technology. Kentucky separates this from online (electronic) notarization, and the Secretary of State gives it its own page: ‘Information on Remote Notarial Acts with Respect to Tangible Records’ on the Notary Commission Index. The authority is KRS 423.455, which is not limited to electronic records: ‘A remotely located individual may comply with KRS 423.320 by appearing before a notary public by means of communication technology.’ The gate is a NOTIFICATION, not the electronic-records registration: ‘Before a notary public performs the notary public’s initial notarial act under this section, the notary public shall notify the Secretary of State that the notary public will be performing notarial acts facilitated by communication technology and identify the technology’ (KRS 423.455(6)). An audio-visual recording is mandatory and must be kept at least ten years (KRS 423.455(2)(c), (5)).

Who can be commissioned

KRS 423.390(2): an applicant shall ‘(a) Be at least eighteen (18) years of age; (b) Be a citizen or permanent legal resident of the United States; (c) Be a resident of or have a place of employment or practice in the county within this Commonwealth where the application is made; (d) Be able to read and write English; (e) Not be disqualified to receive a commission under KRS 423.395’ — plus the required forms, proof of the surety bond, the oath of office, and the fee. The Secretary of State’s notary page reproduces the same list and adds the plain-language framing that a notary public state at large ‘is a resident or non-resident of Kentucky’ — non-residents qualify through a Kentucky place of employment or practice, and the application instructions state ‘If you do not live or work in Kentucky, you are not eligible for a Kentucky notary commission.’ Both a residential and a business address are required on the application and ‘One of these two addresses must be located in Kentucky.’ The application also collects date of birth and telephone number, ‘required by KRS Ch. 423 and 30 KAR 8:005.’ DISQUALIFICATION (KRS 423.395(1)): any act or omission showing the individual ’lacks the honesty, integrity, competence, or reliability to act as a notary public’, including failure to comply with KRS 423.300 to 423.455; a fraudulent, dishonest or deceitful misstatement or omission in the application; ‘A conviction of the applicant or notary public of any felony or a crime involving fraud, dishonesty, or deceit’; an adverse finding or admission of liability based on fraud, dishonesty or deceit; failure to discharge a notarial duty; false or misleading advertising or claiming a right the notary does not have; violation of an SOS regulation; discipline of a notary commission in another state; and ‘Failure of the notary public to maintain an assurance.’ FELONY: the application instructions state that ‘The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky prohibits persons convicted of a felony from holding public office. This can be overcome by a pardon or restoration of civil rights from the Governor.’ Routine fingerprinting is NOT required — a criminal background check is demanded only when one of the four disclosure questions is answered YES (Notary Public Application Instructions, rev. 12/23).

Requirements

In order: (1) Meet the qualifications in KRS 423.390(2) — see eligibility. (2) Complete the Notary Public Application for Appointment or Reappointment (Secretary of State form, rev. 12/23), naming the COUNTY OF COMMISSION, which ‘Must match county of residence or business’; the form warns ‘The application will be rejected if the county of commission does not match either the residential or business address listed on the application.’ (3) Sign the Declaration of Qualifications and answer the four disclosure questions (felony conviction; conviction or plea to any crime involving fraud, dishonesty or deceit; professional licence denied or disciplined for those reasons; notary commission denied or disciplined in Kentucky or any other state). A ‘YES’ triggers extra proof: ‘you must provide a complete explanation of the circumstances, along with a criminal background check from the Administrative Office of the Courts or the Kentucky State Police’, and such applications ‘may not be submitted electronically and must be mailed.’ A felony conviction additionally requires ‘a copy of the order from the Governor restoring your civil right to hold office.’ (4) Sign by hand: ‘You must provide your hand-written signature in the same manner as you intend to sign when performing a notarial act with respect to a tangible record. (See KRS 423.360)’ and ‘Signatures applied electronically or by use of a stylus will not be accepted.’ (5) File with the Secretary of State online or by mail with the $10 fee payable to the Kentucky State Treasurer (KRS 423.390(2)(i), 423.430(3)(a)). (6) Wait for the approval email from [email protected] (a postcard if no email address is given). (7) COMPLETE THE COMMISSION AT THE COUNTY CLERK WITHIN 30 DAYS: ‘The notification will instruct you to contact the county clerk in the county of commission directly to make arrangements to post the required $1000 surety bond, take the oath of office, and receive your commission certificate’ — statutory basis KRS 423.390(4), with clerk fees under KRS 64.012. The county clerk then records the filing and oath in the Secretary of State’s database (KRS 423.400(2)). NO EXAM, NO COURSE and NO STAMP are required at any step (see those fields). To add electronic-record or online notarization, register separately with the SOS (KRS 423.385, 423.390(10); 30 KAR 8:005 §3); to notarize TANGIBLE records remotely, notify the SOS under KRS 423.455(6).

