How to Become a Notary in Tennessee — Requirements & Fees

How to become a notary public in Tennessee: a 4-year commission, a surety bond, remote online notarization — verified from official sources.

Source-verified

Requirements below are drawn from Tennessee is a SPLIT-AUTHORITY state and this is the single most important structural fact about its notary commission. A traditional notary public is ELECTED BY THE COUNTY LEGISLATIVE BODY (the county commission) of the county where the applicant resides or maintains a principal place of business; the application is obtained from and filed with the COUNTY CLERK; the bond is filed with the county clerk; and the Tennessee Secretary of State, Department of State, Division of Business Services then issues the commission and returns it to the county clerk for the notary to collect. The Secretary of State's own steps read: 'Obtain and complete an application from your County Clerk's office ... Be elected by the county legislative body (county commission) in the county in which the applicant, resides or maintains his/her principal place of business at the time of his/her election ... Your documents will be submitted to the state. The Secretary of State's office will issue the Notary Commission and return it to the County Clerk's office for you to pick up.' Despite the county election, the office is a STATE office: 'Notaries are state officials' (Secretary of State FAQ, citing an Attorney General opinion), and Tenn. Att'y Gen. Op. 07-157 opined that 'a notary public is a state official whose duties are prescribed by statute.' THE ONLINE NOTARY PUBLIC COMMISSION IS DIFFERENT: it is issued directly by the Secretary of State, with no county step. (official site) and last verified August 13, 2026. Boards change fees and rules often — confirm before acting.

Requirements at a glance

1) OBTAIN THE APPLICATION FROM YOUR COUNTY CLERK - not from the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State's first step is 'Obtain and complete an application from your County Clerk's office.' Tennessee's state government publishes no statewide notary application form; the form and its fee are handled at the county. 2) SUBMIT IT TO THE COUNTY CLERK WITH THE APPLICATION FEE. 3) BE ELECTED BY THE COUNTY LEGISLATIVE BODY (the county commission) 'in the county in which the applicant, resides or maintains his/her principal place of business at the time of his/her election.' This is an actual vote of a county body, not an administrative approval, and it is why Tennessee notary timelines run on county commission meeting calendars. 4) SECURE A SURETY BOND. 'Bonds are available through Tennessee insurance companies/agencies that sell surety bond coverage.' The amount is $10,000 - see bond. 5) PROVIDE PROOF OF THE BOND TO THE COUNTY CLERK. 6) THE STATE ISSUES AND THE COUNTY DELIVERS: 'Your documents will be submitted to the state. The Secretary of State's office will issue the Notary Commission and return it to the County Clerk's office for you to pick up.' 7) OBTAIN YOUR NOTARY SEAL - required, and its design is prescribed by the Secretary of State (see seal_requirements). AN OATH AND BOND STEP EXISTS AFTER THE COMMISSION ISSUES, and Tennessee's own public database is built around warning you about it: the Secretary of State's Notary Search states that the database 'does not reflect whether the persons elected have thereafter taken the oath of office and executed the bond required for such county officials, and does not reflect their current status. For information concerning the status of such persons, please contact the appropriate County Clerk's office.' TO NOTARIZE REMOTELY, A WHOLLY SEPARATE PATH: (a) already hold an active Tennessee notary commission; (b) complete a course of instruction on online notarization AND pass an examination administered by a course provider approved by the Secretary of State, keeping the certificate to upload; (c) contract with a third-party technology vendor BEFORE applying, one that supplies the tamper-evident certificate/signature/seal technology, identity proofing and credential analysis, and storage of the audio-video recording; (d) apply online to the Secretary of State with the vendor name and technology description, an explanation of your electronic journal method, a copy of your electronic seal, a copy of your electronic notarial certificate, and copies of the vendor's instructions for authenticating your certificate and for conducting identity proofing and credential analysis; (e) pay the $75 application fee online. NO EDUCATION AND NO EXAMINATION ARE REQUIRED FOR THE TRADITIONAL COMMISSION - see training_requirement and exam.

Legal basis

Tennessee is a SPLIT-AUTHORITY state and this is the single most important structural fact about its notary commission. A traditional notary public is ELECTED BY THE COUNTY LEGISLATIVE BODY (the county commission) of the county where the applicant resides or maintains a principal place of business; the application is obtained from and filed with the COUNTY CLERK; the bond is filed with the county clerk; and the Tennessee Secretary of State, Department of State, Division of Business Services then issues the commission and returns it to the county clerk for the notary to collect. The Secretary of State’s own steps read: ‘Obtain and complete an application from your County Clerk’s office … Be elected by the county legislative body (county commission) in the county in which the applicant, resides or maintains his/her principal place of business at the time of his/her election … Your documents will be submitted to the state. The Secretary of State’s office will issue the Notary Commission and return it to the County Clerk’s office for you to pick up.’ Despite the county election, the office is a STATE office: ‘Notaries are state officials’ (Secretary of State FAQ, citing an Attorney General opinion), and Tenn. Att’y Gen. Op. 07-157 opined that ‘a notary public is a state official whose duties are prescribed by statute.’ THE ONLINE NOTARY PUBLIC COMMISSION IS DIFFERENT: it is issued directly by the Secretary of State, with no county step. commissions notaries public in Tennessee. Every figure below is verified against the commissioning authority’s own official pages and dated.

What it’s called

The credential is a COMMISSION obtained by ELECTION - a combination almost unique to Tennessee among the states in this cluster. The Secretary of State’s own steps use ‘Be elected by the county legislative body (county commission)’, and the FAQ headline is ‘How long does a notary commission last?’ Tennessee also has a live terminology dispute inside its own official record: the Department says the term ‘begins on the date that the notary commission is issued by the Governor’, while Tenn. Att’y Gen. Op. 14-89 records that 2014 Tenn. Pub. Acts ch. 805 amended Tenn. Code Ann. s. 8-16-102 so that notaries are ‘approved,’ not commissioned, by the governor, ‘approved’ meaning ’to accept or to sanction, and does not mean to appoint.’ Folk terms naming the same thing: ‘Tennessee notary license’, ‘TN notary license’, ’notary certification’, ‘getting your notary’ - none is the state’s word; Tennessee’s word is commission, and the office is described as a public office (‘Notaries are state officials’). ‘Notary seal’ and ’notary stamp’ are used interchangeably by the Department itself, which asks ‘Where do I obtain my notary stamp?’ while the statute it cites, T.C.A. s. 8-16-114, speaks of the ‘official seal’. ‘Online notary public’ / ‘ONP’ is the statutory Tennessee term for what most of the country calls a remote online notary or RON; the enabling law is the ‘Online Notary Public Act’, Tenn. Code Ann. ss. 8-16-301 et seq. ’eNotary’ / ’electronic notary’ is a term to avoid in a Tennessee context: the state says it does not offer that credential. ‘Well-bound book’ is Tennessee’s statutory name for the notary journal, from Tenn. Code Ann. s. 8-21-1201, and it survives in the Department’s FAQ heading even though the Attorney General has held an electronic medium acceptable. ‘Notary signing agent’ and ’loan signing agent’ are private-market terms the state names only to disclaim: ‘The State of Tennessee does not have any additional requirements or guidelines’ for them.

