How to Become a Notary in South Dakota — Requirements & Fees

How to become a notary public in South Dakota: remote online notarization — verified from official sources.

Source-verified

Requirements below are drawn from South Dakota Secretary of State - Notary Division (the Secretary of State both appoints and commissions notaries public; there is no board and no gubernatorial step) (official site) and last verified August 12, 2026. Boards change fees and rules often — confirm before acting.

Requirements at a glance

1) Qualify under SDCL 18-1-1: South Dakota residence (or a bordering out-of-state county plus a South Dakota workplace), and no felony conviction - 'The secretary of state may not appoint as a notary public any person who has been convicted of a felony.' 2) OBTAIN THE SEAL FIRST. South Dakota is one of the few states where the seal precedes the commission: the application's own checklist begins 'Obtain your Notary Seal', and SDCL 18-1-3 requires that 'Each notary public, before entering upon the duties of the office, shall obtain an official seal and file an impression of the same, together with the oath described in Sec. 18-1-2, in the Office of the Secretary of State.' 3) Complete the Notary Public Application & Oath (form revised 20260522), printing the applicant's name EXACTLY as it appears on the seal. 4) Make a legible imprint of the seal in the box on the application - 'Imprint Required for Processing'; if you have two seals, include both on a separate sheet. 5) Give a physical residential address - 'The residence address MUST be your physical address. A post office box, business address or your mailing address alone is not acceptable.' 6) Answer the required questions: whether you have ever been a South Dakota notary (and if so the expiry and the name), date of birth, and whether you have ever been convicted of a felony. 'Failure to answer any of these questions correctly or leaving them blank will cause your application to be rejected.' 7) If you live in a bordering out-of-state county, give the South Dakota employer name and South Dakota business address. 8) Optionally elect e-notary services on the same form, attaching an image of the electronic seal and naming the tamper-evident vendor(s). 9) Take and sign the Oath of Office on the form (the oath required by SDCL 3-1-5 to support the US and South Dakota Constitutions and to faithfully and impartially perform the duties), entering the county where the oath is signed and signing exactly as on the seal. 10) Enclose the $30 filing fee and mail the ORIGINAL application - 'We will not accept a photocopy of the application.' 11) Wait for the certificate: 'ONLY after you have received a Notary Commission Certificate issued by the Secretary of State are you authorized to notarize documents.' The office publishes a processing expectation of 'a minimum of 7 business days'. NO BOND. NO COURSE. NO EXAM.

Legal basis

South Dakota Secretary of State - Notary Division (the Secretary of State both appoints and commissions notaries public; there is no board and no gubernatorial step) commissions notaries public in South Dakota. 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’; South Dakota issues a COMMISSION, evidenced by a ‘Notary Commission Certificate’ that must be visible whenever the notary is notarizing (Handbook FAQ 6). The umbrella statutory term is ’notarial officer’ - ‘a notary public or other person authorized to perform a notarial act’ (SDCL 18-1-1.1(5)) - and most of the modern electronic and remote provisions are written to that term, not to ’notary public’. ‘Notary license’ and ’notary certification’ are folk terms the state does not use. ‘E-Notary’ is the state’s own label for a notary who has filed a tamper-evident electronic notarization system with the Secretary of State, and it is a searchable flag in the public database, not a separate commission. ‘Notary signing agent’ / ’loan signing agent’ is a private vendor credential; nothing in SDCL ch. 18-1, ARSD ch. 5:04:03, the application or the Handbook recognises or addresses it. NOTHING in the South Dakota sources read on 2026-08-12 addresses the term ’notario publico’ or advertising in languages other than English - a topic several other states legislate - so no South Dakota rule on it is claimed here.