Training

Kentucky does not require a training course.

Kentucky requires NO education course of any kind — not for the commission, not for renewal, and not for the electronic or online registrations. KRS 423.390(2) lists the qualifications and no course appears among them; KRS 423.390(10) and 30 KAR 8:005 §3(1) set out the electronic/online registration package (technology description, electronic signature, digital certificate, vendor identification, journal method, surety bond copy, disclosures) and require no training or proof of training; and KRS 423.455 conditions remote acts on notification and technology identification, not instruction. Tiers searched on 2026-08-12: KRS 423.300 to 423.455 (chapter contents plus the full text of 423.340, 423.355, 423.370, 423.380, 423.385, 423.390, 423.395, 423.400, 423.430, 423.455), 30 KAR 8:005 in full, the Notary Public Application for Appointment or Reappointment and its two-page instructions (rev. 12/23), and the Secretary of State’s Notary Commission Index and Notaries pages. What Kentucky substitutes for training is TECHNOLOGY VETTING — the registrant must describe the technology, supply an X.509-compliant digital certificate, name the vendors, and state whether the notary technology provider has itself registered with the Secretary of State (30 KAR 8:005 §3(1)(g)-(k)).

Exam

Kentucky does not require an exam.

There is no examination for a Kentucky notary commission, and none for the electronic-records or online-notary registrations. The qualification list in KRS 423.390(2) contains no examination; 30 KAR 8:005 §2(1) enumerates fourteen items an application ‘shall include’ and none is a test; and the registration provisions in KRS 423.390(10)-(13), KRS 423.385 and 30 KAR 8:005 §3 turn entirely on information, technology and the surety bond. Tiers searched 2026-08-12: the statutes listed in training_requirement, 30 KAR 8:005 in full, the application form and instructions (rev. 12/23), and the Secretary of State’s own ‘How to Become a Kentucky Notary Public’ page, which lists five qualifications and then goes straight to the $10 fee and the county-clerk step. The nearest thing to a competence gate is the discretionary standard in KRS 423.395(1) — the Secretary of State may act against a commission for conduct showing the individual ’lacks the honesty, integrity, competence, or reliability to act as a notary public.’