Types of notary commission

Notary public commission (traditional) — A person who resides in, or maintains a principal place of business in, the Tennessee county whose legislative body elects them Elected by the county legislative body, commissioned by the Secretary of State, four-year term. Powers are STATEWIDE despite the county election: ‘A Notary’s powers and duties can be exercised in all counties in the State of Tennessee.’ Note the terminology wrinkle a verifier should expect: the Secretary of State’s FAQ says the four-year term ‘begins on the date that the notary commission is issued by the Governor’, while Tenn. Att’y Gen. Op. 14-89 records that 2014 Tenn. Pub. Acts ch. 805 ‘amended Tenn. Code Ann. s. 8-16-102 to provide that notaries public are “approved,” not commissioned, by the governor and that “approved” means “to accept or to sanction, and does not mean to appoint.”’ Both are recorded; neither is silently preferred.
Online notary public commission (remote online notarization) — An already-commissioned, currently active Tennessee notary public who wants to notarize for principals appearing by two-way audio-video communication A SEPARATE COMMISSION issued by the Secretary of State, not a county office and not an endorsement on the county commission. Rule 1360-07-03-.02(1) opens ‘A person who has been previously commissioned as a notary public by a county legislative body, and meets the qualification requirements … may submit an application for commissioning as an online notary public’; the Secretary of State’s service page says ‘You must have been previously commissioned as a notary public by a county legislative body prior to submitting an application for commissioning as an online notary public.’ It carries its own $75 fee, its own course-and-examination requirement and its own electronic seal - and it DIES WITH THE UNDERLYING COMMISSION: ‘Online notary public commissions will terminate on the same date on which the county notary public commission terminates regardless of when the online notary public commission was granted.’ The state’s public notary database carries an ‘Online Notary’ column and an ‘Online Notaries Only’ filter, so the two are distinguishable to the public.
Electronic notary (eNotary) - DOES NOT EXIST IN TENNESSEE — Nobody. Recorded here because the absence is the fact most often got wrong about Tennessee The Secretary of State answers the question directly: ‘Does the State of Tennessee offer e-notaries? No, the State of Tennessee only offers notaries and remote online notaries.’ The Department’s own definition of the distinction: ‘In e-notarization, the notarization uses digital signatures but must occur in the physical presence of the notary, similarly to a traditional/pen and paper notarization. In remote notarization, the person is not in the physical presence of the notary but is present through audio and visual equipment such as a webcam.’ A page that lists Tennessee as offering an ’electronic notary’ or ’eNotary’ registration is describing a credential the state says it does not offer.

Who can be commissioned

WHAT TENNESSEE’S OWN SOURCES STATE. Residency or business nexus: the applicant must be elected by the county legislative body ‘in the county in which the applicant, resides or maintains his/her principal place of business at the time of his/her election’ (Secretary of State, How to become a Notary). Existing commission, for online notaries only: ‘Only those who are currently an active notary may apply to become an online notary’, and Rule 1360-07-03-.02(1) requires an applicant to have ‘been previously commissioned as a notary public by a county legislative body, and [to meet] the qualification requirements for commissioning as a notary public as outlined in Tennessee Code Annotated Title 8, Chapter 16.’ Address as a continuing condition for online notaries: ‘An online notary public who changes his or her address, such that the online notary public no longer qualifies for either a traditional notary public commission or an online notary public commission, vacates the office of online notary public and must surrender the online notary public commission to the Secretary of State’ (Rule 1360-07-03-.07(1)). Public-office character: a notary is a public official removable like any other - ‘A Notary is considered a public official and may be removed from office just as any other official’, and Tenn. Att’y Gen. Op. 07-157 notes a notary may be removed through the ouster proceedings in Tenn. Code Ann. s. 8-17-101. Ongoing-term bar: ‘It is a Class C misdemeanor for a Notary to act in an official capacity after the expiration of their notary commission.’ WHAT COULD NOT BE SOURCED, STATED AS AN EXPLICIT NEGATIVE RATHER THAN GUESSED: no minimum age, citizenship or immigration-status requirement, and no criminal-history or prior-misconduct disqualification, is asserted in this record. Tiers searched on 2026-08-13: the Secretary of State’s How to become a Notary guide, its How to become an Online Notary Public guide and Online Notary Public Guide, its Register as an Online Notary service page, and every notary FAQ the Department publishes (What is a Notary; What are the duties and responsibilities of a Notary; How long does a notary commission last; How do I renew a Notary Commission; Is a Notary a state or county official; What are the requirements for Notary Seals; What fee can a notary charge; Does the well-bound book need to be a specific format; Are notary commissions assigned numbers; Can a notary perform marriages; What are the requirements of a notary signing agent; What is the liability of a notary; How do I handle a complaint; Does the State of Tennessee offer e-notaries; and all seven remote-online-notary FAQs); the full text of Rules of the Tennessee Department of State, Division of Business Services, Chapter 1360-07-03 (Online Notaries Public); Tenn. Att’y Gen. Op. 14-89; and the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury’s official statutory bond schedule. None of them states an age, citizenship or criminal-history qualification. The underlying statute, Tenn. Code Ann. Title 8, Chapter 16, could not be read: Tennessee’s official code is published as ‘Tennessee Code Unannotated’ by LexisNexis under contract, the Secretary of State links it at lexisnexis.com/hottopics/tncode/, and that link redirects into an authenticated JavaScript container that returned no statutory text to any fetch attempted here; the Secretary of State’s own ‘Notary Public Handbook’ guide page returned an access denial ‘You are not authorized to access this page’ from the agency’s own CMS. Anyone extending this record should start there.