Types of notary commission

Notary Public commission (traditional / tangible records) — South Dakota residents as defined by SDCL 12-1-4, and - unusually - people who live in an out-of-state county bordering South Dakota whose place of work or business is inside South Dakota Six-year term. ‘The secretary of state shall appoint notaries public, who have residence in this state as defined in Sec. 12-1-4. A notary public shall hold office for six years unless sooner removed by the secretary of state’ (SDCL 18-1-1). The same section adds: ‘The secretary of state may also appoint an applicant as a notary public if the applicant resides in a county bordering South Dakota and the applicant’s place of work or business is within the State of South Dakota.’ Jurisdiction is statewide and the notary must be physically inside South Dakota at the moment of the act.
E-Notary status (electronic records), added on the same application form or by a Notary Change Form — A commissioned South Dakota notary who wants to notarize electronic records, in person or remotely Not a separate commission and not a separate fee - it is a status flag on the commission. ‘A notarial officer must notify the secretary of state, on forms prescribed by the secretary, of the names of each tamper-evident notarization system used by that notarial officer for the notarization of electronic records’ (SDCL 18-1-11.4). The application form carries the question ‘In addition to performing traditional in-person notarizations, will you be adding e-notary services?’ with a required image of the electronic seal and the vendor name(s). ‘Once recorded with the Secretary of State’s office, the Secretary of State will issue a certificate showing that the applicant has chosen to provide electronic notarization services. This criteria is searchable on the Notary Public Search’ (Notary Public Handbook, July 2025).
Remote notarization of a PAPER document (no separate registration) — Any commissioned South Dakota notary, but only for a signer the notary knows personally South Dakota’s older and narrower remote authority, enacted 2019: SDCL 18-1-11.1 lets a notarial officer located in South Dakota notarize a tangible document executed by a person observed ’through means of video communication technology’ only where the officer ‘Has personal knowledge of the identity of a person through dealings sufficient to provide reasonable certainty that the person has the identity being claimed.’ The Handbook spells out the mechanics: ‘a South Dakota notary public must physically mail the document to the individual they know personally, witness them notarize via skype or other communication technology. Then, the individual mails the document back to the notary public to affix the notarization. Both signatures must be original on the document.’ This is remote ink notarization, not RON, and it is available WITHOUT e-notary registration.

Who can be commissioned

RESIDENCY: SDCL 18-1-1 requires residence in South Dakota ‘as defined in Sec. 12-1-4’, the election-law definition - ‘an individual who maintains an actual fixed permanent dwelling, establishment, or any other abode where the individual lives and usually sleeps, for at least thirty consecutive days’, with the rule that an individual ‘may only be a resident of one place’. BORDER-COUNTY ALTERNATIVE: ‘The secretary of state may also appoint an applicant as a notary public if the applicant resides in a county bordering South Dakota and the applicant’s place of work or business is within the State of South Dakota’ (SDCL 18-1-1); the application has a dedicated block for the South Dakota employer name and address. FELONY BAR: absolute at the appointment stage - ‘The secretary of state may not appoint as a notary public any person who has been convicted of a felony’ (SDCL 18-1-1); the application asks the question directly and ARSD 5:04:03:01(4) requires it on the form. AGE: the application’s oath includes the attestation ’that I am of legal age and meet the state residency requirements of SDCL 18-1-1’, and the form and ARSD 5:04:03:01(2)(g) require a date of birth, but no numeric minimum age is stated in SDCL 18-1-1, in ARSD ch. 5:04:03, on the application, or in the July 2025 Notary Public Handbook - so none is asserted here (tiers searched 2026-08-12). CITIZENSHIP / LEGAL PRESENCE: not addressed in any of those four tiers; no claim is made. LANGUAGE: no English-literacy requirement appears in any of those tiers. REMOVAL: a notary convicted of any felony, or of a misdemeanor designated in SDCL ch. 18-1, ‘shall be removed from office by the secretary of state’ (SDCL 18-1-13), and the Secretary must notify the person by mail (SDCL 18-1-14).

