Notary public in Virginia
Posted on:3/29/2006
| Notaries are appointed by the Governor. |
An individual may become a notary public on filling out an application; having two persons who are registered voters to sign the application, attesting to the applicant's character; having the application itself notarized, and the notary may not be either of the two people who attested to the applicant's character; Having the application signed by the Clerk of a Circuit Court, a judge, Commonwealth's attorney, member of the state legislature, or certain other public officials; and sending the application with a fee (as of November 2005 the fee was $35) to the Secretary of the Commonwealth in Richmond. The application is almost always approved. The Secretary of the Commonwealth will send the applicant's commission to the Clerk of the Circuit Court where the applicant asked it be issued. That clerk will swear the applicant, collect a fee of $10 (as of November 2005), and give the applicant their commission. At that point the applicant is now commissioned as a Notary Public in and for the Commonwealth of Virginia at large. While the applicant must swear that they have read the notary laws, there is no test or special knowledge required.
Virginia does not require seals, but most people having documents authenticated expect them, so most notaries do carry and use them. No bond is required, and a notary is not required to keep a log of official acts. Virginia was one of the states that required notaries to be citizens prior to the Fainter decision.
A Virginia notary is not permitted to perform marriages, that requires a separate permission, either by being an official (such as a priest or a minister) of a church or other religious organization, or by paying a fee.
A notary applicant cannot have any (unpardoned) felony criminal convictions, and a felony conviction will void a notary's commission. A notary must either be a resident of Virginia or work in the Commonwealth. A Virginia notary may only notarize a document while physically within the Commonwealth, unless the document is going to be recorded with an Independent City or county in Virginia.
A Virginia notary is authorized to acknowledge signatures, take oaths, and certify copies of non-government documents. A notary may only authenticate a person based upon that person's documentation of their identity (such as a driver's license or identification card), or by the notary's own personal knowledge of the person appearing before them, use of witnesses to identify an individual is not permitted. A notary may not authenticate their own signature, nor may a notary authenticate any document to which they or their spouse are a party. The application to become a notary points out that since the persons who sign the application as voters are parties to the document, the notary cannot be either of those persons.
A notary may charge a fee of $5 per document (as of November 2005, up from $3) if they wish, or may be required by their employer to notarize documents without fee, but if the notary does charge a fee their employer may not require them to surrender the fee to the employer.
Acting as a notary without a valid commission constitutes a class 6 felony, punishable by up to 5 years in prison, in Virginia.
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