Requirements

OBTAIN THE APPLICATION FROM YOUR COUNTY CLERK - not from the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State’s first step is ‘Obtain and complete an application from your County Clerk’s office.’ Tennessee’s state government publishes no statewide notary application form; the form and its fee are handled at the county. 2) SUBMIT IT TO THE COUNTY CLERK WITH THE APPLICATION FEE. 3) BE ELECTED BY THE COUNTY LEGISLATIVE BODY (the county commission) ‘in the county in which the applicant, resides or maintains his/her principal place of business at the time of his/her election.’ This is an actual vote of a county body, not an administrative approval, and it is why Tennessee notary timelines run on county commission meeting calendars. 4) SECURE A SURETY BOND. ‘Bonds are available through Tennessee insurance companies/agencies that sell surety bond coverage.’ The amount is $10,000 - see bond. 5) PROVIDE PROOF OF THE BOND TO THE COUNTY CLERK. 6) THE STATE ISSUES AND THE COUNTY DELIVERS: ‘Your documents will be submitted to the state. The Secretary of State’s office will issue the Notary Commission and return it to the County Clerk’s office for you to pick up.’ 7) OBTAIN YOUR NOTARY SEAL - required, and its design is prescribed by the Secretary of State (see seal_requirements). AN OATH AND BOND STEP EXISTS AFTER THE COMMISSION ISSUES, and Tennessee’s own public database is built around warning you about it: the Secretary of State’s Notary Search states that the database ‘does not reflect whether the persons elected have thereafter taken the oath of office and executed the bond required for such county officials, and does not reflect their current status. For information concerning the status of such persons, please contact the appropriate County Clerk’s office.’ TO NOTARIZE REMOTELY, A WHOLLY SEPARATE PATH: (a) already hold an active Tennessee notary commission; (b) complete a course of instruction on online notarization AND pass an examination administered by a course provider approved by the Secretary of State, keeping the certificate to upload; (c) contract with a third-party technology vendor BEFORE applying, one that supplies the tamper-evident certificate/signature/seal technology, identity proofing and credential analysis, and storage of the audio-video recording; (d) apply online to the Secretary of State with the vendor name and technology description, an explanation of your electronic journal method, a copy of your electronic seal, a copy of your electronic notarial certificate, and copies of the vendor’s instructions for authenticating your certificate and for conducting identity proofing and credential analysis; (e) pay the $75 application fee online. NO EDUCATION AND NO EXAMINATION ARE REQUIRED FOR THE TRADITIONAL COMMISSION - see training_requirement and exam.

Training

Tennessee requires training for some commission types.

SPLIT BY COMMISSION TYPE. TRADITIONAL COMMISSION: no education course is required. The Secretary of State’s complete list of steps to become a Tennessee notary is application from the county clerk, application fee, election by the county legislative body, surety bond, proof of bond to the county clerk, state issuance, and obtaining the seal - no course appears anywhere in it, and no notary FAQ published by the Department mentions education for a traditional commission. Tiers searched on 2026-08-13 are listed in eligibility. ONLINE NOTARY COMMISSION: a course AND an examination are required, and the state controls who may teach it. The Secretary of State: ‘To apply to be an online notary, you must have completed a course of instruction concerning online notarization and pass an examination administered by a course provider approved by the Secretary of State. A certificate or other document evidencing completion of the course and passage of the exam must be attached electronically when submitting your application.’ NO COURSE LENGTH, TOPIC LIST OR PASSING SCORE IS PUBLISHED by the Department in any page read on 2026-08-13, and Rule 1360-07-03 - which the Secretary of State itself links as the current rules, in its January 2020 revision - does NOT contain the course or examination requirement at all: Rule 1360-07-03-.02 lists the application contents without one. The requirement is therefore stated on the agency’s guidance pages ahead of its own published rule text; a verifier should treat the statutory source (Tenn. Code Ann. ss. 8-16-301 et seq. as amended after January 2020) as the thing to check. THE APPROVED-PROVIDER LIST IS A LIST OF ONE: the Secretary of State’s ‘Approved Online Notary Course Providers’ page, read live on 2026-08-13, names exactly one provider - the National Notary Association. That is recorded here as a fact about the state’s approval list, not as a recommendation, and no vendor page was used as a source for anything in this record.

Exam

Tennessee requires an exam for some commission types.

NO EXAMINATION IS REQUIRED FOR A TRADITIONAL TENNESSEE NOTARY COMMISSION. The Secretary of State’s seven-step ‘How to become a Notary’ contains no examination, and none of the Department’s traditional-notary FAQs mentions one. Tiers searched on 2026-08-13 are listed in eligibility. AN EXAMINATION IS REQUIRED FOR THE ONLINE NOTARY COMMISSION: ‘To apply to be an online notary, you must have completed a course of instruction concerning online notarization and pass an examination administered by a course provider approved by the Secretary of State.’ The exam is given by the approved COURSE PROVIDER, not by the state and not by a state testing vendor, and the applicant uploads ‘A certificate or other document evidencing completion of the course and passage of the exam’ with the application. WHAT TENNESSEE DOES NOT PUBLISH, and what is therefore not asserted here: the number of questions, the time allowed, the passing score, the retake policy, the fee charged by the provider, and how long a passing result stays valid. None of those appears in the Secretary of State’s How to become an Online Notary Public guide, its Online Notary Public Guide, its seven remote-online-notary FAQs, its Approved Online Notary Course Providers page, or the full text of Rule 1360-07-03 (January 2020 revision) - the rule does not mention the examination at all. THE FEE-SIDE GAP MATTERS COMMERCIALLY: because the state approves the provider but does not set the course price, the cost of qualifying as a Tennessee online notary is set entirely by the approved provider.

Your surety bond

REQUIRED: a $10,000 surety bond, filed with the county clerk before the commission is effective. The Secretary of State states the duty without the number - ‘Secure a surety bond. Bonds are available through Tennessee insurance companies/agencies that sell surety bond coverage’ and ‘Provide proof of the bond to the County Clerk’ - so the amount is taken from a second official Tennessee source: the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury’s statutory bond schedule (‘Bonds to be filed with County Clerk’), read live on 2026-08-13, whose row reads ‘Notary Public | 8-16-101 thru 104 | $10,000 | County Bd. Elect - 4 yrs’. THE BOND IS PART OF WHAT MAKES A TENNESSEE COMMISSION REAL, AND THE STATE’S OWN DATABASE SAYS SO: the Secretary of State’s Notary Search warns that the database ‘does not reflect whether the persons elected have thereafter taken the oath of office and executed the bond required for such county officials, and does not reflect their current status’ - i.e. an entry in the state’s list is not proof the bond was ever executed. LIABILITY IS NOT CAPPED BY THE BOND: the Department’s own FAQ is explicit - ‘Liability is not limited to the amount of the statutorily mandated bond’, and a notary who ‘fails or refuses to comply with and discharge the duties required of a notary … shall forfeit and pay the sum of $100 for the use of the county of the notary’s residence and shall, moreover, be liable to the party injured for all damages, including costs’ (Tenn. Code Ann. s. 66-22-113, as quoted by the Department). ERRORS AND OMISSIONS INSURANCE IS NOT REQUIRED but is acknowledged as available: ‘Professional liability insurance may be available for a notary public.’ No Tennessee source read on 2026-08-13 requires E&O for either the traditional or the online commission. BOND PREMIUM IS NOT SET BY THE STATE - the Secretary of State points applicants to commercial Tennessee insurance agencies and publishes no premium.