Requirements

Qualify under SDCL 18-1-1: South Dakota residence (or a bordering out-of-state county plus a South Dakota workplace), and no felony conviction - ‘The secretary of state may not appoint as a notary public any person who has been convicted of a felony.’ 2) OBTAIN THE SEAL FIRST. South Dakota is one of the few states where the seal precedes the commission: the application’s own checklist begins ‘Obtain your Notary Seal’, and SDCL 18-1-3 requires that ‘Each notary public, before entering upon the duties of the office, shall obtain an official seal and file an impression of the same, together with the oath described in Sec. 18-1-2, in the Office of the Secretary of State.’ 3) Complete the Notary Public Application & Oath (form revised 20260522), printing the applicant’s name EXACTLY as it appears on the seal. 4) Make a legible imprint of the seal in the box on the application - ‘Imprint Required for Processing’; if you have two seals, include both on a separate sheet. 5) Give a physical residential address - ‘The residence address MUST be your physical address. A post office box, business address or your mailing address alone is not acceptable.’ 6) Answer the required questions: whether you have ever been a South Dakota notary (and if so the expiry and the name), date of birth, and whether you have ever been convicted of a felony. ‘Failure to answer any of these questions correctly or leaving them blank will cause your application to be rejected.’ 7) If you live in a bordering out-of-state county, give the South Dakota employer name and South Dakota business address. 8) Optionally elect e-notary services on the same form, attaching an image of the electronic seal and naming the tamper-evident vendor(s). 9) Take and sign the Oath of Office on the form (the oath required by SDCL 3-1-5 to support the US and South Dakota Constitutions and to faithfully and impartially perform the duties), entering the county where the oath is signed and signing exactly as on the seal. 10) Enclose the $30 filing fee and mail the ORIGINAL application - ‘We will not accept a photocopy of the application.’ 11) Wait for the certificate: ‘ONLY after you have received a Notary Commission Certificate issued by the Secretary of State are you authorized to notarize documents.’ The office publishes a processing expectation of ‘a minimum of 7 business days’. NO BOND. NO COURSE. NO EXAM.

Training

South Dakota does not require a training course.

South Dakota requires no training course to be commissioned. Neither SDCL ch. 18-1, ARSD ch. 5:04:03, the Notary Public Application & Oath (rev. 20260522) nor the Notary Public Handbook (July 2025) imposes an education requirement, and the Handbook is offered as the notary’s own reference rather than as a course - ‘It is the notary’s responsibility to understand the contents of this handbook and keep it readily available if a question arises’ (tiers searched 2026-08-12). Nor is training required to add e-notary services: SDCL 18-1-11.4 requires only the selection of at least one tamper-evident electronic notarization system and notice of its name to the Secretary of State, and the Handbook’s guidance is a caution rather than a rule - ‘you should do thorough research before selecting a provider. It is the responsibility of that applicant to make sure they have knowledge of the provider(s) they choose.’

Exam

South Dakota does not require an exam.

There is no examination of any kind for a South Dakota notary public commission, and none for e-notary status. No test, score, proctoring or assessment appears in SDCL ch. 18-1, in ARSD ch. 5:04:03 (whose rule 5:04:03:01 enumerates every item the application must contain, and no test is among them), on the Notary Public Application & Oath (rev. 20260522) or in the July 2025 Notary Public Handbook - and the Handbook’s own FAQ, which answers the cost, term, bond, e-notary and renewal questions, never mentions one (all four tiers searched 2026-08-12). The only knowledge-related requirement is the attestation in the oath that the applicant will ‘faithfully and impartially perform the duties of a NOTARY PUBLIC… according to the law and to the best of my ability.’

Bond & insurance

NO BOND - and this changed recently, so any source older than mid-2025 is wrong. Until July 1, 2025 South Dakota required a $5,000 notary bond for the six-year term. House Bill 1133 (2025 Legislative Session), enacted as SL 2025 ch. 90 and amending SDCL 18-1-2 and 18-1-3, removed it. The Secretary of State announced it on June 25, 2025: ‘Beginning July 1, 2025, South Dakota notaries public will no longer be required to post a surety bond as part of their application process, following the passage of House Bill 1133 during the 2025 Legislative Session. HB 1133, signed into law earlier this year, eliminates the statutory requirement for a $5,000 notary bond. This change applies to all new and renewing notaries on or after July 1, 2025… All other steps to become a notary, such as submitting an application, taking the oath of office, and paying the $30 application fee, remain unchanged. Notaries who were commissioned before July 1, 2025, are not affected until their next renewal.’ The July 2025 Handbook FAQ 19 confirms: ‘Am I still required to obtain a bond to become a notary public? No. A law was passed during the 2025 Legislative Session to remove the requirement of a bond when applying to become a notary public.’ The change has been carried through the whole stack: SDCL 18-1-2 now reads only ‘Each notary public, before performing the duties of the office, shall take an oath as required by Sec. 3-1-5’ (SL 2025 ch. 90 Sec. 1); SDCL 18-1-3 now requires only the seal impression and oath to be filed (SL 2025 ch. 90 Sec. 2); the administrative rule was retitled from ‘Notary public application, oath, and bond form’ to ‘Notary public application and oath’, effective September 29, 2025 (52 SDR 32); and the current application form (rev. 20260522) has no bond, surety or personal-surety block. CAUTION on a residual reference: the general officers’ oath statute SDCL 3-1-5, which the notary oath incorporates, still speaks of ‘giving a bond, when one is required’ - that is the generic civil-officer provision, and no bond is now required for notaries. ERRORS-AND-OMISSIONS INSURANCE: never required in South Dakota; the word ‘insurance’ appears nowhere in SDCL ch. 18-1, the rule, the form or the Handbook.