Your surety bond

A $1,000 assurance is mandatory — and it is filed WITH THE COUNTY CLERK, not with the Secretary of State. KRS 423.390(5): ‘The assurance required by this section shall be in the amount of one thousand dollars ($1,000) and shall be issued by a surety or other entity licensed or authorized to do business in this state. The assurance shall cover acts performed during the term of the notary public’s commission and shall be in the form prescribed by the Secretary of State. If a notary public violates the law with respect to notaries public in this state, the surety or issuing entity is liable under the assurance. The surety or issuing entity shall give thirty (30) days’ notice to the Secretary of State before canceling the assurance or of the assurance’s expiration … A notary public may perform notarial acts in this state only during the period that a valid assurance is on file with the county clerk.’ TIMING: the bond is posted at the county clerk within 30 days of receiving the commission, together with the oath and the filing of the commission (KRS 423.390(4)); the SOS instructions put it plainly — ‘contact the county clerk in the county of commission directly to make arrangements to post the required $1000 surety bond, take the oath of office, and receive your commission certificate.’ The application itself asks for ‘A statement identifying the surety provider from which the applicant intends to obtain surety’ (30 KAR 8:005 §2(1)(k)), and the SOS publishes a ‘DOI Surety Companies Lookup Service’ so applicants can confirm the company is authorized. RENEWAL REPEATS ALL OF IT: ’the commission along with the required assurance shall be filed with the county clerk listed in the renewal application, and a new oath of office administered by the county clerk and new fees paid’ (KRS 423.390(8)(c)). Losing the bond is a ground for discipline — ‘Failure of the notary public to maintain an assurance’ (KRS 423.395(1)(i)) — and for rejecting an electronic registration (30 KAR 8:005 §3(4)(b)6). ERRORS & OMISSIONS INSURANCE IS NOT REQUIRED and is not mentioned, even as an option, in KRS 423.300 to 423.455, 30 KAR 8:005, the application form or the SOS notary pages (all searched 2026-08-12). The electronic registration requires a copy of the SAME $1,000 bond, not an additional or larger one (30 KAR 8:005 §3(1)(n)).

Fees

STATE FEES — the statute, the form and the live page all agree, with no divergence. KRS 423.430(3): ‘Application for a commission or renewal as a notary public $10; Issuance of a replacement commission upon loss or destruction of the original $10; Update to commission or registration information upon a change of name or address or other specified information $10; Issuance of an electronic certificate of authority or apostille $5 per document.’ The application form carries ‘FEE: $10’ on its face and ‘The application must be accompanied by the fee of $10; checks may be made payable to the Kentucky State Treasurer’, and the SOS page says to ‘submit it online, or mail it with a $10.00 fee made payable to Kentucky State Treasurer.’ The $10 update fee is a live obligation, not a formality: a notary who changes mail or email address, county of residence, name, signature, electronic signature, or the technology or device used must file the change within TEN days with the fee (KRS 423.390(7)). COUNTY CLERK FEES ARE SEPARATE AND ARE NOT PUBLISHED AS A SINGLE NOTARY FIGURE. KRS 423.390(4) requires the applicant to ‘pay fees to the county clerk for filing the assurance and administering the oath as set forth in KRS 64.012’, and KRS 64.012(1) prices the components rather than the transaction: ‘Administering an oath and certificate thereof $5.00’; ‘Recording a bond, for each bond $10.00’; ‘Each bond required to be taken or prepared by the clerk $4.00’; and a catch-all for ‘Filing with statutory authority for which no specific fee is set.’ NO LINE ITEM IN KRS 64.012 IS CAPTIONED ‘NOTARY COMMISSION’, so this record does NOT state a county-clerk total — which components a given clerk charges is not resolved by any source read, and the SOS itself says ‘Please contact your county clerk with any questions regarding the bonding and oath process.’ REGISTRATION FEE — AN UNRESOLVED GAP: KRS 423.390(10)(c) requires an electronic/online registrant to ‘Pay to the Secretary of State a registration fee payment, as specified in KRS 423.430, which is in addition to the commission application fee’, but KRS 423.430(3) itemizes only the four fees quoted above and names no registration fee; 30 KAR 8:005 §3 sets no amount either. Searched KRS 423.430, KRS 423.390, 30 KAR 8:005 and the SOS notary pages on 2026-08-12 — the amount is not published in any tier read. PRIVATE COSTS: the $1,000 surety bond premium; for electronic work, the notary technology, the X.509 digital certificate and the electronic journal. NO STAMP COST IS COMPELLED, because Kentucky does not require a stamp at all.