Fees

TENNESSEE PUBLISHES ONLY ONE NOTARY FEE AT THE STATE LEVEL, AND IT IS THE ONLINE ONE. PAID TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE: ‘$75.00’ - ‘An application fee of $75.00’ (Rule 1360-07-03-.02(1)(p)); the Secretary of State’s guide repeats it as ‘This application must be submitted and paid online. There is an initial fee of $75.’ The same $75 applies on renewal, because ‘An online notary public may renew his or her online notary public commission by filing an application for renewal in the same manner and on the same form as if filing an initial application for commission.’ ADDING A SECOND OR THIRD TECHNOLOGY VENDOR IS FREE: ‘You have the option to add new vendor technologies in your dashboard for free. The same documents are required to be uploaded.’ PAID TO THE COUNTY CLERK, AMOUNT NOT SET BY THE STATE: the traditional notary application fee (‘Submit the completed application to your County Clerk with the application fee’) and the fee for a name or address change (‘Contact the county clerk’s office you were commissioned in to submit a name and/or address change along with a fee for the change’). NO STATE SOURCE READ ON 2026-08-13 STATES EITHER COUNTY AMOUNT - tiers searched are listed in eligibility - and Tennessee county clerk fees are set county by county, so no figure is asserted. PAID TO A THIRD PARTY, NOT SET BY THE STATE: the $10,000 surety bond premium; the notary seal, which by statute the notary buys at their own expense; the online notarization course and its examination, priced by the Secretary-of-State-approved provider; and the online notary technology vendor. THE ONE STATE-CAPPED THIRD-PARTY CHARGE: for the seal, ‘At the notary’s request, the county clerk may obtain an official seal for the notary, and the county clerk may charge a fee for this service NOT TO EXCEED 20 PERCENT OF THE COST OF THE SEAL. T.C.A. s. 8-16-114.’ NO STATE FEE EXISTS FOR THE TRADITIONAL COMMISSION ITSELF in any source read - the state’s role is issuance, and the money changes hands at the county and with the surety.

How long the commission lasts, and renewing it

4 years. ‘A Notary’s term of office is four years. The four-year term begins on the date that the notary commission is issued by the Governor. It is a Class C misdemeanor for a Notary to act in an official capacity after the expiration of their notary commission’ (Secretary of State FAQ). The Tennessee Comptroller’s statutory bond schedule records the same term for the office (‘County Bd. Elect - 4 yrs’). THE ONLINE COMMISSION IS NOT A SEPARATE FOUR-YEAR TERM - it is a rider on the county term: ‘Your online notary commission will run concurrently with your existing notary public commission and will expire on the same day, regardless of when the online commission was granted’, and Rule 1360-07-03-.02(3) states ‘Online notary public commissions will terminate on the same date on which the county notary public commission terminates regardless of when the online notary public commission was granted.’ So an online notary who registers eleven months before the county commission expires gets eleven months for the $75, not four years. A TERMINOLOGY POINT A VERIFIER WILL TRIP OVER: the Department’s FAQ says the term begins when the commission is ‘issued by the Governor’, while Tenn. Att’y Gen. Op. 14-89 records that 2014 Tenn. Pub. Acts ch. 805 amended Tenn. Code Ann. s. 8-16-102 so that notaries are ‘approved,’ not commissioned, by the governor, with ‘approved’ meaning ’to accept or to sanction, and does not mean to appoint.’ Both statements are official and both are recorded. There is no lighter renewal path in Tennessee - you run the whole election again. The Secretary of State’s answer is one sentence: ‘The renewal process for a notary is the same process as obtaining your original commission.’ That means a new application from the county clerk with its fee, a new election by the county legislative body, a new surety bond, proof of the bond to the county clerk, re-issuance by the Secretary of State, and delivery through the county clerk. NO GRACE PERIOD IS PUBLISHED, and acting after expiry is criminal: ‘It is a Class C misdemeanor for a Notary to act in an official capacity after the expiration of their notary commission.’ THE SEAL MUST GO BACK AT THE END OF THE TERM - this is unusual and easy to miss: ‘The seal must be surrendered to the county legislative body (through the county clerk) upon expiration of the notary’s term of office or resignation, and the personal representative must surrender the seal in the event of the death of the notary. T.C.A. s. 8-16-114.’ ONLINE NOTARY RENEWAL is filed with the Secretary of State ‘in the same manner and on the same form as if filing an initial application for commission’, must be ‘received by the Secretary of State no later than the expiration date of the online notary public’s current commission’, and is judged fresh - ‘The Secretary of State shall determine eligibility for renewals according to the same standards as initial applications, and shall not be bound by prior determinations of eligibility’ (Rule 1360-07-03-.02(3)). The Secretary of State adds the sequencing rule: ‘Should you successfully reapply to be a notary public in your county, you then will be allowed to reapply to be an online notary’ - county first, state second. NO CONTINUING EDUCATION IS REQUIRED at renewal for either commission type; see ce_hours. WHETHER THE ONLINE COURSE AND EXAMINATION MUST BE REPEATED at each online renewal is NOT stated in any source read on 2026-08-13 (the Secretary of State’s guides describe the course and exam under initial application, and Rule 1360-07-03-.02(3) requires renewal ‘in the same manner and on the same form’), so nothing is asserted about it here. NONE. Tennessee requires no continuing education to keep or renew either a traditional notary public commission or an online notary public commission. Sourced negative, tiers searched on 2026-08-13: the Secretary of State’s How to become a Notary guide (whose seven steps contain no education at all); its FAQ ‘How do I renew a Notary Commission?’, whose complete answer is ‘The renewal process for a notary is the same process as obtaining your original commission’; its How to become an Online Notary Public guide and Online Notary Public Guide; its seven remote-online-notary FAQs; and the full text of Rule 1360-07-03, whose renewal provision (.02(3)) conditions renewal only on filing the same application on the same form by the expiration date and on the Secretary of State’s fresh eligibility determination - it imposes no hours. THE ADJACENT TRAP: Tennessee DOES require a course and an examination to obtain an ONLINE notary commission, and that is an entry requirement, not continuing education; whether it must be repeated at each online renewal is not stated in any source read and is deliberately not asserted here (see renewal_cycle).