Fees

STATE FEES, verified 2026-08-12 against the statute, the administrative rule, the live application form and the Handbook, all four in agreement: NEW COMMISSION OR RENEWAL - $30.00. ‘The applicant shall submit a fee of thirty dollars’ (SDCL 18-1-1); the application form’s header reads ‘Filing Fee: $30.00 (Must be included to file)’; ARSD 5:04:03:01(1) requires the form to carry ‘A statement indicating the application fee of thirty dollars’; Handbook FAQ 13: ‘The filing fee for processing a Notary Public Application and Oath is $30.’ Renewal uses the identical form and fee. PAYMENT - check or money order by mail, or credit card: ‘Do you accept credit card payments for the notary fees? Yes, simply supply a phone number that we may call for credit card information at the time of processing’ (Handbook FAQ 14); no card surcharge is published. E-NOTARY - no separate state fee: e-notary status is elected on the same application or by a Notary Change Form, and neither SDCL 18-1-11.4 nor ARSD 5:04:03:01 attaches a charge. NOTARY CHANGE REQUEST FORM (name, address, seal, or status change) - no fee is stated in the Handbook, the rule or the statute; the Handbook simply says to complete the fillable form and mail it. NOT state fees: the seal itself - ‘The State of South Dakota DOES NOT provide the official notary seal/stamp’; the optional separate ‘My Commission Expires’ date stamp; and the e-notary vendor’s tamper-evident system subscription. NO COUNTY FEE: South Dakota does not route the commission through a county officer - the Secretary of State issues it directly and ‘shall keep in his office a record of such appointments and the date of their expiration’ (SDCL 18-1-4). NOT SOURCED: the apostille/authentication fee charged by the Secretary’s Notary Division - the Handbook names the service but publishes no amount, and no separate fee schedule was fetched.

How long the commission lasts, and renewing it

6 - ‘A notary public shall hold office for six years unless sooner removed by the secretary of state’ (SDCL 18-1-1). The term runs from issuance, not from application: ‘The notary commission date takes effect on the day the Secretary of State makes the appointment and issues the commission. The expiration date is exactly six (6) years from the commission date. The commission expires at midnight on the day of expiration’ (Notary Public Handbook, July 2025). Applicants may nominate a later start date on a renewal - ‘If you desire a different expiration date than your previous commission, please indicate what date you wish to have your next six-year term begin’ - but ‘Our office cannot back date an application.’ Renewal is a fresh application on the same form for the same $30 fee: ‘The process for renewing a notary public commission is the same as when you first applied.’ Window: ‘The application to renew your commission may be submitted no more than sixty (60) days prior to your expiration date.’ Filing before the current expiration date preserves the same commission month and day; otherwise the applicant names the date on which the new six-year term should begin, and the office ‘cannot back date an application’. A NEW SEAL IMPRINT IS REQUIRED AT RENEWAL where the seal carries an expiration date: ‘At the time of renewal, an imprint of the NEW seal with the new expiration date must be presented on the application or it will be rejected.’ There is no grace period - acting after expiry is an offence: ‘It is a Class 2 misdemeanor for any notary public to exercise the duties of his office after the expiration of his commission or when he is otherwise disqualified’ (SDCL 18-1-12). And a renewing notary must keep using the OLD expiration date until the old commission actually expires: ‘A notary public who is renewing his or her notary commission must use the current commission expiration date until that date of expiration before beginning the new commission.’ Separately, any change of name, address, seal or e-notary status must be filed on the Notary Change Request Form and APPROVED before use - ‘If the name and/or seal of the notary changes, a confirmation/approval from the Secretary of State’s office MUST be received before the notary can begin using the new name or seal.’ None. South Dakota requires no continuing education of notaries public. Renewal is the same $30 application and oath as the original commission, and neither SDCL ch. 18-1, ARSD ch. 5:04:03, the application form (rev. 20260522) nor the July 2025 Notary Public Handbook - whose renewal section and FAQ 8 and 9 describe the renewal in full - states any hour, course or refresher requirement (all four tiers searched 2026-08-12). Adding or keeping e-notary status carries no education requirement either; SDCL 18-1-11.4 requires only the selection of a tamper-evident system and notice of its name to the Secretary of State.