How long the commission lasts, and renewing it

KRS 423.390(3): ‘On compliance with this section, the Secretary of State shall issue a commission as a notary public to an applicant for a term of four (4) years. The Secretary of State shall assign a unique commission number to each notary public, which same commission number shall continue to be assigned to the notary public in the event of the renewal or later issuance of another commission to the same individual notary public’ — the commission NUMBER follows the person for life, across renewals. The term is issued by the Secretary of State, but AUTHORITY does not begin until qualification at the county clerk: a notarial officer may act ‘after filing the commission and assurance and taking the oath required by this section, and for so long as the notary public’s commission and surety bond are valid and in effect’ (KRS 423.390(6)), and the commission itself ‘shall be effective as of the date of entry of that commission in the database of notaries public on the website of the Secretary of State’ (30 KAR 8:005 §2(2)). The 30-day window in KRS 423.390(4) is therefore the real deadline for a new notary. An electronic/online registration has no separate term — it ‘is suspended by operation of law when the notary public is no longer commissioned’ (KRS 423.390(15)). Renewal is a full reapplication filed BEFORE expiration, and it repeats the county-clerk step. KRS 423.390(8)(a): a notary ‘may apply to the Secretary of State to renew his or her commission, and shall comply with the qualifications, renewal application filings, and other requirements then applicable to obtaining an original commission’, with the $10 fee. If approved, the SOS issues ‘a renewed commission … for an additional four (4) year term, using the same commission number’ (8(b)). Then: ’the commission along with the required assurance shall be filed with the county clerk listed in the renewal application, and a new oath of office administered by the county clerk and new fees paid by the notary public to the county clerk’ (8(c)). THE GAP RULE IS HARSH AND EXPLICIT: ‘A renewed commission shall be valid and effective only upon compliance with this subsection. A notary public shall have no authority to perform notarial acts during any period between the expiration of his or her current commission and the effective date of any renewal commission’ (KRS 423.390(8)(d)). TIMING WINDOW from the application instructions (rev. 12/23): ‘Do not submit application earlier than 60 days prior to expiration of your current commission’, the correct commission number and expiration date must be supplied, and ‘If your commission has already expired, the application will be treated as a new appointment.’ ONE THING RENEWAL DOES CARRY OVER: ‘The renewal of the commission of a notary public who has previously registered to perform notarial acts with regard to electronic records or online notarizations … constitutes renewal of his or her registration without the necessity of submitting another registration’ (30 KAR 8:005 §3(7)). No continuing education and no re-examination apply — see ce_hours and exam. NO CONTINUING EDUCATION is required of Kentucky notaries. KRS 423.390(8) describes renewal as compliance with ’the qualifications, renewal application filings, and other requirements then applicable to obtaining an original commission’ — which include no course — and neither KRS 423.355, 423.385 nor 30 KAR 8:005 imposes periodic education on electronic-records registrants or online notaries; 30 KAR 8:005 §3(7) in fact renews the electronic registration automatically with the commission, without a new submission. Tiers searched 2026-08-12: KRS 423.300 to 423.455 (chapter contents plus the ten sections read in full), 30 KAR 8:005 in full, the Notary Public Application and its instructions (rev. 12/23), and the Secretary of State’s Notary Commission Index and Notaries pages. What recurs instead of education is ADMINISTRATIVE UPKEEP: a ten-day duty to report a change of mail or email address, county of residence, name, signature, electronic signature, or the technology or device used, each with a $10 fee (KRS 423.390(7)), and the duty to keep the $1,000 assurance in force on pain of discipline (KRS 423.395(1)(i)).