Your seal or stamp

A SEAL IS REQUIRED, ITS DESIGN IS PRESCRIBED BY THE SECRETARY OF STATE, AND IT MUST BE SURRENDERED AT THE END OF THE TERM. ‘State law requires that all notaries use an official seal prescribed and designed by the Secretary of State. The notary must purchase the official seal at his or her own expense. At the notary’s request, the county clerk may obtain an official seal for the notary, and the county clerk may charge a fee for this service not to exceed 20 percent of the cost of the seal. T.C.A. s. 8-16-114.’ CURRENT DESIGN: ‘a circular seal with the notary’s name (as it appears on the commission) printed at the top, the county of election printed at the bottom, and the words “State of Tennessee Notary Public” or “Tennessee Notary Public” printed in the center.’ INK AND MEDIUM, WITH A COLOUR RULE MOST STATES DO NOT HAVE: ‘The seal may be imprinted by a rubber or other type stamp (not an impression seal), and the stamp must be imprinted in some color, NOT BLACK OR YELLOW, that is clearly legible and appears black when copied on a non-color copier.’ TRANSITION FOR OLD EMBOSSERS: ‘Notaries may continue to use their impression seals until the expiration of their term. The use of an embossed seal after May 12, 2003, does not render an acknowledgment defective.’ EXPIRATION DATE ON THE STAMP IS OPTIONAL for a traditional notary: asked ‘Should I have my expiration date added to my notary stamp?’, the Department answers ‘Yes, it is optional and not required by law.’ WHERE TO BUY IT: ‘A commissioned notary can purchase a notary stamp through the county clerk’s office or from an office supply company.’ SURRENDER, NOT DESTRUCTION: ‘The seal must be surrendered to the county legislative body (through the county clerk) upon expiration of the notary’s term of office or resignation, and the personal representative must surrender the seal in the event of the death of the notary. T.C.A. s. 8-16-114.’ Tennessee therefore differs from states that tell you to deface or destroy the device. ONLINE NOTARY ELECTRONIC SEAL - A DIFFERENT DESIGN, AND THE EXPIRATION DATE IS NOT OPTIONAL THERE: Rule 1360-07-03-.04(3) requires ‘an electronic seal that substantially conforms to the following design: a circular, square, or rectangular seal with the notary public’s name as it appears on the commission printed at the top, the county of election printed at the bottom, the words “State of Tennessee Notary Public” or “Tennessee Notary Public” printed in the center, and the words “Online Notary Public” printed below. The electronic seal must also be accompanied by a statement of the date upon which the online notary public’s commission expires.’ A copy of that seal is filed with the Department at application, ‘The name on the online notary public seal must match the name, as stated on the application, under which the online notary public is commissioned’, the same seal must be used for every online act, and any replacement seal must be filed with the Secretary of State BEFORE it is used (Rule 1360-07-03-.04(1)-(2), .07(2)). The electronic certificate, signature and seal ‘must remain within the exclusive control of the online notary public (including control by means of use of a password) at all times and shall be used only for the purpose of performing online notarial acts.’ NO COMMISSION NUMBER GOES ON A TENNESSEE SEAL, because there is none to put on it: ‘The State of Tennessee does not assign numbers to Notary Commissions.’

Keeping a journal

Tennessee requires a notary journal.

REQUIRED FOR EVERY ACT, AND SINCE OCTOBER 1, 2014 IT IS REQUIRED WHETHER OR NOT A FEE IS CHARGED - that decoupling is the fact most likely to be stale on a competing page. The controlling text, as quoted by the Tennessee Attorney General in Op. 14-89 from Tenn. Code Ann. s. 8-21-1201 as amended by 2014 Tenn. Pub. Acts ch. 805: ‘Notaries public are entitled to demand and receive reasonable fees and compensation for the notaries public’s services. The notaries public shall keep a record in a well-bound book of each of the notaries public’s acts, attestations, protestations, and other instruments of publications.’ The Attorney General’s holding: ‘Beginning October 1, 2014, notaries public are required to maintain “a record in a well-bound book of each of the notaries public’s acts, attestations, protections, and other instruments of publication” REGARDLESS OF WHETHER the notary public receives a fee or compensation for his or her services.’ WHY THAT CHANGED: before the amendment the statute paid a notary $1.00 ‘for recording in a well-bound book, to be kept by the notary for that purpose, each attestation, protestation, and other instrument of publication’, which ’tied the notary’s receipt of a fee directly to the duty to record’; ch. 805 deleted that fee provision and also deleted Tenn. Code Ann. s. 8-16-118, leaving the recording duty standing alone. THE BOOK NEED NOT BE A BOOK: the Attorney General held that ‘So long as the information kept in the notary public’s record is available for public inspection and other conditions are met, such information may be maintained in any appropriate electronic medium’, relying on Tenn. Code Ann. s. 10-7-121(a)(1), whose conditions are that ‘(A) Such information is available for public inspection, unless it is a confidential record according to law; (B) Due care is taken to maintain any information that is a public record during the time required by law for retention; (C) All daily data generated and stored within the computer system shall be copied to computer storage media daily, and the newly created computer storage media more than one (1) week old shall be stored at a location other than at the building where the original is maintained; and (D) The official can provide a paper copy of the information when needed or when requested by a member of the public.’ The Secretary of State points to the same opinion: ’the notary is not required to keep the record in a particular type of “well bound book,” but … the notary may keep the information in another recorded format, as long as certain standards are met.’ THE RECORD IS A PUBLIC RECORD: the Attorney General reasoned that because the act of keeping the book is performed by a public officer under official oath, ‘The record kept of a notary public’s official acts is therefore a public record’, citing Tenn. Code Ann. s. 10-7-503(a)(1)(A). WHAT IS NOT ASSERTED: no state source read on 2026-08-13 lists the specific fields a traditional Tennessee journal entry must contain, and no retention period for the traditional journal was located; Tenn. Code Ann. s. 10-7-121(a)(1)(B) refers only to ’the time required by law for retention’ without stating it. ONLINE NOTARIZATIONS HAVE THEIR OWN, FULLY SPECIFIED RECORD - see ron_detail: a secure electronic record kept at least 5 years, with a backup, containing the date and time, the type of act, a description of the document, each principal’s printed name and address, the evidence of identity, the audio-video recording, and the fee charged.