Your seal or stamp

A seal is mandatory and, unusually, must exist BEFORE the commission is issued - the seal impression is filed with the application (SDCL 18-1-3; the application box is marked ‘Make Imprint of Seal Here (Imprint Required for Processing)’). CONTENT, from SDCL 18-1-3.1: the seal ‘must be a type approved by the secretary of state and must contain at least: (1) The notarial officer’s name; (2) The words “South Dakota”; (3) The words “notary public”; and (4) A surrounding border. Rubber stamp seals and electronic seals must contain the words and seal within the surrounding border. A notarial officer must indicate the date on which the notarial officer’s commission expires below the official seal under this section.’ The Handbook adds the practical rules: the name must appear EXACTLY as on the application and oath signature; ‘The words “My Commission Expires” and/or the commission expiration date are NOT to be inside the border of the seal. However, they may be placed outside the border.’ FORM: embosser or rubber stamp, either is acceptable, and ‘There are no size or color requirements for a South Dakota notary public seal.’ The state does not sell seals. THE FILED IMPRINT IS THE ONLY VALID SEAL: ‘The official notary seal imprint on your Application and Oath is the ONLY seal imprint to be used when notarizing documents.’ Multiple seals are allowed but each must be filed and approved first - ‘Before using a seal, you MUST file an imprint with our office using the Notary Change Form and wait for approval.’ An illegible seal must be replaced: ‘If the seal is no longer legible, you are required to obtain a new seal and submit a Notary Change Request Form with an imprint of the new seal… Our office will approve the new seal before you are able to begin using it.’ LOST OR STOLEN: report immediately to the Secretary of State so a notation is made on the record; then either have a new seal made and record it, or ask the Secretary to cancel the commission and re-apply for a new one. NAME CHANGE: file the Notary Change Form; the new impression ‘would have to correspond exactly to the way the name is signed and recorded’. ELECTRONIC SEAL: same content requirements, bought through the chosen vendor, and an image must be on file with the Secretary of State. NOTE the effect on a completed notarization - the Handbook lists five components of a complete in-person notarization, including the seal imprint and the full written, printed or stamped commission expiration date, and warns that ‘Simply affixing a notary seal and signing the document DOES NOT constitute a proper notarization in the State of South Dakota.’ Contrast SDCL 18-1-11.8: ‘The failure of a notarial officer to perform a duty or meet a requirement specified by law does not invalidate a notarial act.’

Keeping a journal

South Dakota does not require a notary journal.

South Dakota does not require a notary journal or record book. No journal duty appears in SDCL ch. 18-1, in ARSD ch. 5:04:03, on the application form or in the July 2025 Notary Public Handbook; the Handbook’s ‘Do’ list goes no further than ‘Learn what records, if any, you may wish to keep’, which is advisory and explicitly conditional (all four tiers searched 2026-08-12). WHAT IS MANDATORY IS A RECORDING, and only for electronic remote acts: ‘A notarial officer must retain an electronic audio-visual copy of each notarial act involving the use of a tamper-evident notarization system for ten years from the date of the performance. Upon suspension or revocation of a notarial officer’s commission, or upon death or incapacity, the notarial officer or the guardian, conservator, or personal representative of the incapacitated or deceased notarial officer must retain an electronic audio-visual copy of each notarial act for ten years. In lieu of retaining copies as required by this section, the copies may be held by a repository designated by or on behalf of the notarial officer’ (SDCL 18-1-11.3). That is a recording-retention duty, not a journal, and nothing surrenders it to the state.