Your seal or stamp

KENTUCKY DOES NOT REQUIRE A STAMP OR SEAL — the single most counter-intuitive fact in this record. KRS 423.370: ‘A notary public commissioned pursuant to KRS 423.300 to 423.455 is not required to use a stamp. If a notary public chooses to use a stamp, the notary public shall have an official stamp which shall: (1) Include the notary public’s name, title, jurisdiction, commission number, and expiration date; and (2) Be capable of being copied together with the record to which it is affixed or attached or with which it is logically associated.’ The application instructions confirm the conditional framing — the full legal name must appear on the commission certificate ‘as well as on any stamp or seal to be used’ — and the electronic registration asks for ’the official stamp, if any’ (30 KAR 8:005 §3(1)(h)). No shape, size, ink colour or embosser rule is prescribed anywhere in KRS 423.300 to 423.455 or 30 KAR 8:005 (both searched 2026-08-12). WHAT KENTUCKY REQUIRES INSTEAD IS THE SIGNATURE AND THE CERTIFICATE: the applicant’s hand-written signature on the application must match how the notary will sign tangible records (‘Signatures applied electronically or by use of a stylus will not be accepted’), and a change of signature must be reported to the SOS within ten days with the $10 fee (KRS 423.390(7)). SECURITY OF A STAMPING DEVICE, where one is used, is governed by KRS 423.375 (security of stamping device; rendering it unusable when the commission is no longer valid; reporting a lost or stolen device). For electronic work the tamper-evident element is not the stamp but the DIGITAL CERTIFICATE: it must comply ‘with the X.509 standard adopted by the International Telecommunication Union or a similar industry-standard technology’, and a notary ‘shall not perform an electronic notarization if the digital certificate: (a) Has expired; (b) Has been revoked or terminated by the issuing or registering authority; (c) Is invalid; or (d) Is incapable of authentication’ (30 KAR 8:005 §4(1)).

Keeping a journal

Kentucky requires a journal for some notarial acts.

NO journal duty for ordinary paper notarizations; a mandatory ELECTRONIC journal for online notaries. KRS 423.380 is captioned ‘Journal of online notary public’ and its subsection (1) reads: ‘An online notary public shall maintain a journal in which the online notary public chronicles all electronic notarizations that the online notary public performs. The online notary public shall retain the journal for ten (10) years after the performance of the last electronic notarization chronicled in the journal.’ FORMAT (423.380(2)): ‘The journal shall be created in an electronic format’, may be more than one, and must be ‘in a permanent, tamper-evident electronic format’ complying with the regulations. ENTRIES (423.380(3)) must be made ‘contemporaneously with performance of the notarial act’ and contain the date and time; a brief description of the record and type of notarial act; the full name and address of each individual for whom the act is performed; a statement if identity rested on personal knowledge; if identity rested on satisfactory evidence, a brief description of the method and means used and the issuance and expiration dates of any credential presented; and ‘The fee, if any, charged by the online notary public.’ For acts using communication technology the notary must also retain the audio-visual recording (423.380(4)). A lost or stolen journal must be reported promptly to the Secretary of State (423.380(5)); the journal is retained through resignation, revocation or suspension (423.380(6)); and on death or adjudication of incompetency whoever holds it ‘shall transmit it to the Secretary of State or otherwise as directed in administrative regulations’ (423.380(7)). Kentucky expressly allows delegation: ‘A notary public may designate a custodian to do any of the following: (a) Maintain the journal … or (b) Retain an audio or visual recording of a notarial act’ (423.380(8)). NOTHING in KRS 423.300 to 423.455 or 30 KAR 8:005 imposes a journal on a notary performing tangible in-person acts (searched 2026-08-12). NOTE THE SEAM: a notary who performs a REMOTE act on a TANGIBLE record under KRS 423.455 must keep the audio-visual recording for at least ten years (423.455(5)), but the journal section by its terms binds the ‘online notary public’; no source read states whether that notary must also keep a journal, and this record makes no claim either way.