Online (remote) notarization

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

AUTHORIZED, WITH A SEPARATE COMMISSION FROM THE SECRETARY OF STATE - and Tennessee offers REMOTE online notarization only, not in-person electronic notarization. The Secretary of State: ‘Does the State of Tennessee offer e-notaries? No, the State of Tennessee only offers notaries and remote online notaries.’ STATUTE AND DATES, RECORDED CAREFULLY BECAUSE THEY CONFLICT ON THEIR FACE: the Department’s guides say ‘In April of 2018 the Tennessee Legislature passed Senate Bill 1758 known as the “Online Notary Public Act”. This Act is in effect as of July 1, 2019’, while the authority note printed on every section of the implementing rules reads ‘T.C.A. ss. 8-16-301, et seq. (Public Chapter 931, effective April 18, 2018).’ Both are official Tennessee statements and both are recorded here; the enacting statute is cited by the Department as ’the Online Notary Public Act, TCA 8-16-301 et. seq.’ RULE HISTORY, WHICH EXPLAINS THE GAP: ‘Emergency rules filed April 15, 2019; effective through October 12, 2019. Emergency rules expired effective October 13, 2019, and the chapter reverted to its previous status. Original rules filed October 9, 2019; effective January 7, 2020.’ WHAT ONLINE NOTARIZATION IS: ‘a notarial act performed by means of two-way video and audio conference technology’, in which ’the notary and the principal whose signature is notarized are not in the same place but interact remotely over the internet.’ HOW TO GET THE COMMISSION: hold an active county commission; complete an approved course and pass its examination; contract with a technology vendor first; then apply online with the vendor name and technologies, an explanation of the electronic journal method, a copy of the electronic seal, a copy of the electronic notarial certificate, and the vendor’s instructions for authenticating the certificate and for identity proofing and credential analysis; and pay $75. LOCATION RULE: ‘An online notary public may perform authorized notarial acts by means of an electronic interactive two-way audio and video communication only when the online notary public is PHYSICALLY LOCATED WITHIN THIS STATE, without regard to whether the principal is physically located in this state at the time of the online notarization’ (Rule 1360-07-03-.03(2)). IDENTITY: personal knowledge, or all three of remote presentation of an unexpired non-military government-issued credential bearing the principal’s photograph and signature, credential analysis of it, and identity proofing - and ‘Under no circumstances shall an online notary public base identification merely on familiarity with a principal’s electronic signature.’ Both credential analysis and identity proofing ‘must be performed by a third party.’ DURESS CHECK, WRITTEN INTO THE RULE: ‘An online notary public shall require the principal to demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the online notary public, that such person is not under duress and is not otherwise being coerced to complete the transaction’, and the notary must refuse where there are reasonable grounds to believe coercion or undue influence, where identity cannot be verified, where ’the security of the two-way audio-visual transmission is not secure’, or where the signature or the notary’s certificate and seal cannot be attached tamper-evidently. CERTIFICATE WORDING: the electronic notarial certificate must identify the principal, the date, the state and county where the notarization was performed, that the act was an online notarization, and the type of act; and ‘The acknowledgment contained within the electronic notarial certificate must also contain a statement that the principal “personally appeared before me by audio-video communication” or “personally appeared by audio-video communication” or “before me appeared by audio-video communication”.’ TECHNOLOGY FLOOR: the vendor must supply ‘Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) technology from a PKI service provider that is X.509 compliant’; the notary ‘must take reasonable steps to ensure that the two-way video and audio communication used is encrypted during transmission, through means such as a virtual private network (VPN)’; and records ‘should’ be stored using ’the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) as a minimum encryption standard’, with government-issued identification numbers obscured from or kept out of the recording. RECORDS: at least 5 years, plus a backup for the same period, both ‘protected from unauthorized use’; the record must contain the date and time, the type of act, the type/title/description of the document, each principal’s printed name and address, the evidence of identity, ‘A recording of any video and audio conference that is the basis for satisfactory evidence of identity’, and ‘The fee, if any, charged for the notarization.’ Recordings may be held by ‘a custodian or repository’ and stored separately from the journal ‘as long as the corresponding journal entry cross-references the place of storage and describes the manner in which the record is stored.’ FEE CAP: ‘$25.00 for performing each online notarization’ (Rule 1360-07-03-.06), chargeable by ‘An online notary public, or the online notary public’s employer.’ PAPERING OUT: the online notary ‘may certify that a tangible copy of an electronic record is an accurate copy of the electronic record by also affixing his or her signature and seal to the copy of the electronic record in the traditional manner … but only where the online notary public is capable of independently verifying the document is a true and correct copy’, consistent with Tenn. Code Ann. s. 66-24-101(d). CHANGES MUST BE FILED BEFORE USE: a new or additional vendor, technology, electronic certificate or electronic seal must be reported to the Secretary of State ‘prior to conducting any notarial acts’ with it, and every vendor in use must be listed in the notary’s dashboard. TERMINATION: ‘If the Secretary of State determines that any online notary public has not complied with these regulations or the provisions of Tennessee Code Annotated Title 8, Chapter 16 related to online notarization, the Secretary of State shall terminate the commission of the online notary public.’ NO STATE-APPROVED VENDOR LIST EXISTS for the technology: ‘The Tennessee Department of State does not recommend nor endorse any particular third-party vendors’ - unlike the COURSE providers, which the Secretary of State does approve.