Online (remote) notarization

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

South Dakota authorizes remote notarization in TWO distinct forms, enacted five years apart, and they must not be conflated. (A) REMOTE NOTARIZATION OF A TANGIBLE DOCUMENT, since 2019, NO registration: SDCL 18-1-11.1 - ‘A notarial officer in this state, while located in this state, may perform a notarial act executed on a tangible document by a person not in the physical presence of the notarial officer, but observed by the notarial officer through means of video communication technology, if the notarial officer: (1) Has personal knowledge of the identity of a person through dealings sufficient to provide reasonable certainty that the person has the identity being claimed; (2) Affixes the notarial officer’s signature to the original tangible document executed by the person; (3) Indicates in the notarial certificate the remote location of the person executing the document; (4) Indicates in the notarial certificate that the notarial act involved a statement made or a signature executed by a person not in the physical presence of the notarial officer, but appearing by means of video communication technology; and (5) Is able reasonably to confirm that the document before the notarial officer is the same document in which the person made the statement or on which the person executed a signature.’ The identification route is personal knowledge ONLY - a demanding standard under SDCL 18-1-1.1(7): ‘The notarial officer must have known and had regular interactions with the individual for an extended period of time. A mere acquaintance does not amount to personal knowledge.’ The statutory certificate form is at SDCL 18-4-29, and the paper must physically travel: the signer receives it, signs on camera, and mails it back for the notary’s original signature and seal - ‘Both signatures must be original on the document’ (Handbook). (B) REMOTE ONLINE NOTARIZATION OF AN ELECTRONIC RECORD, since 2024 (SB 211, SL 2024 ch. 71), REGISTRATION REQUIRED: SDCL 18-1-11.2 permits a notarial officer located in South Dakota to notarize an electronic record for a person appearing by video communication technology if the officer ‘(1) Has personal knowledge, by means of two different methods of identity proofing, that the person has the identity being claimed; (2) Affixes the notarial officer’s signature to the electronic record executed by the person; (3) Indicates the remote location of the person executing the document in the notarial certificate pursuant to Sec. 18-4-30; (4) Indicates in the notarial certificate pursuant to Sec. 18-4-30 that the notarial act involved a statement made or a signature executed by a person not in the physical presence of the notarial officer, but appearing by means of video communication technology, and a tamper-evident electronic notarization system; and (5) Creates an audio-visual copy of the performance of the notarial act.’ THE REGISTRATION is the e-notary notice under SDCL 18-1-11.4: before performing any notarial act on an electronic record the officer ‘must select at least one tamper-evident electronic notarization system’ and ‘must notify the secretary of state, on forms prescribed by the secretary, of the names of each tamper-evident notarization system used’; the Secretary then ‘will issue a certificate showing that the applicant has chosen to provide electronic notarization services’, and the status becomes searchable in the public Notary Public Search. There is no separate fee and no exam. A notary may not be forced onto a system they did not choose. RECORDING RETENTION: ten years (SDCL 18-1-11.3). JURISDICTION: ‘For remote and online notarizations, the notary MUST still be PHYSICALLY located in South Dakota at the time of the notarization. Jurisdiction for remote notarizations is determined by the physical location of the notary, not the signer. The signer may be located anywhere in the world, but the notary MUST be in South Dakota’ (Handbook). RECORDING A PRINTOUT: a register of deeds must accept a tangible copy of an electronically notarized record if the notary certifies it is an accurate copy, using the form in SDCL 18-1-11.6 (SDCL 18-1-11.5). RULEMAKING: SDCL 18-1-11.7 authorises the Secretary of State to promulgate standards for credential analysis, identity proofing and communication technology; ARSD ch. 5:04:03 as it stands contains only the application/oath rule (5:04:03:01) and the change-of-record form rule (5:04:03:04), so no separate approved-vendor list is imposed by rule - the notary selects the vendor and names it to the Secretary.

What you may charge

South Dakota sets NO maximum notarial fee. SDCL 18-1-9, as currently in force: ‘A notary public may charge and receive a fee for each instrument notarized, except that no notary public may charge a fee for notarizing a request for an absentee ballot.’ The July 2025 Handbook states the same rule twice, in the Fees section and at FAQ 16 (‘How much can I charge a customer for a notarization? A notary public may charge and receive a fee for each instrument notarized, except that no notary public may charge for notarizing an absentee ballot’), and publishes no dollar figure. NOTE the recency: SDCL 18-1-9 was amended by SL 2025 ch. 91 Sec. 1, so any figure quoted from a pre-2025 source should be treated as superseded; the text read live on 2026-08-12 contains no cap. THE ONE PROHIBITION is absolute - no fee at all for notarizing an absentee-ballot request. TRAVEL FEES: not addressed. Searched on 2026-08-12 in SDCL ch. 18-1 (every section, including the repealed ones), ARSD ch. 5:04:03, the application form and the full Notary Public Handbook - none mentions travel, mileage or a service charge, so no South Dakota rule on travel fees is claimed here.