Online (remote) notarization

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

Authorized since JANUARY 1, 2020 — and Kentucky runs TWO parallel remote regimes that are easy to conflate. The authorizing act is 2019 Ky. Acts ch. 86 (SB 114), creating KRS 423.300 to 423.455, every section of which carries ‘Effective: January 1, 2020’. (A) ONLINE NOTARY PUBLIC / ELECTRONIC NOTARIZATION — KRS 423.355. An online notary may perform an electronic notarization ‘provided the online notary public is physically located in this state while performing the notarial act’ and has personal knowledge or satisfactory evidence of the signer’s identity, with the signer located within a U.S. state, or outside the United States only where the record relates to a U.S. court, governmental entity, property or transaction and the act is not prohibited where the signer is. This requires REGISTRATION with the Secretary of State before the first electronic notarization (KRS 423.355(6), 423.385(1)(b), 423.390(10)). For each electronic notarization the online notary must note in the journal whether the signer appeared physically or by communication technology, ‘Create a complete recording of the conference session containing the audio-video communication’, and keep that recording ‘for at least ten (10) years after the date of the applicable transaction or proceeding or for the period of retention of a notary public’s journal … whichever is longer’ (KRS 423.355(5)). The certificate must indicate the signer ‘appeared before the online notary public by means of communication technology’ (423.355(4)). (B) REMOTE ACTS ON TANGIBLE RECORDS — KRS 423.455, which the Secretary of State surfaces as its own item, ‘Information on Remote Notarial Acts with Respect to Tangible Records’. Identity may rest on personal knowledge, a credible witness, or ‘at least two (2) different types of identity-proofing processes or services’; the notary must reasonably identify the record as the same one signed; an audio-visual recording is mandatory; and the same out-of-country limits apply. The certificate ‘shall indicate that the notarial act was performed by means of communication technology’, and the short form is sufficient if it contains ‘This notarial act involved the use of communication technology.’ The gate here is a NOTIFICATION rather than the electronic registration: ‘Before a notary public performs the notary public’s initial notarial act under this section, the notary public shall notify the Secretary of State … and identify the technology’ (423.455(6)). Retention: the notary, guardian, conservator, agent or personal representative must keep the recording, or have a designated repository keep it, ‘for no less than ten (10) years after the recording is made’ (423.455(5)). VENDOR JURISDICTION HOOK: by facilitating a Kentucky remote act or storing the recording, ’the provider of the technology appoints the Secretary of State as the provider’s agent for service of process in any civil action in this state related to the notarial act’ (423.455(9)). REGISTRATION MECHANICS (30 KAR 8:005 §3): the registrant supplies name, county, date of birth, commission number and expiration, addresses, whether registering for electronic records or electronic notarizations or both, a description of the technology including the journal and tamper-evidence devices, the electronic signature and X.509 digital certificate and stamp if any in a readable .pdf form, the name, address and website of every vendor, ‘A statement of whether the notary technology provider has registered with the Secretary of State’, identity-proofing instructions, the journal storage method, a compliance statement, the $1,000 surety bond copy, and a disclosure of any disqualifying actions. Approval follows ‘within thirty (30) days of its submission’; adding a new vendor mid-term requires a further notification; and the registration renews automatically with the commission. Kentucky also maintains a public ‘Notary Technology Provider Registration’ channel for vendors themselves.

What you may charge

KENTUCKY PUBLISHES NO MAXIMUM NOTARIAL FEE — the statute’s only fee constraint is a disclosure duty plus one absolute free-service rule. KRS 423.430(1): ‘For a notarial act relating to a tangible or electronic record, or for an electronic notarization, a notary public may charge a fee: (a) In compliance with KRS 64.300; and (b) Which has been clearly disclosed to the person requesting the service in advance.’ KRS 64.300 is NOT a fee schedule — it is captioned ‘Exemption from fees of notaries public’ and provides in full: ‘No fee or compensation shall be allowed or paid for affixing the jurat of a notary public to any application, affidavit, certificate or other paper necessary to be filed in support of any claim for the benefits of federal legislation for any person or his dependents who has served as a member of the National Guard or a reserve component or as an active member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, or Marine Corps of the United States’ (effective July 15, 2016). So the operative rules are: notarizations supporting a federal benefits claim for a servicemember, veteran or their dependents must be done free, and every other fee must be disclosed in advance. Non-notarial services are outside the section entirely: ‘Compensation for services provided by a notary public which do not constitute notarial acts is not governed by this section’ (KRS 423.430(2)). NO TRAVEL-FEE RULE and no per-act ceiling appears in KRS 423.300 to 423.455, KRS 64.300, 30 KAR 8:005, or the Secretary of State’s notary pages (all searched 2026-08-12). Separately, KRS 64.012 prices what a COUNTY CLERK may charge for notarial work in that office — ‘$2.00’ for ‘Notarizing any signature, per signature’ and ‘$5.00’ for ‘Acknowledging or notarizing any deed, mortgage, power of attorney, or other written instrument required by law for recording and certifying same’ — those are clerk fees, not caps on a commissioned notary public.