What you may charge

TENNESSEE DOES NOT CAP TRADITIONAL NOTARIAL FEES - it imposes a reasonableness standard instead, and this is the fact most likely to be wrong on a page that assumes every state publishes a fee table. Tenn. Code Ann. s. 8-21-1201, quoted by the Secretary of State: ‘Notaries public are entitled to demand and receive reasonable fees and compensation for the notaries public’s services.’ No dollar figure for any traditional act appears in any Tennessee source read on 2026-08-13. HOW IT GOT THAT WAY, from Tenn. Att’y Gen. Op. 14-89: before 2014 the statute set itemized fees - ‘$1.00’ for recording each attestation, protestation or other instrument of publication in the well-bound book; ‘$1.50’ for the protestation of a negotiable instrument, per instrument, ‘without regard to the number of parties on each instrument’; ’the same as county clerks’ for every acknowledgment or probate of a deed or other instrument of writing with seal attached; ‘.25’ for acknowledgment of notes for advances on tobacco; ‘1.00’ for each deposition taken; and ’the same fees allowed other officers for like services’ for anything else. 2014 Tenn. Pub. Acts ch. 805 deleted that schedule and also deleted Tenn. Code Ann. s. 8-16-118, replacing the itemized fees with the present ‘reasonable fees and compensation’ standard while leaving the recordkeeping duty in force. A page quoting Tennessee’s $1.00 or $1.50 notarial fees is quoting law repealed effective October 1, 2014. THE ONE HARD CAP TENNESSEE DOES SET IS FOR REMOTE WORK: ‘An online notary public, or the online notary public’s employer, may charge a fee that does not exceed twenty-five dollars ($25.00) for performing each online notarization’ (Rule 1360-07-03-.06); the Department’s FAQ restates it as ‘A fee can be required not to exceed $25 for each online notarization.’ NO TRAVEL-FEE PROVISION was located in any Tennessee source read, and none is asserted; the statutory phrase ‘reasonable fees and compensation for the notaries public’s services’ is the only standard published. A SEPARATE, NON-FEE MONEY RULE THAT IS EASY TO MISREAD AS A PENALTY FOR OVERCHARGING: a notary who ‘fails or refuses to comply with and discharge the duties required of a notary … shall forfeit and pay the sum of $100 for the use of the county of the notary’s residence’ and is ’liable to the party injured for all damages, including costs’ (Tenn. Code Ann. s. 66-22-113, quoted by the Department). That $100 is a forfeiture for failure of duty, not a fee cap.

Who does NOT need a commission — exemptions

NO PROFESSIONAL EXEMPTION FROM THE TENNESSEE PROCESS WAS LOCATED - there is no attorney, judge or public-officer shortcut in any source read on 2026-08-13, and because the traditional commission requires no course and no examination there is little to be exempt from: the binding steps are the county election, the $10,000 bond and the seal. WHAT TENNESSEE EXPRESSLY DOES NOT REGULATE: ‘A Notary Signing Agent or a Loan Signing Agent is a Traditional Notary who has special training to handle loan document signings. The State of Tennessee does not have any additional requirements or guidelines for Notary Signing Agents or Loan Signing Agents.’ So a ‘signing agent’ credential in Tennessee is a private product, not a state authorization - and the state says so itself. WHAT A TENNESSEE NOTARY MAY DO THAT MANY STATE NOTARIES MAY NOT - SOLEMNIZE MARRIAGES: ‘Yes, Public Chapter No. 255 of the 112th General Assembly changes the language allowing notary publics to perform marriages. There are no additional provisions to regulate how Notaries perform marriages, but they must follow the rules required of all officiants. Effective April 28, 2021.’ AUTHORIZED ACTS, from the Department’s own definitions: a Tennessee notary may ‘Acknowledge signatures upon personal knowledge or satisfactory proof’, ‘Administer oaths’, ‘Record and/or transcribe depositions’, and ‘Confirm the authenticity of signatures on affidavits’; and ‘A Notary has the power to administer oaths and take depositions, affidavits, and acknowledgments. A Notary’s powers and duties can be exercised in all counties in the State of Tennessee.’ NO COMMISSION NUMBERS: ‘The State of Tennessee does not assign numbers to Notary Commissions’ - so any Tennessee page or form demanding a notary ‘commission number’ is asking for something the state does not issue. DISCIPLINE ROUTES, WHICH ARE NOT THE SECRETARY OF STATE for a traditional notary: ‘A Notary is considered a public official and may be removed from office just as any other official. Complaints concerning official misconduct should be directed to local Law Enforcement in the county in which the Notary is elected or in which the alleged misconduct occurred’; criminal complaints go to the District Attorney General of the judicial district (Tenn. Att’y Gen. Op. 07-157, citing Tenn. Code Ann. s. 8-7-103); and ‘a notary may be removed from office through the ouster proceedings set forth in Tenn. Code Ann. s. 8-17-101.’ For an ONLINE notary the Secretary of State does hold the axe: ’the Secretary of State shall terminate the commission of the online notary public’ for non-compliance (Rule 1360-07-03-.08). WHAT WAS NOT LOCATED AND IS NOT ASSERTED: which other Tennessee officers may take acknowledgments without a notary commission, and any federal military notarial authority, are addressed in no Tennessee source read for this record.

How to apply

Applications are handled by Tennessee is a SPLIT-AUTHORITY state and this is the single most important structural fact about its notary commission. A traditional notary public is ELECTED BY THE COUNTY LEGISLATIVE BODY (the county commission) of the county where the applicant resides or maintains a principal place of business; the application is obtained from and filed with the COUNTY CLERK; the bond is filed with the county clerk; and the Tennessee Secretary of State, Department of State, Division of Business Services then issues the commission and returns it to the county clerk for the notary to collect. The Secretary of State’s own steps read: ‘Obtain and complete an application from your County Clerk’s office … Be elected by the county legislative body (county commission) in the county in which the applicant, resides or maintains his/her principal place of business at the time of his/her election … Your documents will be submitted to the state. The Secretary of State’s office will issue the Notary Commission and return it to the County Clerk’s office for you to pick up.’ Despite the county election, the office is a STATE office: ‘Notaries are state officials’ (Secretary of State FAQ, citing an Attorney General opinion), and Tenn. Att’y Gen. Op. 07-157 opined that ‘a notary public is a state official whose duties are prescribed by statute.’ THE ONLINE NOTARY PUBLIC COMMISSION IS DIFFERENT: it is issued directly by the Secretary of State, with no county step.. Start at the official application page .