Who does NOT need a commission — exemptions

SOUTH DAKOTA USES THE BROADER TERM ‘NOTARIAL OFFICER’, which is where the exemption lives: SDCL 18-1-1.1(5) defines ‘Notarial officer’ as ‘a notary public or other person authorized to perform a notarial act’ - so persons authorised elsewhere in South Dakota law may perform notarial acts without a notary commission, and every duty in SDCL 18-1-11.1 through 18-1-11.8 is written to bind ‘a notarial officer’ rather than only a notary public. The sources read on 2026-08-12 do not enumerate who those other persons are: SDCL ch. 18-1 itself names none, ARSD ch. 5:04:03 names none, and the Notary Public Handbook does not address the question. SDCL ch. 18-4 (Acknowledgment and Proof of Instruments) and ch. 18-5 (Uniform Acknowledgment Law) - both cited by the Handbook as companion chapters and both of which would carry any list of officers who may take acknowledgments - were NOT fetched when this page was last verified, so no claim is made about judges, clerks of court or registers of deeds either way. NOR is any claim made about military notarial powers under 10 U.S.C. Sec. 1044a: it is not mentioned in SDCL ch. 18-1, the rule, the form or the Handbook. ACTS THAT DO NOT NEED A NOTARY: a notary public ‘DOES NOT “legalize” or “certify” documents or verify the accuracy or truthfulness of the content contained within a document’ (Handbook), and the Handbook’s Don’t list bars notarizing a blank or incomplete instrument, notarizing a document already signed outside the notary’s presence, and drafting legal documents for clients. WHAT REPLACES A NOTARY FOR RECORDING PURPOSES: a register of deeds must accept a printed tangible copy of an electronically notarized record without a fresh notarization if the notary certifies it under SDCL 18-1-11.5 and 18-1-11.6.

How to apply

Applications are handled by South Dakota Secretary of State - Notary Division (the Secretary of State both appoints and commissions notaries public; there is no board and no gubernatorial step). Start at the official application page .

Verify a license in South Dakota

South Dakota Secretary of State publishes a public license search , searchable by notary last name, notary first name, commission expiration date range (from / to, mm/dd/yyyy), county of commission or E-Notary filter (‘Only Show E-Notaries’). It covers Active notary commissions. The page is headed ‘Search Notary Public Commission Records’ and instructs ‘Enter your search criteria below to search for active notary commissions. When searching, please only enter one piece of search criteria. You do not need to enter information in all the fields. Doing so will NOT produce any search results.’ The county drop-down lists all South Dakota counties with their numeric codes. Results give, per the Handbook, ’name, expiration, county, and city information for the Notary Public’ - the office notes it ‘does not require phone number or email address information to be submitted by a notary’. The E-Notary checkbox is the state’s way of finding a notary who can handle electronic and remote-online work: ‘Simply click the box “Only Show E-Notaries” to drill down your search to find an E-Notary Public in your area’ (Handbook FAQ 18). Notary records are public: SDCL 18-1-4 requires the Secretary to keep a record of appointments and expirations, and the Handbook warns that ’the address disclosed on your Notary Application and Oath will be in the public domain.’.

Records come from South Dakota Secretary of State’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

Does South Dakota still require a notary bond?

No. The $5,000 bond was abolished by House Bill 1133 of the 2025 Legislative Session, effective July 1, 2025. The Secretary of State’s June 25, 2025 announcement states that ‘HB 1133, signed into law earlier this year, eliminates the statutory requirement for a $5,000 notary bond. This change applies to all new and renewing notaries on or after July 1, 2025’, and that notaries commissioned before that date ‘are not affected until their next renewal.’ The July 2025 Handbook confirms it, the amended statutes (SDCL 18-1-2 and 18-1-3) no longer mention a bond, the administrative rule was retitled from ‘Notary public application, oath, and bond form’ to ‘Notary public application and oath’, and the current application form has no surety block. Errors-and-omissions insurance has never been required.

How much does it cost to become a notary public in South Dakota?

$30, which is both the statutory fee and the figure on the live form: ‘The applicant shall submit a fee of thirty dollars’ (SDCL 18-1-1); ‘Filing Fee: $30.00 (Must be included to file)’ (Notary Public Application & Oath, rev. 20260522). The same $30 applies to a renewal. Payment is by check or money order with the mailed application, or by credit card - the office will call for the card details at processing. Adding E-Notary services costs nothing extra. The seal is bought separately: ‘The State of South Dakota DOES NOT provide the official notary seal/stamp.’