Who does NOT need a commission — exemptions

KENTUCKY’S LIST OF NOTARIAL OFFICERS IS THE SHORTEST IN THIS BATCH — TWO. KRS 423.340(1): ‘A notarial act may be performed in this state by: (a) A notary public of this state; or (b) A county clerk of this state.’ And the county clerk’s authority is self-executing within the office: ‘A county clerk shall have the powers of a notarial officer in the exercise of the official functions of the office of clerk within his or her county, and the official actions of the county clerk shall not require the witness or signature of a notary public’ (KRS 423.340(4)). The signature and title of either officer are prima facie evidence of genuineness and conclusively establish authority (423.340(2)-(3)). RECOGNITION OF OUTSIDE ACTS, which is not an exemption from Kentucky commissioning but is what a reader usually means: KRS 423.345 gives effect to notarial acts performed in another state, under the authority of a federally recognized Indian tribe, or under federal law, and KRS 423.350 to acts under the authority of a foreign state or an international governmental organization. The full texts of KRS 423.345 and 423.350 were NOT read for this record — the chapter’s section captions were, and the sections are named here rather than characterized in detail. MILITARY: 10 U.S.C. 1044a is not cited in KRS 423.300 to 423.455’s section captions, in 30 KAR 8:005, in the application form or on the Secretary of State’s notary pages (searched 2026-08-12); the only military-adjacent Kentucky provision found is the FEE BAN in KRS 64.300, which forbids charging for notarizations supporting federal benefit claims of servicemembers, veterans and their dependents. This record therefore claims nothing about federal military notarial powers beyond the recognition provision named above. No source read identifies any Kentucky act that requires no notary at all.

How to apply

Applications are handled by Kentucky Secretary of State (Michael G. Adams) — Notary Commissions / Notary Branch, with the county clerk completing the commission. Start at the official application page .

Verify a license in Kentucky

Kentucky Secretary of State (Notary Lookup Service) publishes a public license search , searchable by county (drop-down of all 120 Kentucky counties) or notary ID or name contains. It covers Kentucky notary commissions. The statutory basis is KRS 423.400(1), which requires the Secretary of State to maintain an electronic database ‘Through which a person may verify the authority of a notary public to perform notarial acts’ and ‘Which indicates whether a notary public has registered with the Secretary of State in order to perform notarial acts on electronic records or to act as an online notary public’ — so the register is meant to show the electronic/online registration status, not merely the commission. Uniquely in this batch the database is also written to by local officials: ‘Each county clerk who files a notary public’s assurance and administers the oath of office to a notary public shall promptly record the fact and date in the database’ (KRS 423.400(2)). The two search inputs above were read from the live page’s own form on 2026-08-12 (a county select named ctl00$MainContent$DdlCounty listing Adair through Woodford, and a text box ctl00$MainContent$tbNameSearch labelled ‘ID or Name Contains:’). The page is an ASP.NET WebForms application returning results through a __VIEWSTATE postback, so no result URL can be cited and a monitor sees only the empty form. The Secretary of State separately publishes a ‘DOI Surety Companies Lookup Service’ for verifying a bond provider.

Records come from Kentucky Secretary of State (Notary Lookup Service)’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

How do you become a notary public in Kentucky?

In two steps, with two different offices. First, file the Notary Public Application for Appointment or Reappointment with the Secretary of State — online or by mail with a $10 fee — naming the Kentucky county where you live or work as your county of commission. After approval, KRS 423.390(4) gives you thirty days to ‘appear in person to take an oath of office, submit an assurance in the form of a surety bond, and file the commission’ before that county clerk. Until the clerk step is done you cannot notarize; once it is, you may notarize in any county of the Commonwealth.

How long is a Kentucky notary commission, and what does it cost?

