ARTICLE 1. Notaries Public

Article 1 heading added by Stats. 2023, Ch. 291, Sec. 5.

§§ 8200–8230 · 56 sections

§ 8200 The Secretary of State may appoint and commission notaries public in such number as the Secretary of State deems necessary for the public convenience. Notaries…
§ 8201 (a) Every person appointed as notary public shall meet all of the following requirements: (1) Be at the time of appointment a legal resident of this state,…
§ 8201.1 (a) Prior to granting an appointment as a notary public, the Secretary of State shall determine that the applicant possesses the required honesty, credibility,…
§ 8201.2 (a) The Secretary of State shall review the course of study proposed by any vendor to be offered pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) and paragraph (2)…
§ 8201.5 The Secretary of State shall require an applicant for appointment and commission as a notary public to complete an application form and submit a photograph of…
§ 8202 (a) When executing a jurat, a notary shall administer an oath or affirmation to the affiant and shall determine, from satisfactory evidence as described in…
§ 8202.5 The Secretary of State may appoint and commission the number of state, city, county, and public school district employees as notaries public to act for and on…
§ 8202.7 A private employer, pursuant to an agreement with an employee who is a notary public, may pay the premiums on any bond and the cost of any stamps, seals, or…
§ 8202.8 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a private employer of a notary public who has entered into an agreement with his or her employee pursuant to…
§ 8203.1 The Secretary of State may appoint and commission notaries public for the military and naval reservations of the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force, and Marine…
§ 8203.2 Such notaries public shall be appointed only upon the recommendation of the commanding officer of the reservation in which they are to act, and they shall be…
§ 8203.3 In addition to the qualifications established in Section 8203.1, appointment will be made only from among those persons who are federal civil service employees…
§ 8203.4 The term of office shall be as set forth in Section 8204, except that the appointment shall terminate if the person shall cease to be employed as a federal…
§ 8203.5 In addition to the name of the State, the jurat shall also contain the name of the reservation in which the instrument is executed.
§ 8203.6 No fees shall be collected by such notaries public for service rendered within the reservation in the capacity of a notary public.
§ 8204 The term of office of a notary public is for four years commencing with the date specified in the commission.
§ 8204.1 The Secretary of State may cancel the commission of a notary public if a check or other remittance accepted as payment for the examination, application,…
§ 8205 (a) It is the duty of a notary public, when requested: (1) To demand acceptance and payment of foreign and inland bills of exchange, or promissory notes, to…
§ 8206 (a) (1) A notary public shall keep one active sequential journal at a time, of all official acts performed as a notary public. The journal shall be kept in a…
§ 8206.5 Upon receiving a request for a copy of a transaction pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 8206, the notary shall respond to the request within 15 business…
§ 8207 A notary public shall provide and keep an official seal, which shall clearly show, when embossed, stamped, impressed or affixed to a document, the name of the…
§ 8207.1 The Secretary of State shall assign a sequential identification number to each notary which shall appear on the notary commission. This section shall become…
§ 8207.2 (a) No notary seal or press stamp shall be manufactured, duplicated, sold, or offered for sale unless authorized by the Secretary of State. (b) The Secretary…
§ 8207.3 (a) The Secretary of State shall issue certificates of authorization with which a notary public can obtain an official notary seal. (b) A vendor or…
§ 8207.4 (a) Any person who willfully violates any part of Section 8207, 8207.1, 8207.2, 8207.3, 8231.7, or 8231.8 shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed one…
§ 8208 The protest of a notary public acting in the course and scope of employment by a financial institution, under his or her hand and official seal, of a bill of…
§ 8209 (a) If any notary public resigns, is disqualified, removed from office, or allows his or her appointment to expire without obtaining reappointment within 30…
§ 8211 Fees charged by a notary public for the following services shall not exceed the fees prescribed by this section. (a) For taking an acknowledgment or proof of a…
§ 8212 Every person appointed a notary public shall execute an official bond in the sum of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000). The bond shall be in the form of a bond…
§ 8213 (a) No later than 30 days after the beginning of the term prescribed in the commission, every person appointed a notary public shall file an official bond and…
§ 8213.5 A notary public shall notify the Secretary of State by certified mail or any other means of physical delivery that provides a receipt within 30 days as to any…
§ 8213.6 If a notary public changes his or her name, the notary public shall complete an application for name change form and file that application with the Secretary…
§ 8214 For the official misconduct or neglect of a notary public, the notary public and the sureties on the notary public’s official bond are liable in a civil action…
§ 8214.1 The Secretary of State may refuse to appoint any person as notary public or may revoke or suspend the commission of any notary public upon any of the following…
§ 8214.15 (a) In addition to any commissioning or disciplinary sanction, a violation of subdivision (f), (i), (l), (m), or (p) of Section 8214.1, or a willful violation…
§ 8214.2 (a) A notary public who knowingly and willfully with intent to defraud performs any notarial act in relation to a deed of trust on real property consisting of…
§ 8214.21 A notary public who willfully fails to provide access to the sequential journal of notarial acts when requested by a peace officer shall be subject to a civil…
§ 8214.23 (a) A notary public who fails to obtain a thumbprint, as required by Section 8206, from a party signing a document shall be subject to a civil penalty not…
§ 8214.3 Prior to a revocation or suspension pursuant to this chapter or after a denial of a commission, or prior to the imposition of a civil penalty, the person…
§ 8214.4 Notwithstanding this chapter or Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 11500) of Part 1 of Division 3, if the Secretary of State determines, after proceedings…
§ 8214.5 Whenever the Secretary of State revokes the commission of any notary public, the Secretary of State shall file with the county clerk of the county in which the…
§ 8214.8 Upon conviction of any offense in this chapter, or of Section 6203, or of any felony, of a person commissioned as a notary public, in addition to any other…
§ 8216 When a surety of a notary desires to be released from responsibility on account of future acts, the release shall be pursuant to Article 11 (commencing with…
§ 8219.5 (a) Every notary public who is not an attorney who advertises the services of a notary public in a language other than English by signs or other means of…
§ 8220 The Secretary of State may adopt rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this chapter. The regulations shall be adopted in accordance with the…
§ 8221 (a) If any person shall knowingly destroy, deface, or conceal any records or papers belonging to the office of a notary public, such person shall be guilty of…
§ 8222 (a) Whenever it appears to the Secretary of State that any person has engaged or is about to engage in any acts or practices which constitute or will…
§ 8223 (a) A notary public who holds himself or herself out as being an immigration specialist, immigration consultant, or any other title or description reflecting…
§ 8224 A notary public who has a direct financial or beneficial interest in a transaction shall not perform any notarial act in connection with such transaction. For…
§ 8224.1 A notary public shall not take the acknowledgment or proof of instruments of writing executed by the notary public nor shall depositions or affidavits of the…
§ 8225 (a) Any person who solicits, coerces, or in any manner influences a notary public to perform an improper notarial act knowing that act to be an improper…
§ 8227.1 It shall be a misdemeanor for any person who is not a duly commissioned, qualified, and acting notary public for the State of California to do any of the…
§ 8227.3 Any person who is not a duly commissioned, qualified, and acting notary public who does any of the acts prohibited by Section 8227.1 in relation to any…
§ 8228 The Secretary of State or a peace officer, as defined in Sections 830.1, 830.2, and 830.3 of the Penal Code, possessing reasonable suspicion and acting in his…
§ 8228.1 (a) Any notary public who willfully fails to perform any duty required of a notary public under Section 8206, or who willfully fails to keep the seal of the…
§ 8230 If a notary public executes a jurat and the statement sworn or subscribed to is contained in a document purporting to identify the affiant, and includes the…