Do I need my notary seal before I apply in South Dakota?

Yes - and this trips people up, because most states do it the other way round. SDCL 18-1-3 requires a notary, before entering on the duties of the office, to ‘obtain an official seal and file an impression of the same, together with the oath’ in the Office of the Secretary of State, and the application form carries a box marked ‘Make Imprint of Seal Here (Imprint Required for Processing)’. The application checklist therefore begins ‘Obtain your Notary Seal’. The name printed and signed on the application must match the seal exactly, and the imprint filed with the application is the only seal that may be used - any additional or replacement seal must be filed on a Notary Change Request Form and approved before use.

How long is a South Dakota notary commission and when can I renew?

Six years, running from the day the Secretary of State makes the appointment and issues the commission; it expires at midnight on the expiration date. A renewal may be filed ’no more than sixty (60) days prior to your expiration date’, using the same form and the same $30 fee. Filing before the current expiration keeps the same month and day; otherwise you nominate the start date for the new six-year term, and the office cannot back-date. If the seal carries an expiration date, an imprint of the NEW seal must be on the renewal application ‘or it will be rejected’. There is no grace period - it is a Class 2 misdemeanor to act after the commission expires.

Is there a South Dakota notary exam or training requirement?

No. There is no examination and no required course, for either the ordinary commission or E-Notary status. Nothing in SDCL chapter 18-1, in the administrative rule listing every required item on the application, on the application form itself, or in the July 2025 Notary Public Handbook imposes a test or a class. The Handbook is offered as the notary’s own reference, and the only knowledge-related obligation is the oath to perform the duties ‘according to the law and to the best of my ability.’

Can a South Dakota notary notarize remotely?

Yes, in two different ways. For a PAPER document (since 2019, no registration needed) SDCL 18-1-11.1 lets a notary located in South Dakota witness a signing over video, but only for a signer the notary knows personally - and the paper must physically travel: the signer signs on camera and mails the original back for the notary’s original signature and seal. For an ELECTRONIC record (since 2024) SDCL 18-1-11.2 permits full remote online notarization, using two different methods of identity proofing, a tamper-evident electronic notarization system, and an audio-visual recording that must be retained for ten years. The electronic route requires E-Notary status first - the notary must select a tamper-evident system and notify the Secretary of State of its name. In every case the notary must be physically inside South Dakota; the signer may be anywhere in the world.

How does a South Dakota notary become an E-Notary?

By naming the technology, not by taking a test. SDCL 18-1-11.4 requires the notary, before notarizing any electronic record, to select at least one tamper-evident electronic notarization system and to notify the Secretary of State of each system’s name on the prescribed form. A new applicant does it on the Notary Public Application & Oath by answering ‘will you be adding e-notary services?’, attaching an image of the electronic seal and listing the vendor(s); an existing notary does it on the Notary Change Form. The Secretary then issues a certificate showing the notary provides electronic notarization services, and the status becomes searchable - the public Notary Public Search has an ‘Only Show E-Notaries’ filter. There is no additional fee.

How much can a South Dakota notary charge?

South Dakota sets no maximum. SDCL 18-1-9 provides that ‘A notary public may charge and receive a fee for each instrument notarized, except that no notary public may charge a fee for notarizing a request for an absentee ballot’, and the July 2025 Handbook repeats it without a dollar figure. The section was amended in 2025 (SL 2025 ch. 91), so older sources quoting a capped amount should not be relied on. The absentee-ballot exception is absolute. Travel or mileage charges are not addressed anywhere in the statute, the rule, the form or the Handbook.

Does a South Dakota notary have to keep a journal?

No. No journal or record-book duty appears in SDCL chapter 18-1, in the administrative rules, on the application, or in the July 2025 Handbook, whose ‘Do’ list goes only as far as ‘Learn what records, if any, you may wish to keep.’ What IS mandatory is narrower and different: for any notarial act performed with a tamper-evident electronic notarization system, SDCL 18-1-11.3 requires the notary to retain an electronic audio-visual copy for ten years - a duty that survives suspension, revocation, death or incapacity, and that may be met through a designated repository.

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Sources & verification

Last verified against these sources: August 12, 2026.

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