Verify a license in Tennessee

Tennessee Secretary of State, Department of State, Division of Business Services publishes a public license search , searchable by Individual’s Last Name, First Name, Business Zip Code, County or Online Notaries Only (filter). It covers Unexpired notary commissions issued by the Tennessee Secretary of State. Result columns read live on 2026-08-13: Notary Name, Commission Expires, County, Business Zip Code, and Online Notary - so the register distinguishes an online (remote) notary from a traditional one, and the search form carries an ‘Online Notaries Only’ filter. THE PORTAL PUBLISHES ITS OWN LIMITATION IN BOLD TERMS, AND IT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ON THE PAGE: ‘This database reflects information about Notary Commissions issued by the Secretary of State, but does not reflect whether the persons elected have thereafter taken the oath of office and executed the bond required for such county officials, and does not reflect their current status. For information concerning the status of such persons, please contact the appropriate County Clerk’s office.’ In other words, a Tennessee hit is evidence that a commission was issued, NOT that the person is presently an active, bonded, sworn notary - the authoritative status check is the county clerk of the county of election. The Secretary of State points users here itself: ‘You can check with your county clerk’s office to see if the request has been submitted to our office. You can also go to the Notary Search page and search for your information to check the status of your commission at https://tncab.tnsos.gov/portal/notary-search' . The Department also links the same tool from its ‘Search Notary Commissions’ service page as ‘Search for unexpired Notary Commissions issued by the Tennessee Secretary of State.’.

Records come from Tennessee Secretary of State, Department of State, Division of Business Services’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 Tennessee?

Through your county, not through the state. You get the application from your county clerk’s office, file it there with the county’s application fee, and then must be ELECTED by the county legislative body (the county commission) of the county where you live or keep your principal place of business. You secure a $10,000 surety bond from a Tennessee insurance agency and give proof of it to the county clerk. The county sends your documents to the state, ‘The Secretary of State’s office will issue the Notary Commission and return it to the County Clerk’s office for you to pick up’, and you buy your official seal. There is no education course and no examination for a traditional Tennessee commission.

Does Tennessee require a notary exam or training course?

Not for a traditional commission. The Secretary of State’s complete list of steps - county application, fee, election by the county legislative body, bond, proof of bond, state issuance, seal - contains no course and no test. Tennessee DOES require both for the separate ONLINE notary commission: ‘To apply to be an online notary, you must have completed a course of instruction concerning online notarization and pass an examination administered by a course provider approved by the Secretary of State’, with the certificate uploaded to the application. The state approves the course providers but publishes no course length, no topic list and no passing score.

How big is the Tennessee notary bond?

$10,000. The Secretary of State’s steps say only ‘Secure a surety bond … Provide proof of the bond to the County Clerk’; the amount comes from the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury’s official statutory bond schedule, whose notary row reads ‘Notary Public | 8-16-101 thru 104 | $10,000 | County Bd. Elect - 4 yrs’. The bond protects the public, not you, and it does not cap what you can owe: the Department states plainly that ‘Liability is not limited to the amount of the statutorily mandated bond.’ Errors and omissions insurance is optional - ‘Professional liability insurance may be available for a notary public.’

How much can a Tennessee notary charge?

There is no dollar cap for ordinary notarial acts. Tenn. Code Ann. s. 8-21-1201 says only that ‘Notaries public are entitled to demand and receive reasonable fees and compensation for the notaries public’s services.’ Tennessee used to publish an itemized schedule - $1.00 to record an attestation in the well-bound book, $1.50 to protest a negotiable instrument, $1.00 per deposition, $0.25 for acknowledgment of notes for advances on tobacco - but 2014 Public Chapter 805 deleted it effective October 1, 2014. Any page still quoting those figures is quoting repealed law. The one hard cap Tennessee does set is for remote work: no more than $25 per online notarization.

Does a Tennessee notary have to keep a journal?

Yes, for every act, and since October 1, 2014 it does not matter whether you charged a fee. The statute requires a notary to ‘keep a record in a well-bound book of each of the notaries public’s acts, attestations, protestations, and other instruments of publications’, and the Attorney General held in Opinion 14-89 that the duty applies ‘regardless of whether the notary public receives a fee or compensation.’ The book need not literally be a book: the record may be kept ‘in any appropriate electronic medium’ if the conditions of Tenn. Code Ann. s. 10-7-121(a)(1) are met - public inspection, retention, daily off-site backup copies, and the ability to produce a paper copy on request. The record is a public record.

What does a Tennessee notary seal have to look like?

The Secretary of State prescribes the design: a circular seal with your name as it appears on the commission at the top, the county of election at the bottom, and the words ‘State of Tennessee Notary Public’ or ‘Tennessee Notary Public’ in the center. It must be ‘a rubber or other type stamp (not an impression seal)’, and the ink must be ‘in some color, not black or yellow, that is clearly legible and appears black when copied on a non-color copier.’ Adding your expiration date is optional. You buy it at your own expense, from the county clerk or an office supply company; if the county clerk obtains it for you the clerk may charge no more than 20 percent of the seal’s cost. And unlike most states, you do not destroy it at the end - ‘The seal must be surrendered to the county legislative body (through the county clerk) upon expiration of the notary’s term of office or resignation.’

Can a Tennessee notary notarize remotely?

Yes, with a separate online notary public commission issued by the Secretary of State - and Tennessee offers only remote online notarization, not in-person electronic notarization: ‘Does the State of Tennessee offer e-notaries? No, the State of Tennessee only offers notaries and remote online notaries.’ You must already hold an active county commission, complete an approved course and pass its examination, contract with a technology vendor first, apply online with your vendor and technology details, electronic seal and electronic notarial certificate, and pay $75. You must be physically in Tennessee for every online act; the signer may be anywhere. Records and the audio-video recording are kept five years with a backup, and the certificate must state that the principal ‘personally appeared before me by audio-video communication’.

How long does a Tennessee online notary commission last?

Only as long as the county commission underneath it. ‘Online notary public commissions will terminate on the same date on which the county notary public commission terminates regardless of when the online notary public commission was granted’ (Rule 1360-07-03-.02(3)), and the Secretary of State repeats it: your online commission ‘will expire on the same day, regardless of when the online commission was granted.’ So the $75 buys whatever is left of your four-year county term - register in the last year of a term and you pay full price for a fraction of it. After you are re-elected in your county, you reapply for the online commission on the same form.

Can I rely on the state's notary search to confirm a Tennessee notary is active?

No, and the state says so on the page. The Secretary of State’s Notary Search warns: ‘This database reflects information about Notary Commissions issued by the Secretary of State, but does not reflect whether the persons elected have thereafter taken the oath of office and executed the bond required for such county officials, and does not reflect their current status. For information concerning the status of such persons, please contact the appropriate County Clerk’s office.’ The database is searchable by last name, first name, business ZIP code and county, with an ‘Online Notaries Only’ filter, and it shows the commission expiry - but the authoritative current status lives with the county clerk of the county of election.

See every license and certification LicensingAtlas covers in Tennessee.

Sources & verification

Last verified against these sources: August 13, 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.