Four years (KRS 423.390(3)). The Secretary of State’s fee is $10 for an application or renewal, $10 for a replacement commission, $10 to update your information, and $5 per apostille (KRS 423.430(3)). On top of that you pay the county clerk for filing the bond and administering the oath under KRS 64.012 — which prices the pieces ($5.00 for administering an oath and certificate, $10.00 for recording a bond) rather than the notary transaction, so ask your clerk for the total — and you buy the $1,000 surety bond privately.

Does Kentucky require a notary bond?

Yes — $1,000, and it is filed with the COUNTY CLERK, not the Secretary of State. KRS 423.390(5) requires an assurance ‘in the amount of one thousand dollars ($1,000)’ from a surety or entity licensed in Kentucky, covering acts during the commission, and provides that ‘A notary public may perform notarial acts in this state only during the period that a valid assurance is on file with the county clerk.’ The surety must give the Secretary of State thirty days’ notice before cancelling. Errors and omissions insurance is not required and is not mentioned anywhere in Kentucky’s notary statutes or regulation.

Is a stamp or seal required for a Kentucky notary?

No. KRS 423.370 says it outright: ‘A notary public commissioned pursuant to KRS 423.300 to 423.455 is not required to use a stamp.’ If a notary chooses to use one, it must include the notary’s name, title, jurisdiction, commission number and expiration date, and be capable of being copied together with the record. For electronic notarization the tamper-evident element is not a stamp but a digital certificate meeting the X.509 standard.

Is there a test or a training course to become a Kentucky notary?

No. KRS 423.390(2) lists the qualifications — 18 or older, U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident, resident of or employed in the county of application, able to read and write English, not disqualified under KRS 423.395 — and neither a course nor an examination appears there, in 30 KAR 8:005, on the application form, or on the Secretary of State’s pages. Even the electronic and online-notary registrations are about technology and disclosure, not testing.

Do Kentucky notaries have to keep a journal?

Only online notaries. KRS 423.380(1) binds ‘An online notary public’, who must chronicle all electronic notarizations in an electronic, tamper-evident journal, make each entry contemporaneously with the act, and ‘retain the journal for ten (10) years after the performance of the last electronic notarization chronicled in the journal.’ No journal is required for ordinary in-person paper notarizations. Kentucky does allow an online notary to designate a custodian to maintain the journal or hold the recordings.

Can a Kentucky notary notarize remotely?

Yes, and Kentucky has two distinct remote paths. For ELECTRONIC records, the notary must register with the Secretary of State as an online notary public (KRS 423.355, 423.385, 423.390(10)), keep an electronic journal, and record the session, keeping the recording at least ten years. For TANGIBLE (paper) records, KRS 423.455 lets a remotely located individual appear by communication technology, but the gate is a notification rather than a registration: ‘Before a notary public performs the notary public’s initial notarial act under this section, the notary public shall notify the Secretary of State … and identify the technology.’ Either way an audio-visual recording is mandatory and the notary must be physically in Kentucky.

How much can a Kentucky notary charge?

Kentucky sets no maximum. KRS 423.430(1) allows a fee that complies with KRS 64.300 and ‘has been clearly disclosed to the person requesting the service in advance.’ KRS 64.300 is not a price list — it is a free-service rule: no fee may be charged for notarizing an application, affidavit or certificate filed in support of a claim for federal benefits by a National Guard, reserve or active member of the armed forces or their dependents. Charges for services that are not notarial acts fall outside the statute entirely.

What happens if a Kentucky notary commission expires before renewal?

There is no bridge. KRS 423.390(8)(d): ‘A renewed commission shall be valid and effective only upon compliance with this subsection. A notary public shall have no authority to perform notarial acts during any period between the expiration of his or her current commission and the effective date of any renewal commission.’ The renewal must go through the county clerk again for a new oath, a new assurance and new clerk fees. The application instructions add that renewals may not be filed earlier than 60 days before expiration, and ‘If your commission has already expired, the application will be treated as a new appointment.’

See every license and certification LicensingAtlas covers in Kentucky.

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.